"I used to think that no bicycle race could compare to the excitement of a motorcycle race. I was wrong........"
In 2012 Filip Polc swaps his Go Pro HD cam for a DRIFT HD cam for some more insane urban downhill action. This year Polc finished second to Chilean Mauricio Acuña, beaten by less than a second, Polc had won the race the last two years. Cedric Gracia took third, he'd finished second to Polc in 2011. Last Sunday afternoon fifty riders raced on a course built for dare devils at Valparaiso in Chile for the 2012 edition of the Valparaiso Cerro Abajo.
At Big Valley Honda in Reno - used to the excitement of motorcycles - this was their reaction to the madness of Valparaiso and it's extreme urban action, "I used to think that no bicycle race could compare to the excitement of a motorcycle race. I was wrong. Proof that only two wheels and handlebars can be equally insane can be found each year at the Valparaiso Cerro Abajo bike race." Goes to show - two wheels - engine or no engine will have you grinning all day long.
Filip Polc straps a GoPro on and hits out hard in Qualifying at the 2011 Valparaiso Cerro Abajo. Intense on the edge of your seat footage.
Narrow cobbled streets in Chile, Peru, Mexico and Brazil add extreme excitement to the thrill of urban downhill racing – especially when the spectator gets to take a box seat via Slovakia’s Filip Polc’s GoPro HD cam.
Race courses carve their way over roofs of buildings, cut through houses, walls, courtyards, steep flights of stairs, virtually any type of building or structure. Couple this with the addition of ply and steel framed jumps and you’ve got an adrenaline charged race to the finish line.
In 2011 the 9th edition of the Valparaiso Cerro Abajo was won by Filip Polc with Cedric Gracia finishing second. In the video Polc slices his way down the narrow streets on his qualifying run, at one point narrowly missing a dog – a common feature on these narrow courses. The Chilean race has steadily built a reputation as being one of the gnarliest urban downhill courses in the world. No room for error on the narrow urban canyons riders must nail it or crash especially on the long flights of stairs – timing is everything.
The race is on the UCI calendar in late Februray. In 2012 the Valparaiso Cerro Abajo takes place on the 25th and 26th of February.
Check out more videos on Filip Polc’s You Tube channel.
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Concealed from the Campagnolo overlords in the 1970's, workers spirited small parts out of the factory, re-assembling them at home. Ultimately displayed for sale at a village barber shop.