Se on nyt sillä lailla, että kun Suomessa on lunta ja kylmä ja pyörähommat vähän 'jäissä' vielä noin kuukauden verran, niin otetaan avuksi lämpimämmät seudut. Pidempään lajin parissa pyörineille tuskin tarvitsee kertoa kuka on kyseessä, mutta junnuille ehkä pieni selvitys kärkeen:

Julius (Julle, Jack) Syvänen on siis pitkänhuiskea nuorimies, joka on syntyjään suomalainen, mutta asuu Kaliforniassa ison veden takana. Julle ajoi tuossa vuosituhannen alkuvuosina aktiivisesti kilpaakin ja kuului sillon alamäkiajon Suomen maajoukkueeseen, jota kautta tutustui myös suomalaisiin mäkikonkareihin.

Kun ei Jullesta ole vähään aikaan kuulunut, niin otettiin mieheen yhteyttä ja Julle lupas kirjotella kuulumisia aina silloin tällöin, ja julkaistaan ne täällä Retkikunnassa tietty. Ensimmäinen tarina paikallisista ajomaastoista ja -keleistä tässä, olkaa hyvä:

Greetings from sunny So-Cal! My friends Visa and Juho asked me to do a quick ride report from some of my favorite trails here in San Diego.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself first. I'm originally from Helsinki but I have been living here in San Diego for over 10 years now. I've been riding and racing DH since 2002 here in North America doing the old NORBA series and World Cups. I actually even went to the World Champs for 3 years in a row in 03, 04, 05 as a Finnish rider, which is how I met Matti, Visa, Toni, Aki and all the other Finnish DH rippers. I haven't
raced for over a year now because I've been busy at the university, but I'm still riding plenty.

Anyhow, DH riders are lucky in So-Cal. We have 320 days of sunshine per year, it hardly ever rains, and its +20C throughout the winter. We've got all the terrain you could wish for except wet roots and mud. Its loose, fast, rocky and dusty. We've got DH runs which range from 1-2 km short, steep and technical to one's that are up to 18 km of smooth, flowy turns- like San Juan trail, which I just rode the other day. Attached are some pics from my recent rides.

San Juan is awesome. Lots of banked turns, wide open straights into tight corners, steep switchbacks, and rollers you can either pump or just gap. If you ride it hard, it will take about 1 hr. 20 min. to ride down. Lots  of blind turns where its always exciting to see how many XC riders you might go crashing into.

Poway is another place I've been riding quite a bit. You might recognize it in some DH movies- Sam Hill and Bryn Atkinson ride it in one of the Earthed movies. What can I say about this place- there is everything. 20m gap jumps, berms so deep you can lay your handlebar into the ground, super hairy rock sections and a few g-outs where you're about ready to smash your face into the stem. Matti used to come here every winter and this is where we rode several times.

XC riding is pretty fun around here too. If I leave from my front door, within 10 min. I can be in a trail system called Tunnels. It is a section of trail that is completely covered by low "chaparral" bushes and it feels like you are riding in some underground Lord of the Rings forrest. And for all of you up and coming DH riders, trust me, some regular XC riding will make you better at DH!

For now enjoy the Finnish winter (I know something about it- I was in military in Lahti with Matti and Aki.) and I'll write up another report sometime in the spring!

Terveisia,

Julius Syvanen

Katso kaikki kuvat täältä: Kuvagalleria

Kommentit (1)

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Kirjoittanut vieras , 19.01.2010

Cool Stuff Man!!