During my 2010 tour of North America I will be testing the GoPro HD Helmet HERO.
Last year I shot all my footage using the the standard Helmet Hero, that worked a charm, so I am really looking forward to using the HD version.
I am now testing trails in the South West France where I will start using the new Cam, so by May when I return to the USA to start my new 2 year tour I will be familiar with the cam
I will be posting my experience with the new HD Helmet HERO.

When I [ RIP3D ] am not testing mountain biking trails in various places on earth, I am a Mountain Biking Guide in the Dordogne, South West France.
Mountain Biking in the Dordogne is a 100% unique experience. you cannot compare the Dordogne to Moab, or Fruita, but then again, you cannot compare Moab or Fruita to the Dordogne either.. (if you know what I mean!!)

The Dordogne is the most beautiful and diverse region in Europe. No where in the world can you travel through more than 460,000 years of history, all within 2 hours. From the Vezere Valley, that is the undisputed Prehistoric Capital of the World. The Vézère valley contains 147 prehistoric sites dating from the Paleolithic and 25 decorated caves. It is particularly interesting from an ethnological and anthropological, as well as an aesthetic point of view because of its cave paintings, especially those of the Lascaux Cave, whose discovery in 1940 was of great importance for the history of prehistoric art.

The Dordogne Valley is famous for her Medieval Towns & Villages, Bastides, Castles, Forts, Fortified Monasteries and other Medieval Jewels.

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The tours I guide are for Walking Dordogne, a small but extremely popular Outdoors Outfitter that specialize in Hiking, Canoeing, Horse Riding and lets not forget Mountain Biking, the groups are small, never more than 5, the rides are technically and physically moderate, the views are a stunning 5+, and as I said, 100% unique.

Our notorious trails to date are :

• The Devils Play Ground
• Satan’s Fury
• Devils Backbone
• Valley of Revenge
• Hells Gorge
• Dordogne Mayhem

Most Trails can be combined to make them longer or shorter.

The trails will take you through Prehistoric Caves and shelters, more than 20 times older than the Egyptian Pyramids and 90 times older than Machu Picchu , medieval villages, ancient merchant trails, dating back 1000’s of years, and ancient oak and walnut forests.

If you are a Mountain Biker that believes culture and unique scenery is more important than Grade 5 tech trails, and you are looking for some unique mountain biking, then take a look at Mountain Biking Dordogne or Walking Dordogne

Hopefully I will personally get to meet you in the Dordogne, if you have any further questions about Mountain Biking in the Dordogne, please let me know.

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More Info : Mountain Biking Dordogne or Walking Dordogne

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Every Mountain Biker knows the feeling of wanting to experience NEW rides in NEW places but we also all know that planning these trips can be a nightmare, and work out to be very expensive. There are numerous companies that organize Mountain Biking trips, but NO company offers Mountain Biking Trips / Adventures like Sacred Rides

Sacred Rides has been the undisputed leader in Mountain Biking Trips Worldwide for over 13 years, and are the singletrack specialists and the #1 mountain bike adventure company in North America.

Sacred Rides offer excellent and unique Mountain Biking Tours tours / adventures in the following countries

• Canada

• Croatia / Slovenia

• USA

• Peru

• Chile

• Guatemala

They also offer a wide range of Skills Camps”

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At Sacred Rides Mountain Bike Adventures, we strive to make every ride sacred. We are the world’s #1 mountain bike tour operator, and we bring passion and inspiration to every trip and every ride.

We’ll take you to incredible places around the world, surround you with jaw-dropping scenery, give you amazing cultural experiences, and take you on the world’s most incredible mountain bike trails – all guided by the industry’s strongest environmental and social responsibility mandate.

For over 13 years, we have offered award-winning small-group adventures and skills camps around the world, backed by our SATISFACTION GUARANTEE!

What sets Sacred Rides Apart?

Sustainable Tourism: They have one of the most comprehensive social and environmental responsibility mandates in the business.

Experience: With over 13 years of experience leading mountain bike trips around the world, they have the experience and knowhow to deliver you the mountain bike adventure of a lifetime!

Local Knowledge: All of their trips are led by friendly locals with a passion for mountain biking and a love of the outdoors.

Their Guarantee: They are the only company in the mountain bike tourism industry that will back your trip with a comprehensive guarantee.

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For more info about Sacred Rides please visit their website : www.sacredrides.com

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The 4th Annual Moab Ho-Down Bike Festival
October 30th, 31st and November 1st, 2009

Mark your calendar for the 4th Annual Moab Ho-Down Festival, happening the last weekend in October 2009.

Moab’s original fat tire festival has changed and evolved over the past few decades into what is now being presented by Chile Pepper Bike Shop in Moab.

KEEPING A 23-YEAR TRADITION ALIVE

The Moab Ho-Down is the reborn bike festival held annually for 23 years in Moab on Halloween weekend. It is best known & remembered as the following: “Moab Fat Tire Festival”, “Canyonlands Fat Tire Festival” and the “Moab Halloween Bike Fest”.

In the beginning, a variety of entities managed and promoted this Halloween tradition that was first born in 1986. The versions of this festival coincided with the rise of mountain biking worldwide, and from 1987 to 1992, the festival saw major coverage from all the major bike magazines, as well as regular attendance by industry bigwigs like Gary Fisher and Tom Ritchey.

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In the mid-’90s, as the whole bike festival novelty was beginning to age across the country, new promoters in Moab added some fresh angles with bigger and better events, and more racing.

From 2001 to 2004, the local Moab bike shops all got together with some bike industry sponsors and ran their version of things, including adding the famous “Test Of Metal” freeride contest at Bartlett Wash.

2005 saw the festival in danger of not returning in 2006…and that is when the Chile Pepper Bike Shop jumped in and decided to keep the tradition alive by putting together a last minute “Same, Same…But Different Ho-Down” (see flyer at right). This was refined in 2007 and 2008 to become the Moab Ho-Down that we know and love today!

Help Chile Pepper keep the Moab Ho-Down affordable! So help us out by being a sponsor or a volunteer. Please contact us for more information.

The Moab Ho-Down Bike Fest is brought to you by:

Chile Pepper Bike Shop
702 S. Main Street
Moab, UT 84532
Located next to Moab Brewery
435-259-4688
888-677-4688
E-mail them at

info@chilebikes.com

Thanks for reading…now come to Moab!

Dordogne Mayhem is without doubt one of the best Mountain Biking Trails in the Dordogne. Dordogne Mayhem offers numerous loops that can be combined with each other. This trail(s) is a one way system, so serious riders can open up without the fear of having someone coming the opposite direction. Depending on each individuals preference, there are unlimited possibilities, from very fast single tracks, sharp and mild switchbacks, numerous whoopie doo’s, and even a section for the downhill warriors ( this section requires full body armour and full suspension bike)
Anyone looking to spend a few hours of Mountain Biking fun in the Dordogne, should seriously consider this trail.
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For info about Mountain Biking in the Dordogne visit www.walkingdordogne.com

Visitors from around the world are coming to the Dordogne, not for the Prehistoric sites, or Medieval Towns and Villages, No, they are coming to Mountain Bike.
Since some of Walking Dordogne’s Mountain Biking Videos were posted on various sites such as YouTube and Mountain Bike Mayhem interest in their tours have gone through the roof.

Walking Dordogne is very secretive about their Trails, but, as Duke from Walking Dordogne states,

this is because we have spent years putting these unique trails together, and a lot of our trails are actually on private property.

Walking Dordogne’s notorious rides are :

•The Devils Play Ground
•Satan’s Fury
•Devils Backbone
•Valley of Revenge
•Hells Gorge

Walking Dordogne are planning to launch two Dordogne “EPIC” trails, an EPIC Trail is a trail that will take a whole day (if lucky) to complete, usually aboy 8+ hours.
These 2 EPICS will be finalized in about November, and will be added to the 2010 list of trips / tours.

To make it easier for Mountain Bikers around the world to find mountain biking in the Dordogne info, Walking Dordogne has launched a “Mountain Biking Dordogne” web page : www.mountainbikingdordogne.com

For all other Walking Dordogne Tours and Trips visit : www.walkingdordogne.com

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Mountain Bike Mayhem has lauched a 100% Mayhem street line, for PROUD Mountaintain Bikers to show the world they are proud to be a mountain biker.

Wear 100% Mayhem with Pride, and you will feel the Glory!!

For more info visit: 100% Mayhem Clothing

Been very busy on the trails, but because of the remote locations I am at, I don’t always have internet, and when I do, I don’t have much time.

So I will be adding all my rides to www.mountainbikemayhem.com  please check it out, I have added a lot of extras like Videos, Gallery, Merchandise etc..

WWW.MOUNTAINBIKEMAYHEM.COM

Have been busy working on a new site of mine Mountain Bike Mayhem  this site will be used for my Mountain Mayhem USA 2009 tour that starts on July 1st in Brevard North Carolina.

Last year while I was mountain biking in Moab Utah, I met up with a fella called “Duke” we got chatting, ‘cos he to had a Giant Yukon FX3, anyway we did a few trails together, and it turned out that Duke had a buisness in the Dordogne, S.W. France, called “Walking Dordogne” that specialized in outdoors stuff such as hiking, canoeing, horse riding and Mountain Biking..
I gladly took him up on his offer to show me some of the meanest rides the Dordogne has to offer.

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