This was a mistake...but we're doing it anyway
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- Turns out when "racing the best and most challenging mountain bike races around the world" is your tagline, the hardest part isn’t finding events to attend, it’s deciding which events to attend and sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you really, really, really want to do multiple events that take place less than a week apart on different continents.
This is the situation I recently found myself in with the Megavalanche Finals taking place in France on Sunday and the Downieville Classic starting in California just 6 days later. But we had a plan to get me home, swap my bike and get to Downieville in time to pre-ride…but then, of course, nothing went to plan…
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Don’t at all listen to “Unprofessional” accusations. I think I’ve seen almost all your vids and you guys are a sponsors dream. Super positive, supportive of each other and community. Remember every knucklehead on the Chesterfield has a keyboard and opinions.
Chesterfield 🤣amazing. Quality content as always guys, love watching events that I would never have a chance to (or never choose to 😅) do. And what else makes this channel so special is you show all the wrinkles and how things happen both good and bad. I’d say that like food reviews there is always going to be more negative than positive posted but that’s because dislike and hate will always fuel more response than stoke. I know im guilty of this but I do talk a lot about your channel with my riding group and friends and figure the views that creates offsets all the negative comments … hopefully.
You have just shown people what racing can be, travelling, sleeping, driving, shopping and building bikes wherever. The positivity from both of you ( even when you looked shattered) to keep going, because you love MTB, hats off to you both.
I think this is the most accurate depiction of pre-riding for a race with a significant other 😅
New personal goal, find a partner as supportive as the 2 of you are towards each other.
Impossible. :D
You guys are amazing !!
Thanks for [as hectic as things get ] taking us along .
Just love these vids .
You guys are just amazing. Besides being great mountain bikers and good people, you guys know how to handle relationship issues. You guys are a damn good team.
The big tip for dappled light is don't wear tinted glasses. I wear cheap clear tradie UV safety glasses. They cost next to nothing ($2-3), they protect your eyes because that's what safety glasses are for, you can see in dark shadows and after a few months if they get scratched it's only $2-3 not $40-100+.
Kudos to Macky on the MEGAVALANCHE Alpe d'Huez race. Great placing for fiirst time...
The comments about racecraft/preparedness cracked me up and reminded of a race I had a few years ago. I had been racing for years and had gotten my friend into racing, and it was his first enduro race. He did a great job of getting everything ready and showing up ready to rock, meanwhile, due to circumstances outside of my control, I was left swapping my drivetrain in the parking lot before the race, which stressed the hell out of HIM. Didn't bother me at all, because I had dealt with mechanicals in plenty of races and this wasn't out of the ordinary, swapping parts with a time crunch. Adapting to adversity is a gigantic part of racecraft, and isn't something that people who do a single race a year tend to face, but which every racer who does a full season faces routinely.
Your dapple light videos are quite clear. Thanks!! Totally understand your mountain bike- nothing is perfect attitude. Did many sketchy mtb races in the 90’s late starts, weather delays, last minute course changes. It’s all good” is the only way to deal.
Nothing but respect for everything you both achieve.
Good to see it all come out well. This video really is treasure with the race-prep structure discussion and dealing with unfortunate problems! Enjoy your race, go fast!
sleep is always the better option , good luck hope yall do well
I’ve watch your videos over the years and Syd has improved so much! Macky just finished saying how tricky the rocky uphill is and Syd rides up it like it was easy peesy 🤩👍
Boo to the "unprofessional" comments! You two are dead on about being resilient and adaptable when things don't go as planned. I loved seeing the pre-ride and the actual footage of you choosing lines. I have always enjoyed the process of things in my life. You two are an example of what is good in the MTB community!
Syd riding Downieville like a local!
I lived an hour from Downieville and totally miss riding there. Jump in the water!
Go New Mexico
Greetings from Ruidoso
Another great edit. That was quite a turn around you managed with your travelling 💪. Looking forward to your race video. I would love to race there!❤🎉
"Sloppy? You guys? No way! You show up to all your races, crush it, and have a blast while you're at it. Watching Syd glide through that waterfall feature was like watching a dolphin in a tuxedo-smooth and classy! Sure, POV is easier, but RUclips's flooded with it, and let's be real, it’s about as revealing as a foggy bathroom mirror. By the way, I’ve been craving a giant burrito since the start of the vid-thanks for that! Love you guys!"
Ps. Use Alamo for rentals if you're not already, a few extra bucks is worth not waiting fo-evva.
This video just proves how human and relatable you both are. Love it!
Macky's can't talk eating, moment in the hotel. As he's mowing a breaky burrito.. relatable af.
Sid did great on the Gorge. I've found that as long as you roll in fast on the entrance you'll pop right up the other side. The waterfall on the other hand, has so many lines on it. I will say at least it was dry when you guys were there. It gets hairy when the water is flowing because it's really easy for your wheel not to go where you want plus it's hard to see your wheel in the water.
I think this resonates especially with me because I think my wife and I are pretty good at handling the roadblocks that are thrown in our way. Whenever "sh!t happens" we just look at each other and say "Always an adventure!". My mom (an avid sailor with my dad) always used the quote (not hers originally) "We can't change the wind but we can adjust our sails".
Travel rarely goes as planned. It’s how you deal with it that shows your caliber. Can’t wait for the race
Was so cool meeting you and sharing a shuttle with you both this day! Can't wait to see the DV race video!!!
I like watching you two because you're fit and can ride.
Can't wait for next week's video already! I wanna say great build up video but even I got stressed out with all the travel snafu's!! 😨. But when life gives you lemons... breakfast burritos!!
Just watching that travel schedule completely exhausted me!
I love this. Thanks for sharing
For a race you got an awesome scenery! Love it! 😎👍 Even when you're not talking or explain, the way you film the ride in your videos you teach how to ride the trail right(technic, power management ect..ect👍) !😎
Thank you!🤗🤗🤗
You earned honestly to sit in the cool river with a watermelon to chill.😎
Super fun you guys. What a rough couple days of travel. Can't wait to see the race.
You are awesome, really awesome. Enjoy the epic adventures that we are ao blessed to be tailgating. Dont waste time on BS in the comments, nobody got time for that.
And seeing you ride will make me, once again procrastinate the service on my front suspension so i can ride my mtb one more.time berfore i need to follow Syd fixes help me fix mine so its not leaking more oil out of dead sealings.
You are the highlight of Friday. Thank you both.
Love the TEAM work!
wow Macky to do the mega race and then 5 days later race at downieville is epic well done to you and Syd
that course looks so fun!
Especially coming from Truckee....don't book a morning shuttle. You drive to the trailhead, ride the trail, and take a later shuttle to pick up your vehicle.
Hey guys. It was nifty seeing that you were at RNO, the airport i have flown into/out of the most. Someday you guys should ride the Cap-to-Tahoe trail out of Carson City, the views are great. In fact if you do a loop on the tahoe rim and flume trail before coming back down, there are unreal views. I will get off my sopa box...
Los que dejan malos comentarios, son los que no se atreven a intentar lo que ustedes realizan!! Y más con el esfuerzo de ir grabando para realizar sus videos tan geniales, Gracias!!!
Travelling from RSA to Eu often during the year searching for races to earn XC points is very often a case of Longer flights and shortened layovers has caused more ripple effects than most people see. Late to fetch rentals is one (and when you have hired a commercial vehicle to carry 3 bike bags and loads of luggage, makes for a very difficult time as most normal rentals are too small. Then this causes you to be late to get to your check in (which annoys guesthouse owners), late to groceries and and and. I feel you guys. But what this does is make you able to handle the changing tides.....totally agree that this makes you better. When things go smoothly, you actually appreciate it more than people who have it "easy" the whole time.
Great work. Nice video
Downieville is still a bucket list Nor Cal ride for me. 20+ years of MTB in Nor Cal and I still haven't made it there. Why?... because... life
Do the best you can. Others get over it. Keep up the good work.
Exactly just be at the start line regardless
Hey! How was the truck!?! Not looking for a review, but I've been looking at pickups. hahaha! Wow! This stuff is insane. Being professional racers isn't the sexy, fun, cool, millionaire's job/career/ life that it's cracked up to be. Like most, if not all jobs, I'm sure it's got it's ups and downs and... it's got it's moments. Glad you're both well. Great video as always.
That truck was pretty terrible and it felt like the transmission was going but I'd guess that's because it's a rental that has been driven hard 😂
@@sydandmacky nothing parties like a rental.
Surprised you guys didn’t take your long travel bikes. That course looks rough and tough ❤
Hear ! Hear! Allan 👍
At one time or another everyone bites off more than they can chew. That is what makes life interesting.
Love you guys. Ignore the trolls.
Forget the haters! I don’t know anyone who hasn’t dealt with things not going to plan in their professional life! Just keep this fun, engaging content coming!
Never feel that you have to justify yourself's to the haters, Keep doing what you do !!
Savage circumstances to finally make it to Reno! You guys have got this!! All of the haters need to stop and smell the roses! New head units?
Yup, iGS800. Amazing battery life! (Link plus discount in the description if you're in the market for a new one...)
I love seeing the reality of travel. Also what kept the wait at the car rental so long? What do you wish would have done different on the travel side?
You guys need to attempt Leadville one year...but its 100 miles...yikes...but I know you guys can do it.
I’ve spent at least that long for rental cars more than once. Rental companies that spend 7 to 10 minutes per customer with 1-2 agents and a plane load of customers = ridiculous waits. (When you have that long you start doing time motion studies) Done it from RDH, PHX, SLC. Same story. (I traveled for work for 30 yrs)
Awesome that Syd remembered why you were arguing….. there is a cliche there. 😂
Light to shadow transition , grey Oakley’s and murder roots in the Blue Mountains taught me to wear clears unless I’m riding in the open. I use cheap safety glasses.
Let's do a head unit update soon - unless you're still auditioning options
Ce n'est pas facile la Megavalanche. 😋
Pro tip for renting cars. Join the preferred programs, they are free and you don’t have to wait in line to rent a car.
Hello friends, greetings from Lubbock, Texas, but I am a Costa Rican, you are going to Costa Rica to do The Route of the Conquerors this year.
Yeah the travel situation this summer sucked!
Every pro I knew when I was snowboarding was flying by the seat of their pants. Missed flights, late entries, no sleep, hungover, board not tuned, loose or broken bindings and the list could go on. People who think pros are on rigid schedules and have it all together are usually people who have not competed at that level.
@7:30 Macky’s “I was born in the darkness, you merely adapted(tried)to the dark”
Was that Safeway in Truckee? Thats where I grew up.
Pretty much any significant volume of experience in any sport or with travel teaches most people how to adapt. Some people excel at planning and when they learn to go with the flow its a much more potent combo. The pro's (multiple extreme sports) I know fall into two buckets, extremely structured and loosey goosey. Guess which ones had more world cup/champs wins... consistency wins way more often. Been riding Dville since the 90s, last batch of runs was on a single speed, the race always blows out the trail. Macky's trip sounds not so bad, it could have been much worse! lol
Macky flexing the French he picked up lol
Breakfast burritos fix everything!
The wait time for rental cars in the USA is criminal. It’s absolutely stupid.
Waiting 3 hours for a rental car is not common.
Yeah we've never had this issue anywhere before. But several people have commented that it's normal for Reno...so beware 😬
It’s bad at Dulles, not 3 hours long but over an hour. LAX is a nightmare. Detroit is actually pretty good.
I just came back from europe and was amazed at how quickly they get you to your car there. I guess I came home with a little chip on my shoulder. Sorry bout that.
Curious to know why you applied the clear coat on the base coat before you did the graphics? I would assumed you would have clear coated after you were all done with the graphics
Hi, one question to Syn and Macky: will you ever try to race Leadville 100MTB??
You guys are close to Taos, right? Driving to Dallas, to Reno isn't that far. Sincerely, a guy that that lived in Wyoming.
ive been away for 2 weeks to find you are using different head units. come on tell all please lol
We've been trying out the iGS800. Been pretty pleased with it so far and the battery life is incredible! (If you're in the market, there's a discount code in the video description)
How do you both like the IGS800?! I can't stand Garmin's UI, UX and price anymore. I might try this out if you think it's a good contender. Thanks!
Been pretty pleased with it so far and the battery life is incredible! There are a few improvements we'd like to see and have given them the feedback, but I think they're issues that are true of Garmin too. If you want to try it out, there's a discount code in the video description.
@@sydandmacky Amazing and thank you! Just picked one up.
look, fore everyday joe Pros yeah, its going to be loose sometimes with stuff. we arent talking about the PRO LEVEL like, team type Pros. that all they have to worry about is training, eating and riding. those Pros have folks arranging their travel, putting their bikes together, getting their bikes to the races, etc., etc. etc., so folks need to CALM DOWN.
What podcasts do you listen to on road trips together?
Ramit's "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" is our recent favorite
I agree 100% with the comments from @denisrogers4358.
Too many self opinionated "wannabe's" out there who couldn't tell their a## from their elbow.
Your passion, teamwork and professionalism is something to be proud of.
Watching you from South Africa and enjoying every minute ... Thank You
living 'pro' life means you adapt and overcome - and you do... keep moving forward
New bike computers? Why not (e.g) Garmin? These courses are sooo rocky, no idea how you ride those in such a XC tires and trust the grip and them not being cut in peaces on sidewalls. Do you use oil or you wax your chains?
We've been trying out the iGS800. Been pretty pleased with it so far and the battery life is incredible! (If you're in the market, there's a discount code in the video description)
In terms of lube, we use Squirt. It's wax-based.
What you call "cramp hill" I have always referred to as "Buggy Climb" since the gnats are always circling your head on the climb :( Maybe I just need to be faster...
What bike computer are you using now? Those don’t look like stages
We've been trying out the iGS800. Been pretty pleased with it so far and the battery life is incredible! (If you're in the market, there's a discount code in the video description)
You flight/car rental fiasco's are exactly why I'd rather drive my car 1,000+ miles up and down the east coast rather than fly, any day of the week and twice in Sunday. Flying is such a hassle and it drives me nutty. I know that doesn't help for international/coast to coast trips... Guess that's why I don't go anywhere fancy.
Curious to know which bike computers the two of you are using now... in some videos, I recognize the Stages, but in others, it is a different one.
We've been trying out the iGS800. Been pretty pleased with it so far and the battery life is incredible! (If you're in the market, there's a discount code in the video description)
ha! desert girl can't handle the dappled light :-) it's a whole new feature isn't it. ;) ? come to the trails in Appalachia..you'd be really screwed.
I grew up in appalachia ;) but I was smart enough not to wear dark glasses back then hahah
were you building in the the Truckee Safeway parking lot?
Yup 😂
It looks like you are using different head units instead of Stages. What are they?
We've been trying out the iGS800. Been pretty pleased with it so far and the battery life is incredible! (If you're in the market, there's a discount code in the video description)
Screw the comments. Your are the peoples champ 🏆doing what you love for a living. 💪
mega downie in six day 😂
I think ppl fail to realize what being a professional athlete involves when you are in a non-standard sport. People tend to imagine the wealthy athletes as opposed to what most athletes actually are, which are struggling very much so to pursue a passion.
Get a Turo rental car/ F-150 next time. Might save you some time and certainly $.
Women never forget a fight or what it was about. Never.
Do you guys have a new bike computer sponsor?
We've been trying out the iGS800. Been pretty pleased with it so far and the battery life is incredible! (If you're in the market, there's a discount code in the video description)
Any tips to remember lines
I'm an amateur enduro racer that's been at it for a good bit, and here's what I do. If you can GoPro, that's ideal. I pre-ride the course at around 80%, seeing how good my initial read of the terrain is on the fly. If I enter into something with what I determine is a bad/slow/awkward line choice/high time gain/loss area, I go back up and re-ride the section, being mindful of mental markers to denote braking point and entry point of lines. I ride at 80% because it means I always have the energy to pedal more and speed things up in the race, but if I misread the terrain I have some extra energy to sprint up that unseen climb and see how taxing it will be in race. Addressing courses this way, I tend to have a small handful of specific turns/obstacles where I have exact setups and the rest of the course just becomes ride it fast as I read it initially but with more effort. Regardless of somebody's trail memory, I think this approach can be beneficial in simplifying things.
Agree with everything said above. It's helpful to try to remember some landmarks so you know a particular line is coming (like a funny shaped tree or rock or tight corner), so ideally you aren't even thinking about that line until you see the landmark. On a longer race like this it's easy to anticipate a trickier section wayyyyy before it arrives, which often makes you slow down/lose focus on easier parts. Ultimately you aren't going to remember every line in an XC or even enduro, so you have to just trust yourself! Sometimes it's worth practicing a few lines in a section so you know you can come in with speed and just deal with wherever you end up.
Are you using a new bicycle navigation computer?
We've been trying out the iGS800. Been pretty pleased with it so far and the battery life is incredible! (If you're in the market, there's a discount code in the video description)
When do they not loose your bags? How is this even possible?
Use Turo. Not rental car
Eat more salt and you wont cramp, not that processed crap though.
armchair pundits suck! you guys rule, great content,
The couple cuteness makes me ill... :)
Was This clickbait
Professional / unprofessional is such useless adjective in absolutely overwhelming majority of cases. When something is your profession, you get paid for doing it. However somehow being good at that profession got mixed in to muddy the waters. It seems ok, from the surfaces, but it's easy to strech that to "doing your job in a way I agree with". When that type of judgement gets applied by someone clueless about the profession in question (which is practicaly each time when someone calls someone else "unprofessional") the result is absolutely meaningless.
I know lots of athletes that eat like shit and it works fine