Livigno!

I returned from my first trip to Livigno this season. It was good to be back in this beautiful italian alpine village. The snow was finally melted (almost), the alpine flowers were in bloom and there was some fun new lines and trails, especially in the Swatch Mottolino Bike Park. The first two days I was part of an "Educational" seminar, with several tour operators, bike shop owners and media representatives to explore Livigno and the fantastic riding and biking infrastructure. The first day we did a fun tour up the legendary transalp pass, "Alpisella", on the very top was still a small snowfield. We had lunch at Alp Trela, a typical remote alpine farm, that serves fresh goods for hikers and bikers on their way through to Tre Palle, an All Star singletrail that loops back to Livigno.

Maui

I just finished a fantastic week in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with the current UCI #1 ranked Trials rider in the world, Kenny Belaey from Belgium. We were actually filming a 30 Min. TV show for Kenny’s TV series on the Extreme Sports Channel. Kenny had asked me to take him on some epic mountain bike rides - adventure style; while he planned on taking me trials riding and blowing my mind with some incredible moves. Well, let me just say, ‘he succeeded’.

Botswana

While sitting in a luxury game lodge enjoying a big breakfast, watching a warthog drinking from the nearby waterhole, I’m reflecting on the last two weeks in Africa, which were extremely exciting, productive and adventurous but not exactly as luxurious as the lodge I spent the last night in.

Broken Leg

March 9, 2008

I’m sorry to inform you all, that I had a bad crash on my downhill bike at the end of February and that I have severely broken my left foot. Unfortunately this injury will keep me off my bike for the next few months.

My accident happened in my hometown of Laguna Beach. I had just returned home from Europe the night before and I was doing some downhill training runs for the legendary RADS Telonix Leaping Lizard downhill race. I was just warming up (not going at full speed – at least I thought i wasn’t), but my flu congestion and head-cold, combined with my jet-lag, and the Malaria Medicine (I had taken 2 hours before) caused to imbalance my equilibrium and sense of speed.

Luckily for me many friends, one of whom is a doctor, were on site to rescue me. They actually carried me up the hill and then drove me to the hospital ER.

Unfortunately the x-rays revealed a comminuted (many pieces) fracture of the tibia at the ankle joint line. I had the first surgery last Thursday, they put an external fixator, which is like an erector set scaffold (see pic). This will hold the pieces together until the swelling goes down. After about a week I’ll go back in for more surgery to insert plates and screws. I will be flat on my back with my foot elevated for a solid 4 weeks with these 2 surgeries. Once the skin is healed and sutures are out I’ll be able to get around on crutches. It will be a few month until I can ride again, hopefully by summer.

  

Tanzania

Last spring I decided to combine one of my ‘Hans Rey Adventure Team’ trips with a project for my charity ‘Wheels 4 Life’. Last spring I decided to combine one of my ‘Hans Rey Adventure Team’ trips with a project for my charity ‘Wheels 4 Life’.Finally I had found, what seemed to be, the perfect place to start our “Wheels 4 Villages – Film Project” – to document on film over two years the impact bicycles will have on communities and the lives of individuals of the Ugweno Valley in Tanzania; right in the shadow of Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro (5896m/19,344ft.).
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