by Sven Martin

When I got the call to join some of the adiridas for a couple of days on location  during the filming of a rock music video with one of Europe’s hot up-and-coming bands, 4 Lyn, I was some what skeptical to say the least.

You see here in the USA mountain biking is just not cool yet, it is still suffering from a bad image created from weak OLN TV clips featuring pink luminous lycra from years past. Skateboarding, BMX, surfing and snowboarding are the hip, cool sports that garner that type of attention here.

But in Europe, however mountain biking doesn’t suffer from these misconceptions; Skateboarding and BMXing are the fringe subculture sports, cycling is a part of the culture, a way of life. Riding bikes in Europe doesn’t end with childhood, so people’s interest and fascination with them continues; the huge bike festivals, events, races and the fans support of these is an indication of cycling’s huge popularity there.

And whilst the type of riding that these riders do is far removed from everyday, it is still cool and captures the imagination of everyone both young and old...