Mark at the finish of the 6hr enduro....

Us chilling after the race

Team Sweet Riders

What a great event this was!!! The venue, Fujimi Highlands, was perfect. Sunny day, mountain views all around, 900 participants, great sponsors and great fun!!!!! Mark and I were team SweetRiders in the 6hr Enduro race. Was great fun but along the way Mark got a flat and also had to work extra hard when i was off practicing and racing in the Dual Slalom event held at the same time......but we thought the course was great fun and enjoyed ourselves!!!!! We both did the night criterium race as well. As guest riders for the event we were entered in all the events and had an action packed day that ended off with an Oakley BBQ and party. Fun, fun and more fun..... Enjoy the pictures here!!!!

Sign finally going up......

Yeah, pretty Sweet!!!!!!! These are real, no more graphics........

Local Rider Mick of Powder House Lodge kicking a sweet tail whip on the first jump of the course built for the Hakuba 47/Sweet Riders Jump Jamboree Event July 11-12th, don’t miss it!!

Big Mick’s little boy Kai, like father like son!!!!

Local Rider M San also kicking it........

Here I am at the rainy start of the race...looking very energetic and eager.........at this point.

Kouji and I before the start, looking very nice and clean wearing white......

The only time the sun came out, for about 2 minutes, Kouji stopped to take a quick picture at the top of climb no. 1....there were 3....over 1600 meters we climbed in elevation......wow....it was quite the adventure. I don’t know how many muscle spasms I had, I actually lost count, and the number of times I thought of quitting.....but I persevered.....and continued, despite the freezing rainy conditions......

The finish line....

Oh my god I made it.....

am I alive???

yes, I am, barely....cold........very cold.....

I won’t tell you how hard the race was, you can tell by my face. I am absolutely exhausted here......and so grateful to have made it to the finish line. It was a journey, over 3 hours for me, in the worst weather possible.....but, nonetheless another mountain bike adventure to go down in the history books. If I do this race next year..... I only hope for sun next time around......cheers to all of us who finished this crazy race!!!!!!! Congratulations to my team mates for placing in the top 3 and to Mark Parker who at over 40, can still kick some major young butts. Great going on 4th overall Mark!!!!!

Kouji coming in!! Great job, on a 150cm suspension bike yet!!!!

Mark wizzing around one of the top corners.....

Thank you to 信州ふぉとふぉと館 for suppling most of these great shots!!!!
I just found out that I came in 1st in the over 40 women’s category and 6th overall, yippee, so happy!!!!!

Hurry, hurry!!!! Get your self to Uniqlo and pick up one of these hot Specialized Corporate T’s!!!!!! Get one while the getting is good!!!!!!!!!

An action packed weekend with learning the basics on a mountain bike, touring,and a BBQ on the first day. Then the next day, you are off canyoning for a half day, followed by a soothing onsen at the Mominoki Hotel. One nights accommodation, mtb instruction and touring, breakfast, BBQ, canyoning and an onsen all for ¥25000!!!! Join us for a great outdoor experience! Contact info@sweetriders.com for further details.

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This intermediate mountain bike two day clinic will focus on skills such as basic front wheel lift, manuals, wheelie drops, cornering, climbing, descending, straight line riding and much more. Mornings will be filled with fun skill instruction and afternoons a group ride to practice all the skills previously learned in the morning. Two days of instruction, riding, one nights accommodation, two breakfasts, two lunches, a BBQ, maintenance session all for ¥25000. Come out and polish up those mtb skills while enjoying a great outdoor experience in Hakuba!!! Contact info@sweetriders.com for further details.

Specialized’s Sato Shuhei came out for a meeting and a ride this past weekend. We had a great day for riding, over 25 degrees and a nice light breeze. Showed him a bit of Hakuba, I think he wants to come back.......Great weekend but busy getting ready for all the upcoming events. Hope to see you there!! More photos here....


Hakuba is awesome.....

The jump course at 47 is almost finished!!!! Here are more pics....

Watch out!!!! Urushi is now out, and believe me you don’t want to get it!!! This was only one of the spots I got it.....I have several more and it means no sleep. Constantly itching and it oozes as well...arrgggg, better know back home as poison ivy. However, it is stronger here in Japan. So my fellow riders beware!!!!!!

Hakuba one day clinic!!! Five beginners who mastered all the basics, including a pretty steep downhill!!!! Way to go guys!!! It was a great day with instruction in the morning, a lunch break and then a group ride through Iwatake’s great singletrack. You all received A+ ‘s today!!!! More photo’s here

Had some time to chill out on Aokiko Lakes beach. The water is still low enough that the beaches are still out. Kind of wish it would stay this way. Riding, then chilling at the lake, plus a great soba lunch......I love Golden Week.

Still love riding Aokiko, too much fun....

He he... Check this out, a Japanese position chart with position names included, anyone think the bottom left is possible??? ha ha, lol

Gave this to a friend for his birthday......fun and games...

Wow, what a fantastic event. Hats off to Randall & Midori for doing an excellent job!!!! Team Two Queens and a Joker had a great day. We began by riding the closest course first, Crazy Eights and then hitting Royal Flush. We had no problems and hit all 5 check points on the course, or so we thought. Then we headed to the Ikeda Circuit and decided to have a snack break since it was lunch time and almost two hours had past since the start. After our lunch break, we hit the last section of the course and had a blast. We were able to hit all nine check points and get nine cards, we were stoked and we had over 30 minutes left to go!!!! We stopped along the way to take some great pictures, admire the scenery and chat with other participants.


When we checked in, we found out that we misread one of the checkpoints and had to lose a card, bummer but oh well, our brains were in the riding mode, not the thinking mode, ha ha. We ended up with a pair of Aces that just wasn’t going to cut it. The winning team Fast and Furious had four of a kind and won ¥72000!!!! Congratulations to Albert and Mark, being the fastest guys out there and the luckiest!!!! Well done!!!

This event will happen again next year, you don’t want to miss it, mark it on your calendar!!!!! More photo’s here