This is MTB Himalaya : Weathering the Storm | Ep. 3 | Jamis Portal #shred #trailriding #newbikeday

Out here in India, when you're out on those different forces and stages, you're really on your own. You need to be prepared. Staying hydrated or carrying enough supplies that you think you're going to need. Whether or not you want to DNF or not, you're probably going to have to go the full distance because you're in an unfamiliar environment. So you better be self-reliant here. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go! Coming through, Tom? Yep. Go, go, go! Day 3, super challenging terrain. It varies from almost purpose-built trails to on-road or off-road, on dirt roads or in goat trails. There's nothing that's flat, hardly. You're either climbing or descending. Yeah! Wildlife definitely comes into play here, you know. You can see plenty of it, and it adds an interesting dynamic to the race for sure. Of the 15 years, this is probably the one year that it rained nearly every single day. Whether it was raining in the middle of the stage, at the start of the stage, or at the end of the stage, or at some point during the night. And having to be prepared for that was one of the biggest challenges of the event. I was sprinting with Corey and Jason to the finish. We were just freezing and going so fast, we were generating a lot of wind. Totally mud-slick roads, everything was drenched. That was fun. That was crazy. A little bit muddy towards the end. Oh my gosh! Look at that! That's just a wild ride. It was good. It was a good day. I had a blast. Temperatures during the typical days up in the mountains were probably around the 40s, up on some of the ridges in the rain. And it rained the whole day. You know, we were spending up to five hours a day, and that's for the leaders. Some of the riders, in fact, were finishing up the stages after dark. And having to battle those conditions. So it makes it really challenging for those people, because those guys were coming at night, virtually hypothermic. So I think a lot of people were getting sick. It was really breaking down people's immune systems. It didn't matter about your fitness, or skill level, or anything. Mother Nature's way of leveling the playing field, I felt like. For the next day, a lot of people were trying to get their equipment ready to go for the next day's stage. Everybody's pads were destroyed. Some people had worn pads all the way through the backing plates and into pistons. You can't have too much dust where it just messes everything up. Not like rain. Rain destroys everything. What are you doing? Working on somebody's bike. They needed a cable replace, so I'm helping out with this. It's really tough on all the equipment. Everybody's stuff is wearing out. Brake pads are wearing out. Drive trains aren't shifting good. It's just been really hard on everything. Usually when we're here, the weather's really nice, and it's dry. It's fast. The course is fast. You don't have to worry about the mud as much of a factor. Having to battle the course conditions can be pretty nasty. Every climb is just a little bit harder. Getting up every little punchy climb is tougher as well. The downhills can be slipperier. So yeah, it definitely makes the race harder. It just makes racing so difficult when you have to deal with the elements and then just wearing on you and your equipment. For the rest day, MTB Himalaya works with Mission Smile in trying to promote healthy lifestyles and sustainable living through respecting the natural resources and keeping the environment clean. I think that's something really important for future generations here in India to value. So that was a really fun day. That's definitely one of the highlights of the trip too. The culture is absolutely amazing. Making great memories. Fantastic experience. Travel around all over India. It's always nice to have a new course in different settings because it keeps it kind of fresh. And I think that's one thing that I really, really enjoy coming here. You had to go into this thinking it's more of an adventure than a race. It just makes for an absolutely incredible experience. Third to last day. Moving at a pretty decent clip. It's definitely frantic on the roads. Even if you stay to the left, you maybe wind up catching somebody in your lane coming around the corner and unless they're hitting a horn, there's just no telling what's going to be coming up on you.