It's fast, it's dangerous, and it's all downhill.
The adrenaline-fuelled sport of downhill mountain biking, or x- (cross) biking, has found a new crowd --
Among the youth of Burma.
The sport has taken off last year and the Burmese national team have high hopes for this years' South East Asia Games.
Mandalay Free Riders - a downhill biking group who have helped the sport take off in a big way in Burma.
Downhill mountain biking – a sport filled with danger, nerve and a thrill for speed.
Over the last year the sport has been introduced into Burma – and it’s a hit with the country’s youth.
Mandalay Hill in central Burma is where it all began. A cycling group known as the Mandalay Free Riders, have helped bring the sport to national attention.
In December Burma will host the SEA Games – and the riders have organized a downhill event to prepare.
Aung Win Tun is from Myanmar Free Riders.
“Downhill will be one of 27th SEA Games sports. So we had to practice on rough terrain. Even though we have been taking part in this sport for some 7 or 8 years, this kind of competition is a very first time.”
The downhill track is on rough terrain. It’s fast and risky. For the Games, the tracks had to be modified to an international standard.
“Without practice, it is impossible to go down the rough road. It will take years to do so. The roads were redesigned so we could be familiar with the rough terrain. If we can overcome these difficulties, we can also make the events in the SEA Games.”
At the Mandalay Free Riders event there’s a mix of professionals and amateurs.
Aung Win says ten participants were injured -- two were taken to hospital.
The next event for the Mandalay Free Riders is the Chiang Mai Downhill Challenge.
Four MFR riders joined up with international riders to take part in their first international event.
But for KoSai, his event was over before he began.
“I couldn't become settled with a new bike because I had to change it twice. In the game, the bike jumped, and I fell down backwards.”
But his team-mate Aung Naing Tun who has been downhilling for seven years got sixth place in the challenge.
But he’s not afraid to admit the change of pace is daunting.
“In the events we had in Mandalay, it could be called downhill, but the speed was not that fast. But these routes are very high speed and we are not familiar with it. We are not used to that much speed and so we are scared of it.”
Other riders are surprised when they find out they are from Burma.
“In the region, it is only Burma who do not send its athletes to regional downhill events. So in the game, nobody believe us when we say I come from Burma. They had never met any Burmese in the past or they have never heard of us competing that before.”
While downhill is new for Burma, it’s neighbor Thailand has taken part in the sport for a decade. And the guys notice the difference.
“Here in Thailand, four-year old kids are training, and at eight they already have pretty good skills - we can hardly compete with them. We are now around 30 years old. It will be good if we should have taking training since we were young.”
In 1976 the world’s first downhill event was held in California. Since then the sport has become popular worldwide.
This year, for the first time Burmese athletes will contest in the downhill event in the regional Games.
“Now sixteen player are selected from our Mandalay Free Riders and the other four are also on traningto participate.”
“We have to work hard to compete at the international level. But hopefully, our players could make one of top three finishers in the upcoming SEA Games events.”
The selection for the national team will happen in a few months time in the capital Naypidaw.
And with the help of the Mandalay free riders, the track is almost up to international standard.
The small biking group that started out with four members now has a crowd of 50. It’s ready to send it’s riders to compete in the big leagues.
Asia better be ready for the Burmese biking invasion.
