There are some venues that are naturally tailored for downhill mountain biking. The trails of Morzine for example, or the tracks at Fort William in the Scottish Highlands.
One place you wouldn’t expect to appear on such a list, however, is Iwashimizu Hachiman-gu – a Japanese shrine that dates back to 859AD.
The shrine is in Yawata, south of Kyoto, and it was originally formed to enshrine “Hachiman, the God of War, associated with the mythical Emperor Ojin”. Obviously.
More recently, the shrine has become a hotspot for a cheeky bit of DH, with Red Bull bringing their ‘Holy Ride’ event there for the fourth year in a row a couple of weeks back.
The event sees over 100 riders take part in a one kilometre race that incorporates a full 400 steps, and as you can see from the footage above, it’s pretty much just absolute carnage.
The concept behind the event is definitely a cool one, and you’ll probably agree that the event is pretty sick as well after having a look above!
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