Video: Mountain Biking a Volcano in Indonesia

One of the things I love about mountain biking is that it often allows you to explore on two-wheels places that you might not get a chance to see otherwise. Case in point, int his clip pro rider Kurt Sorge travels to Indonesia to ride an impressive looking trail down a volcano, while another one erupts on the background. It makes for a beautiful setting with a dramatic backdrop to say the least. Where did you ride today?

Video: Mountain Biker Sets New Downhill Speed Record

Mountain biker Max Stöckl has just set a new speed record for the fastest speed downhill, breaking his own mark set back in 2011. At that time, he managed to hit 164.95 km/h (102.4 mph), but with some new science and technology, he was able to eek out just a bit more, hitting 167.6 km/h (104.14 mph) this time out. To achieve these speeds, Max flies down the side of Cerro Negro, a volcano in Nicaragua on a specially designed bike and wearing some specially designed clothing. As you'll see in the clip below, it's all rather crazy. I can't imagine going that fast on a bike. What a ride!

Best Hike Takes Us to the Villarrica Traverse in Chile

While I was spending my time snowshoeing and dogsledding in Canada a few weeks back, my friend Rick McCharles, who runs BestHike.com, was returning home from a month of trekking in Chile. While there, he discovered what he calls the absolute best route in the country while hiking along the Villarrica Traverse, an 81 km (50 mile) walk that he deems as quite challenging.

The hike takes visitors through remote wilderness that is dominated by volcanic peaks throughout the region. Not the least of these volcanoes is the active Villarrica itself, which looms 2860 meters (9380 ft) overhead. The walk itself takes place mostly above treeline, which helps to provide beautiful views throughout the trek, which takes roughly 5-6 days to complete.

As usual, Rick does a great job of providing information to readers about the hike, giving us tips about where to start, when to go, and what to expect along the way. He even writes daily summaries of the traverse, each of which offers really great information for those who would like to make the trek themselves. Not only do these summaries give you insight from someone who is a very experienced backpacker, and has walked some of the most iconic routes in the world, but the photos that are included are wonderful and helpful too.

If you'd like to hike the Villarrica Traverse yourself, read Rick's summary of the hike here, and then read his daily dispatches, which begin with Day 0 where we learn how to get Pucón, the start of the hike itself.

Looks like a great trek. Would love to do this myself at some point.

Video: Mountain Biking Down an Active Volcano

Back in 2000, a volcano on Japan's Miyake Island erupted, prompting the entire population to be evacuated for nearly five years. Since then, the villagers that lived there have slowly returned, although the threat of the volcano still remains. Recently, pro mountain biker Stevie Smith traveled to the remote island to explore that volcano from the back of his bike. He took a small film crew with him to the summit, who captured his epic descent down the spine of the mountain. The results of that effort can be seen below, as he rides along a unique and technical trail through some surprisingly great landscapes.