Mountain Bikes from an Aerial View

Don't miss this high-energy video - a 2023 FPV Drone Video of the Year nominee - from top AirVuz content creator and first person view (FPV) pilot ShaggyFPV. The incredible flight is a chase of extreme MTB athlete Kade Edwards down the Red Bull Hardline track, found in Dyfi Valley, Wales (UK). The course is known as the world's toughest for mountain bikers, but it was also a challenge for drones due to the sheer size, dense tree cover, and frequent rain. Nonetheless, ShaggyFPV was up to the challenge and created this incredible take on the ride. 

Former Drone Video of the Week Winner oberschneider collaborated with DJI to show off the video capabilities of the DJI Air 3 drone that was released in July of 2023.  The video captures an epic mountain biking ride through the Austrian Alps.  The video was filmed on the border of the state of Tyrol, home to most of the range, and the state of Vorarlberg at the far western tip of the country.  The DJI Air 3 features a dual-primary camera system, up to 46 minutes of flight time, and omnidirectional obstacle sensing.  

Aaron Gwin is a professional downhill mountain biker from Morongo Valley, California, USA. The 31-year-old is a five-time UCI Downhill World Cup Champion and an eight-time USAC Downhill National Champion. Professional pilot and AirVuz FPV Drone Video of the Year Winner JohnnyFPV recently had the chance to work with Gwin as both pros did what they do best - Gwin shredding down the mountain on his bike, JohnnyFPV focusing in and grabbing epic footage of his subject.  This made the FPV Pilots to Watch list in May, 2019.

For an epic mountain biking landscape, it's hard to beat central Spain.  The region is full of mid-sized hills accessible to mountain bikes, unpaved roads, yawning canyons, and uncountable scenes of natural and cultural beauty.  Check out this promotional video for the Spanish mountain bike company Caballero Negro, created by AirVuz contributor alpja drones.  The course runs 300km (about 180 mi) through the mountainous parts of Castile and León, the semi-autonomous region which covers much of west-central Spain.  

AirVuz contributor and drone pilot Julien Ferrandez Photography created this stunning drone video of a mountain biker taking on a rocky ridge in the French Alps.  Watch as this obviously very skilled biker bravely courses through a serpentine mountain-top trail amidst some of the finest natural scenery in Europe.   He's not moving at a crawl, either - at several points in this video the biker gets some serious "air".  Go on this wild ride from an aerial view and feel that flow for yourself.

Top AirVuz contributor and first person view (FPV) pilot airblastr goes on a mountain biking rip session adventure with his buddy at the Copper City Trails in Three Forks, Montana, USA to put his FPV skills to the test. The vast landscape seems to tempt him away from chasing his MTB pal, but he still manages to keep his flight low and his proximity close.  As you can imagine, tracking a fast-moving MTB with a racing quad involves considerable skill, let alone doing so with sufficient precision to keep the footage enjoyable to view. 

If you didn't think that mountain biking and glaciers went together then you need to check out this DVOW Finalist video by contributor Jake Sloan.  Using a DJI Mavic Pro 2 supplemented with ground camera footage, he recorded an epic ride using fat tire mountain bikes over Alaska's Portage Glacier.  The glacier lies on the Kenai Peninsula, which juts out from the state's southern coastline near Anchorage.  The footage of three friends racing along what looks like the world's biggest ice skating rink is not to be missed. 

Have you tried out the ActiveTrack flight mode setting on your DJI Mavic 2 Pro yet? Obnasr4k and his crew did on a recent mountain biking trip through a stretch of the Arabian Desert in the United Arab Emirates and we think it worked out pretty well! Hatta is an exclave of Dubai, the most well-known member of the confederation known as the United Arab Emirates. Located high in the Al Hajar Mountains, it is a popular getaway spot for residents of Dubai (and also Abu Dhabi, the UAE's second city) to travel to in the summer to escape the heat.  

The North Cascades of Washington, United States, is a vast wilderness of conifer-clad mountains, glaciers and lakes. They are located northwest of Seattle, near the Canadian border.  AirVuz contributor Chris Neibauer takes us on one epic ride around the mountains on dirt bikes in this edit. Shot with both GoPros and drone footage, you get both the intense impact on the ground cameras attached to the bikers mixed with the awe-inspiring beauty that is the mountain range in fall from above. 

Flylifeco has made quite a name for himself in the Colorado FPV crowd. His mountain, bridge, snow-covered peaks and other locations are almost trade secrets at this point due to how much recognition he deservedly gets over his cinematic pieces. This time around he’s following a mountain biker as he shreds down the rocky cliff alongside “oceans of Aspens.” It’s a great tracking piece with plenty of ghost branches to avoid along the way; no surprise, this video was picked for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in August, 2019.

Dig that slow-motion, up-close-and-personal style of FPV flying? Pilot prisvanrees will bring it to you in this FPV drone by mountain bike tracking video. He’ll set the scene by showing off the tricked-out Red Bull trucks parked around the event, then get right into the of things, following riders as they take to the dirt mounds and fly high off the course jumps. The slow-motion effect he’ll add in post-production brings the whole flight just one level higher, earning himself a spot on the FPV Pilots to Watch list in May of 2019.

Fly along with former DVOW Finalist Ori Feldman as he tracks a mountain biker making his way through the mountains of southern Israel.  Shot with a DJI Mini Pro 3 drone, the film captures the biker traveling from the town of Arad eastwards through the mountains of the Judean Desert towards the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on earth with an altitude of 1.4k ft. below sea level (a little over 400 m).  In addition to being difficult terrain, this is also home to some of the world's highest temperatures during the summer months.  

Top AirVuz contributor FPVFlow used a first person view (FPV) drone to capture the excitement from well-known biking "Enduro" race in the Italian Alps.  The four-day race was held in August, 2022.  The event, which was open to only 85 qualified riders,  runs along the Varaita Valley in the province of Cuneo, in the southwestern part of the Piedmont region, not far from the French border.  This video was picked by the AirVuz editorial staff for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in September of 2022.  

With foothills that come up nearly to the Mediterranean coast, the Costa Brava area of northeastern Spain has become extremely popular with mountain bikers.  The steepness of the hills allows them to be climbed by (physically fit) mountain bikers, and the downhill runs provide epic views of the blue waters of the Mediterranean.  Swiss contributor Ultraprod created this beautiful drone video of the mountain biking scene in the area of Tossa de Mar, about halfway between Barcelona and the French border.

Flying a first person view (FPV) drone through a dense forest requires some serious FPV piloting skills.  The same can be said for chasing a fast-moving "subject" like an expert mountain bikers.  How about chasing an expert mountain biker through a dense forest?(!)  It's certainly a challenging objective even for the most skilled FPV pilot, and top AirVuz contributor janxfpvdrone pulls it off brilliantly in this excellent piece.  In recognition of the feat this required, we put this video on the FPV Pilots to Watch list in June of 2020.