The bicycle is for him a passport to travel the world and to open up to others. With his mountain bike, Kilian Bron brings back videos of his travels that thrill bike enthusiasts as well as escape enthusiasts.
To make the episodes of his videos, he descended the highest dune in the world in Peru, he went to New Zealand to storm the slopes of White Island, a volcano known for its sulfur emanations and its acid lakes, and he hiked the steep cliff sides of the Dolomites in Italy.
At the beginning of December, Kilian Bron left for Reunion to compete in the Mégavalanche, one of the most legendary and unmissable mountain bike races in the world. He finished sixth in the event.
At the microphone of Bixente Lizarazu, the extreme mountain biker looks back on his route and his most impressive descents.
I’ve been riding a bike for 15 years, more than half of my life after all, and I’m still learning, I’m learning every day. – Kilian Bron
On the top of the Dolomites mountains
Among the extreme missions carried out by Kilian Bron, there is the Dolomites in Italy. The French rider has gained height to engage at full speed on the peaks of the Italian Alps, sometimes evolving one meter from the precipice. “On a super narrow path of a few centimeters, I have on my right a cliff which is several hundred meters, and, on my left, a lifeline that I will graze with my handlebars of two or three centimeters”, he says.
In these conditions where the risk of falling into a vacuum is omnipresent, Kilian Bron assures us that the mind is more important than the technique. You have to be able to disregard the void, while focusing on the exact line on which the wheels of the bike should rest.
To achieve such spectacular feats, Kilian Bron explains to Bixente Lizarazu that there are a huge amount of preparation and anticipation, both physically and technically.
I don’t like this term hothead when you see my images at first glance and for people who don’t know me. There is a lot of work behind it and a lot of anticipation. – Kilian Bron
To be able to shoot the video in the Dolomites, he made a lot of upstream research. He then left in spotting in the region with a guide friend for two weeks. Several days of walking in the greatest autonomy followed to bring his bike to the starting point of the descent.
Kilian Bron confides that it is in these moments when he risks his life that he feels living. In fifteen years, he has lived extraordinary experiences that he will not soon forget. They are his source of motivation to go even further, aware that everything could stop overnight.