Video: Impressive Urban Downhill Bike Races · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

In the town of Valparaiso in Chile,  a downhill mountain bike competition has been taking place for the last 10 years; the Valparaíso Cerro Abajo cup. What makes it different from many other downhill races is the location: this race takes place in the city streets and sidewalks.
Here is a video showing a competitor doing a trial run before the actual race, zig-zagging through the streets guided by plastic lines and cheered by onlookers:
And it seems that not only dogs are  likely to walk into the cyclists’ path as can be seen in this next video where a person seems more interested in recording the race than in getting out of the way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiUja3r_EWU
And in this video, riders in quick succession are seen sorting the obstacles, racing down steps in sidewalks, riding onto walls and jumping off ramps:
But not only Chile has downhill races in urban areas: this next race, recorded through  helmet cam shows a course that crisscrosses a town in Sarajevo,  Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Or how about this one in the colonial city of Taxco, Mexico, that even goes through people's homes?
It's not all fun and games: in this race in Cuzco, Peru you can see some of the riders take spills and fall off their bikes: