Video: Tagging along with Rachel Atherton’s downhill championship ride in Vallnord, helmet cam-style

It’s hard to argue with this kind of proximity to a truly hair-raising, white-knuckle championship ride.

Last weekend, Rachel Atherton of Great Britain was crowned champion in the Elite women’s downhill division of the 2015 UCI mountain bike world championships, held in Vallnord, Andorra. It was the culmination of several days’ hard, muddy riding, with the rain slicking the course, and otherwise turning its hairpin descents and hard climbs into a messy obstacle course.

Atherton, though — true to her reputation as one of the world’s cross-country powerhouse riders — prevailed on the challenging course to claim the title.

She also did so with a GoPro on her helmet, documenting every precipitous, fast-paced metre of the competition. Her plunge down the course to La Massana is almost enough to give a viewer the very sensation of adrenaline, the trees whipping past on either side, the cheers from either side of the trail almost enough to give you a second-hand rush. With the sun streaming through the trees, illuminating the thankfully dry, less-harrowing soil of the course, you can also feel the relief of a rider — even one so strong as Atherton, no doubt — upon embarking on such a run, knowing that the chances are so much less for Mother Nature herself to trip up your rubber.

Check it out, and try not to let your palms sweat too much — if you can.