At last count, there were 8,389 crash videos uploaded to Pinkbike. YouTube surfing always leads to a crash video. Spectators gather in great numbers at events in part because of the allure of danger. Heck, the success of my own career as a pro trials rider arose because of my ability to flirt with the potential of a crash. Clearly people ‘like’ watching crashes, so what’s with our cultural crash fascination?
Here's one of many failed attempts of the chainride video from CRUX I shared last monthAre we evolving into more intelligent creatures or is our entertainment culture dumbing us down? That’s the question posed in the Mike Judge movie “Idiocracy”, where he humorously explores what would happen if dumb people mindlessly reproduced and smart people chose not to because they don’t trust the future. In the movie, a doctor reports about one of the ‘dumb’ people: “Clevon is lucky to be alive, he attempted to jump a jet ski from a lake into a swimming pool and impaled his crotch on an iron gate, but thanks to recent advances in stem-cell research and the fine work of Dr. Krenski and Altschuller, Clevon should regain full reproductive function.” Clevon in the background is heard saying to the doctor, “Get your hands off my junk.” Funny movie, but the thing is, the plot is eerily believable.
The Three Stooges performed slapstick physical humour to elicit a humorous emotional release for viewers, that was intentional. America’s Funniest Home Videos provides a similar laughable experience for viewers largely from unintentional and stupid accidents. The Jackass folks intentionally perform risky physical acts to bring about an emotional response. Red Bull Stratos was a life or death risk for Felix Baumgartner, one which captivated some 8 million live-stream viewers. These spectacles provide spectators an acceptable way to release their emotions.
From my old film Manifesto showing a relatively low risk sequence with the crashes necessary to complete the line.Historically speaking, the evidence shows we are growing ever more sophisticated in what we accept as entertainment. Gladiators were armed entertainers in the Roman Empire who fought other gladiators and wild animals. Entering the arena by choice, they risked their lives for admiration and were celebrated widely. Sound familiar? We do praise those who take risks for our entertainment, and the crash is an inevitable part of the show. The difference between then and now is that it is no longer socially acceptable to kill another human or creature for entertainment purposes, but, it is still socially acceptable to risk our own lives; the evidence comes from healthily rewarding those who do risk everything in hopes that they’ll do it again.
A mixed emotion film shoot for Kranked 6.While I have great admiration for the highly developed talents of the riders in Crankworx, I find it uncomfortable to watch, I shudder when I empathize with the feeling of a rider at the start gate ‘entering the arena’ exposing himself to danger. While I maintain they're not crazy, as discussed
in my last article, they gotta do what they gotta do, and to do so I’ve even heard of riders chugging a beer before a run to numb out the fear. In Warren Farrell’s book ‘The Myth of Male Power’, he says. “When I see how our cheers encourage boys to swallow their fears and repress their tears, we realize it is time to repress our cheers so our boys can express their fears.” The spectator is morally implicated in the rider's performance. Where do you sit in this relationship? It’s nice to be able to sit back and point fingers when things go wrong, but we need to own our part, and take responsibility for the risks we encourage our friends and our sport heroes to take.
Mike Montgomery at the point of no return.Upon witnessing a crash, we have an emotional response. It can come out as laughter or a gasp - even watching someone seriously injure themselves can be met with strange emotional expressions, but that might be just a sign of our (perhaps limited) emotional intelligence. As a kid, I remember it being more socially acceptable to laugh at the geek being tormented rather than having a more accurate heart-breaking response. As a rider, there comes a time when submitting to the cheers by ‘manning up’ is actually a cowardly act, and if something goes wrong it’s just not cool.
Taking a hard look at myself transformed how I approached my career as a pro trials rider. I needed moral and emotional development to untangled my true-self from the cheers to go bigger. Doing this personal work provided me with conscious choice, and I used it to guide my influence as a pro in ways that aligned with my deepest values. In videos I began choosing lines that were more technical and closer to the ground - train tracks and chains instead of roof beams. I began to notice my ego’s need for external validation during trials shows and replaced it with a more personal and interactive approach. As I reduce the risks I take on my bike the hero spotlight fades, but I find my enjoyment of riding and ability to contribute in meaningful ways rising.
Ride On!
Ryan Leech is widely considered to be one of the most progressive and technically skilled mountain bikers in the world. Intimate with the benefits of yoga for a thriving pro career, he got certified to teach and thus began injecting a new generation of cyclists with the body mind intelligence necessary for long term optimal performance.
As a Professional Integral Coach™, he works privately with people, such as pro athletes, during transition to help them discover what’s next more quickly and with less suffering.
dirt.mpora.com
I've been riding long enough and have had enough bad crashes, that I hate watching crash videos. Maybe if the average person crawled out of their safety bubble, took some risks and failed, they might realize how devastating the results of crash videos can actually be. A 5-second Redbull clip can be a lifetime in a wheelchair for an actual person. Get out there and live your lives people, experience the world.
This right here is the meaning of life in one sentence. It takes acceptance of our vulnerabilities to be a true hero, because true courage can't exist without vulnerability. There is nothing heroic about recklessly flirting with a future spent in a wheel chair, flushing down the toilet the gift of being able to walk or feed ourselves, just for a moment of cheer in the spotlight.
thanks for your view..........
myself and evel knievel would argue to the death that you are 100% wrong,... but ya, thanks for YOUR view.
who cares if ya can walk when you have the talent and desire to fly...?...
not i.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=llzIVDbvSAc
amen brother.
But also take care. I'm sure there are a lot of people around you whose lives are made better when they see in good cheer and good health.
Another point is that our sport is young, not just in terms of it being a sport, but in the median age that it tends to attract. At least with the dirt jumping and downhilling.. Which tends to lead to a fair amount of recklessness and testosterone. Which seems to lead to daredevil attempts that we normally wouldn't try...
It will be interesting to see how all of these concussed and brain injured riders make out in the long run... Just think of the crashes at Red-Bull Rampage, Crankworx, and all the dirt jumps and downhill courses... It adds up.. and adds up... and adds up... Checkout a movie/documentary called (I think it's called) MindGames... About head injuries in sports.. It'll rattle your nerves. Having suffered a head injury myself, every time a rider goes down and hits their head I just cringe knowing how it feels and what it feels like for months after... and how it can change their lives completely.
I guess my question to myself and to you Ryan is this. How do we encourage our sport to grow without others taking the inherent risks needed to push it further? But perhaps that is the problem... We are by nature drawn to the train wrecks around us.. it just seems like we can't turn away...
Other than that, just like other physical sports, dangers are involved. Most riders know there are risks involved, and eventually it will bite you. I raced motocross for 13 years before making the switch which gave me the understanding to respect my limits and work on them slowly. Crash videos give anybody new to the sport the sort of reality check of what CAN happen if you push too hard or just make a simple mistake. Yeah, watching a heavily edited video with awesome runs and no crashes may look way sweeter in the long run, but it can jade the watcher over time.
Rant over, and I'm blaming this rant on having a few drinks. Party on and let the discussion flow over this awesome article.
Sometimes it takes finding out the hard way before this sinks in..did for me anyway!
A foam pit shows me I can't do a back flip on a mountain bike and a 360 is still a little beyond my reach but why should I fear the ten foot drop? A fail could land me in the hospital (and years of debt), but not doing it puts a cap on what I can do.
I guess we all need to be smart about it. There are other areas to grow. I can get faster, become a better climber.
That is part of the excitement about enduro for me. It requires skills I haven't finished growing, but are less likely to end me. It gives me a new area to grow.
Still, even as I get better I worry that I'll find a new limit of what I can do safely. What do I do when I find going any faster on an enduro run is likely to lead to a bad crash? Move on to xc?
I'd like to think that with enduro I've found a niche I can stick with. My skills will balance out my glory seeking and I will be faster and faster without risking control.
Come on elite riders, lead by example and encourage young riders and fans to experience their thrill by appropriately protecting themselves whilst seeking the rush of going big!
What I fail to understand is the mocking from within our own community this brings with it. Yes, I'll sweat like a b*tch on the climbs. Yes, a full face helmet is daft unless your coming down but once your into the descents, it all makes perfect sense. Apparently it's not ok to make sure you can enjoy the sport you love by staying injury free and not becoming an injured burden to your family. Apparently it much cooler to wear as little protection as possible and go much slower to therefore avoid crashing and have no need for any kind of protection in the first place.I suspect that the ones who mock those who wear spine protectors are the very same who "enjoy a good, bone crunching crash video".
My question is..Why is it so many Pinkbike users raise questions about the intelligence of a BMX rider who chooses to jump 8ft onto concrete without a helmet , yet think it's "way cool Bro" for somebody to compete at Rampage/Crankworx whilst wearing a helmet and a tank top?
I agree that most people are natural thrill seekers and that if they don't have the nerve to do it themselves they seek role-models to do it for them. I disagree with the conclusion that as we become dulled to the role-model's excesses we inevitably drive the role-model to ever greater excess.
At Joyride this weekend I was pushing myself and doing bigger jumps than I had thought possible 3 years ago (the first time I went). Many injuries later (including my 1st concussion and the associated 5 months of post-concussion syndrome) the sky has become the limit for me and I can now see myself conquering the biggest jump line there eventually! I know it's high consequence but I believe it's possible and I want it! Not for the high 5s or being one of few girls who can do it but because *I* want to be able to do it! It's a fine line... poignant article, I like when attention is drawn to these sorts of things.
I think there's a fine line between spectators being entertained and having a morbid curiousity about death and crashes. My own crash shattered my hand and took my riding away from me for a couple months yet the girlfriend still doesn't fully understand how I was utterly fascinated with my injury rather than be concerned or worried. I don't either. Unless someone gets caught up in some kind of bloodlust mass mentality, seeing riders successfully perform high risk feats is far more entertaining (huge adrenalin rush) than seeing their crashes. Although I do pay way more attention when crashes do occur out of curious fascination.
There will always be new riders pushing limits, and big crowds demanding more. I appreciate all the work riders do to push limits, but I especially respect those who maintain the ride to ride philosophy and don't just ride for the spectators.
I like comedy crash videos best, and I like people to walk away. Some are so stupid you have to laugh, but these tend to be low risk (as much as the sport allows). Anything where they don't doesn't really sit comfortably - Rampage is just scary as discussed.
The only thing I would add is that without crashing people wouldn't realise how skilled people actually are. The way the stunts get progressively bigger you need something to hold you back. The crashes show us where the limit of the sport is... Rampage is Rampage because of the risk for example.
Bottom line is: "Don`t be risking your life or health for someone elses cheap thrill."
I also only ride and stuff that give me 99 % confidence to ride it out.. and i still have the time of my life everytime ride my bike. And crashes aren`t excluded althou those 99%.
Because flow happens when/where your skills intersect with challenge.