Matt MacDuff: Loop Of Doom - Video
On Saturday, March 19th, Matt Macduff sustained a terrible fall attempting to make his way around the Loop Of Doom. After over 3 years of research, determination, and hard work, Matt had managed find everything he needed to make his project happen. Built in a month at the Garden Route Trail Park, the gigantic structure rose 40 Ft into the sky. The crash left him with 10 fractures in his right wrist and 3 in his right ankle. The story behind the stunt is as impactful as the structure itself. A real story of determination. After spending a week in a South African hospital, Matt is now home in Ontario, working on his rehabilitation. Already able to walk, we caught up with him to get his take on his incredible story. In the previous posts about the Loop of Doom, there was a lot of interrogations from the readers. In this interview, we did our best to cover all the aspects of this project. Keep on reading to take a quick journey through the mind of a young man that is determined to leave an impact on the sport he loves.
TR: I know it’s been a long time in the making, but when did you first start thinking about one day hitting a 40ft loop?
Matt: I’ve always seen the loop as a key part of action sports' history. Once I mastered the 20ft one, I came to realize that the loop could be ridden at a much larger scale.
TR: Do you remember when you rolled up the thing?
Matt: It happened faster than you can snap your fingers. I got in that thing and I was like ‘’oh my god I can’t move!’’. I didn’t know it at the time but I was pulling some crazy G’s…. As soon as I hit the top it was like an explosion… I found forces that I didn’t even know existed… I just compressed and I couldn’t control my bike. Then I remember being in the air. I couldn’t believe what happened… But luckily the fall was so huge that I was able to come to my senses of what was happening to me. When I realized “you peeled off the side of the loop man!” My first thought was… “You shouldn’t have done that man, you’re gonna die!’’ It’s weird because time kinda slowed down a bit. I just peeked my head over, and saw where I was gonna land, I knew that this isn’t gonna feel the best… but I knew that I was gonna live. I knew right away I can survive that impact, maybe I’m not gonna die, I might lose my legs. I remember seeing where I was gonna land and just prepared for landing. Just like when you jump off a 40ft cliff. It’s the same thing just... no water.
 | Just like when you jump off a 40ft cliff. It's the same thing just... no water. - Matt Macduff |
TR: Maybe it’s too early to ask it but I’ll just ask it anyway. Considering that right now you are pretty messed up physically, would you consider giving it another try?
Matt: You know what man, I just want to live in the present moment and not think about the future or the past. But if someone would offer me a platform where I believe that I could succeed, I’m not gonna lie man... 100% I’m gonna try it again, because I know it's possible.
To learn more about Matt and his Loop of Doom, click here to read the full Interview on The Rise.
We want to thank all of the people that supported the Loop of Doom project through Kickstarter, O'Neal, Kali Protectives, Azonic, Five Ten, and Mud Rocker for their support, and special thanks to Northman Co. for helping Matt with his recovery.
 |
MENTIONS: @the-rise / @mattmacduff / @KaliProtectives / @onealmtb / @azonicusa / @FiveTen
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
[UPDATED] Final Elite XC Results & Overall Standings from the Mairiporã XC World Cup 2024
41948 views
41948 views
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
Also, I used the equation toward the bottom of the page to try and determine the amount of acceleration he was experiencing when he came out of the loop. I plugged in values by guesstimating the speed, height, angle, and radius and came up with 3.35 G's, which may not seem like a lot, but most roller coasters don't exceed 3 G's at any point and that's sitting down. Matt is standing up when going through the loop and is thus trying to squat or maintain position while sustaining 3.35 times his body weight due to the normal force being exerted off of the ramp. I don't think this trick is possible without sitting down.
scienceblogs.com/dotphysics/2009/08/31/5th-gear-loop-the-loop
1) We're not dicks.
2) We have better things to do with our time.
3) Insulting people based on nationality when neither their nationality nor yours is present in their statement is just plain childish and shows a genuine lack of intelligence.
4) It has nothing to do with the topic at hand.
All that being said, I'm sure it fell on deaf ears. So happy trolling.
I cant help but wonder about the line of attack though. With the current setup, you fly straight down the ramp and as you hit the loop you have to turn slightly to complete the loop. You may have already thought of this but what would happen if you skewed the angle of attack to line up with the loop? That would make it straight, no turns. Any thoughts?
That was a scary video. Heal up quick!
So at the speed he hit it, the ramp needed to be an even bigger diameter to be rideable. The cruel irony of physics.
What happened?
Matt rode this loop, but the (centripet) force was too big.
What can yo do to lower the centripet force?
1.- Lower the speed.
This has a limit, if you go too slow you will fall down
2.- Change the geometry of the loop
a) change the height, Matt wants to ride a 40ft loop, so you CAN'T change the height because that's the f*cking purpose of the stunt, ride a 40ft loop.
b) change the curvature, if you make the loop more wide it will have less force.
why he uses this shape and not a circle? because the force that you fell is pushing you towards the loop (the g's he talks about in the interview, the centripet force I have been talking about) depends on two things, the curvature radius and the speed that you are going.
More Speed -> More force
More curvature radius -> Less force
This shape makes the centripet force constant, when you go up in the loop you start going slower, but the radius of cuvature gets smaller to compensate your lost of speed making the force constant. That's why is wider on the bottom, because you have more speed.
He just was too fast
Wish you a speedy recovery man!!!
This project is stupid and ill planned out. Maybe consult a something with an advanced degree in physics and make sure the run in and loop radius are correct. A railing at the top of the run in would be simple and useful.
If this is the man's lifelong dream that is rather sad. The risk/reward just doesn't make sense. Risk is death or paralysis. Reward is entertaining some folks on the internet for a week or so until the next spectacle takes place.
I write this because I love cycling and have for about 25 years, I do not want to see someone get killed or seriously injured for a stupid stunt.
planned or not MacDuff isn't doing this for a few minutes of internet fame.
With a Red Bull budget I'm sure it could be done safer, you know, like how Rampage is?
Next time you fly on a plane, or use a GPS or any global communications tech etc. remember how dumb it was for all those with balls you wish you had to venture out & explore possibilities.
You're a pussy, we get it. That doesn't mean everyone else has to be. Go worship Robbie Knievel or sump'm lame-o.
@Trials-FTW:
We really do not need to lower ourselves to name calling because we disagree. The other users who disagreed with my comments did so in a civil and respectful manner. I have to ask that you keep pinkbike free from this type of behavior, this is a good website and community lets keep it that way.
You're not out of bounds. If Matt & crew consulted any one other than welders and carpenters, they didn't mention it.
His comments about the run in seem to indicate they built a loop of 40 feet and then just built a massive run in. No science, no math, no expert consultation. Stunts on this scale always have a professional consultant who can work out the numbers for them. Then if he failed, OK. This was literally just a shot in the dark.
And you're right that safety precautions were not taken. Seriously, a circus cargo net is easy to come by. All he needs is a 10 x 10 foot hole at the entrance of the loop to squirt through. Not that hard. This is a massive stunt and he just looks dumb.
Go as big as your heart desires McDuff, but damn son. A few thousand more dollars of suspended cargo netting and you do that thing a few dozen times to your heart's desire.
I stood on the wall the summer after Josh Bender hucked off the wall at Deer Valley, Utah. To see it in person is to know that there was NO landing and he WOULD crash. There was NO WAY OUT of that stunt. He did it anyway and if you ever have the chance to stand on that wall in Deer Valley, you WILL know what I mean.
Don't fool yourself when you see him case and it looks like he can ride it out. That ditch at the bottom was HUGE and if he had landed, rather than catapulted, he'd have hit an uphill ditch at roughly 40mph and probably snapped both wrists. Tough to see in the video, but I've seen the world's best riders in person pull off amazing feats.
Bender was stupid that day, not tough. He had no out though...too afraid to back out of it, knowing he was going to crash.
McDuff had every opportunity to do a legit, huge and ground breaking stunt.
Agree with what you are saying. I feel the same way about Bender. I recall watching him try the jaw drop in high school on the videos. The landing was nowhere near steep enough and was also too sandy and loose. Again like you said no planning = no success.
And just remember, we're only just beginning to discover what humans are truly capable of~ after all, we're all made of stardust.
Then, when you see the picture... you can't even fathom a happy ending... then you see a f*cked wrist and ankle (even though f*cked thoroughly), and you are like: this is f*cking incredible! Hopefully the recovery goes well and fast.
He may have chosen to be ultimately hardcore, but I'm pretty well pissed now that I realize a big energy drink company and every media outlet that gets a few bucks for reposting the video gets to cash in on his project that SHOULD have had proper funding. International media just gets to get a lot more clicks from the crash footage than the lander even.
@mattmacduff I know we "learn" from experiences brother, but I would have been a hell of a lot more stoked to see those companies that half ass backed you insist on and/or pay for some simple safety precautions to protect you...the athlete and dreamer.
It also seems as though an airbag next to the loop (as others have done for loops) could have been a smart idea.
Brakes aren't expensive, they're not heavy & they expand the capabilities of your bicycle so much more than taking them off does. Might be something to consider. Especially on a 26". Either that or lower the ramp or move it farther back. Hard tires on hard dirt that close to the loop means little speed will be dissipated by the time you get there just from air & rolling resistance.
Could put maybe a fitty long & low in front for a speed check. Air bags, mulch, loose dirt piles or ponds dug in at the crash zones might be a good idear too.
In my head it looks like it prevents you from using your maximum G force to early by being less of a tight curve initially, then tightening at the top so you G out hard at the top preventing you from dropping out of the air?
I'm sure some one will correct me with some maths that I won't understand if I'm wrong haha !
The loop is shaped like an Ellipse. Mathemathically, it's the best design to prevent the object from stalling as it gets to the highest point.
Imagine going up the loop. It increases the curvature as you go to the highest point to maximize the g-forces. This keeps you glued to the track surface. If it were a regular circle, you start to experience weightlessness the higher you go as gravity would have then caught up with you.
Guys got extra large attachments, obviously.
Well...Chuck Norris would have done it with Rollerblades though.
It is pg-13
I've got loads of respect for the guy but no doubt he had help from someone to do the calculations and that person messed up big time. You want to experience a positive g load in that loop because a negative g load isn't possible, it means you're coming off the track. But positive is anything over 0g. From what he said, he must have been at something like 6g or over. Of course close to 0g must be scary because it feels like you're falling, but a fit person like him must have been able to function perfectly fine at 3g or so. To put it in perspective, jet fighter pilots are supposed to sustain 9g (positive) and still be able to control the aircraft. Of course they're in a recumbent position and are wearing suits that help.
So really he should carry less speed, start lower on that ramp. Experiment with smaller loops and figure out how much g feels best. Find an envelope within which you want to stay. Then translate that to how high on the ramp you want/have to start. You can't stop the guy if he really wants to do it, but you can give him the preparation so that he has a fair chance to pull it off.
I sincerely hope he recovers fully and by the time he does another attempt, that he can be confident that he can make it.
Not yours !
And it's far from a waste it's seriously huge landmark thing to do in your riding career, imagine having the memory of building this and nailing it, a seriously amazing highlight clip to play over and over in your head for the rest of your life.
As soon as you ride some thing you have built and enjoy it you pretty much forget about to the work you put in.
I don't.
has anyone done the math?