Landscapes Volume One: Logan Binggeli

The idea of the Landscapes series is very much along the lines of an MTV Cribs episode, except told through photos - and lots of them. I presented the idea to Logan Binggeli and Quinton Spaulding from KHS and they were game to give it a go. So, after the last round of the Nevada State Championships, aka the DVO Reaper Madness, I traveled out to St. George, Utah to catch up with Logan, to get a perspective of what it's like to be both a Three-Time National Champion and a podium finisher at the 2012 Red Bull Rampage.

Stunning scenery and a pretty legit house greeted me as I arrived around noon on a Monday. Normally Logan's rest and recovery day is Monday, but today he would show me around the house and then would head out in search of some of the most epic photo oportunities in the area.


Day One - The House that Logan Built

(Ok well, he didn't actually build it, but there is certainly a lot of purpose behind the arrangement.)



The corners of Logan's garage are filled with helmets, riding apparel, boots, shoes, goggles, you name it. It's almost like walking into your local bike shop, except with larger than life checks handing on the walls, and a Jet Ski and a new Kawasaki KX450.


One of the helmets laying on the top of a substantial tool chest was this matte black IXS matte black with an All Mountain Cyclery decal on the side. Logan explained that for the last 3-5 years, AMC has helped him with parts and weird one-off set-ups. For that reason, Logan felt it was appropriate to endorse them, doing so most recently at the Bootleg finals, where the AMC had a fair amount of podium finishers including Binggeli who took the third step.


Steve Woods, or Steve-O, grew up in Cape Cod and at age ten, decided he wanted to build the biggest dirt trails around. Growing up watching local Kyle Ebett, was all the inspiration he needed. All through middle school he worked in local bike shops as a mechanic, which lead to a being a full-time bike shop manager. He was motivated to move to an area where freeriding and building trails was a lifestyle, so in 2007, he moved 2800 miles to Utah. In search of bike parts one day, Steve ended up on Pinkbike and connected with Logan Binggeli.


After Steve dialed in Logan's bikes, we hit the road to the first of several stunning riding locations. I have seen plenty of rad spots in my life and the locations near Logan's house are on the top of those charts.


Day One - XC Anyone?

The trail near the Quail Creek State Park, which borders an amazing landscape of typical red rock plateaus and a blue man-made lake, had some pretty awesome features, including a bench for reflecting on the day's riding, or maybe if your man bun is in order.



After riding the XC bike a bit, Logan wanted to show me a new trail that he and Steve-O recently finished. I'm not going to mention any details regarding its location or even what they've named it, but I can tell you it took them approximately 48 hours to build and it took us almost two hours to cover it while we were shooting. I think it offers the best views I've seen on any riding trail, ever, although it's not for the faint of heart or the weak skilled rider. Leave the trail bikes at home and bring the big boy machines. As we drove up the road, which is a perfect shuttle segment, I was looking for the trail and simply couldn't spot it. We pulled over on a turn-off.

Me: What's Wrong
Logan: We're here

I jumped out of his Toyota Tacoma, four-banger and went to the edge of the tarmac, to find an absolutely demented drop in.

Logan: Go back on the road and catch me on the drop in with a long lens.
Me: Sure and then how do I get down to you?
Logan: Well, you're not riding it.






Big mountain riding in Virgin Utah. The backdrops are perfect, the colors vibrant and the riding - well I don't think words can describe it. After that drop was a couple more turns, with amazing backdrops that lead to a ridiculous cliff drop.




Logan: I don't care where you shoot this drop from, I just want it to show how big it is.

Not sure if I pulled it off. The drop here was easily 8-10 feet. After the cliff drop there is a rad dragon tail sweeper and then another big hit, which we couldn't shoot because of a gnarly crosswind. This was the exit of the trail, a smooth drop off seemingly to nowhere.


After checking out the private trails, we decided to head over to the line up of Rampage sites. The weather was plaguing Logan's efforts to find a big sender or transfer line, so we decided to settle on the 2004 Rampage location, which offered a little more protection from the wind and a nice ridgeline for some traditional silhouette photos.



Logan: Man this time change is weird.
Me: Yeah, we have more daylight to work with, we should hit another spot.
Logan: I know another spot that will still have tons of light to work with. Jump in the truck.



The clouds and colors were epic for sure! I was pretty sketched out on the crosswinds as Logan rode and I hiked the ridge. Exposure on both sides had me thinking it was time to call it quits for the day, but Logan had a couple more bangers to nail.


Logan: I'm gonna drop in here.
Me: Seriously?
Logan: Yep.
Me: Well, the light will look epic.

The line had never been ridden. It was fundamental freeriding. Hike a ridgeline and drop in. Lock up the brakes and surf the hero dirt of Virgin Utah. Results!



Me: So what's on the agenda for tomorrow?
Logan: Gym Time!
Me: Well then I'm gonna need some food.
Logan: Do you like Mexican Food?
Me: I'm from Cali man, of course!

We hit a locals spot, no mainstream chain restaurant or fast food. It hit the spot.

Me: So what time do you hit the gym?
Logan: 10:30 to Noon.
Me: If I'm not up by 9:30am wake me up.


Day Two - Rise and Shine it's Business Time
Logan is a business man. He gets up every morning, reads his emails while drinking one of his usual 2-4 cups of coffee per day. He says, "I really feel like a lot of 'pro' riders sell themselves short because they are not good at the business side of things." In the time I spent at his place, he certainly takes a break from time to time, but most of his day was spent on the phone, working deals, talking with companies, heck he even received a message from a company that wanted him to shoot a commercial while I was there.



Binggeli certainly doesn't have a shortage on awards and trophies. In moto he raced 4 or 5 world minis with top 15 finishes. He took 3rd place in 2012 at Rampage and on the DH side he has 3 National Titles. His trophy room is also his office.


Day Two - Do You Even Lift?

Logan's not one for game faces, but know that his focus is solid. I think he was more relaxed as we were shooting, so the regime was not as strict to allow the flexibility of getting the goods.


Functional Training is what Official Strength and Athletics is all about. Logan found Cade Cowdin after training crossfire for three years. Logan said, "I knew I needed something different so I went and found him to work on more explosion and get leaner and snappier".




Cade then had Logan doing intervals back and forth from weights to jumping on the blocks, increasing the weight of the plates and the bands along with the height of the blocks. Logan wrapped up his workout and headed to get his freeze on.


Day Two - Got Moto?






Day Two - Skins Suits are So Aero!


Me: Do you know how many watts you can put down?
Logan: I've never really paid much attention to those sorts of numbers, I just go hard. That's it!

When we got back to the house the sun was setting, and I asked him if there was anything else we should include.

Me: What about the roll in?
Logan: Nah man, I don't want to include that. That's my private training. I just want people to see the finished product.
Me: Logan, get Steve over here and let's shoot it. It would be the perfect platform to show people how dedicated you are. What inspired you to build that thing anyway?
Logan: I focus 100% on DH racing, but still want to learn the tricks. Of course, a lot of motivation comes from Rampage. I had a 14th place finish with my biggest trick being a suicide no hander. I just want to stay on the curve of tricks in the freeride world.
Me: So then show people how you're doing that?
Logan (on the phone): Steve, get over here we're gonna shoot the roll in!


The roll-in is a fully custom ramp with a 12' drop into Logan's backyard. He and Steve built it together, and it was done right too. It's welded and reinforced even under the roof tiles and a roofer was hired to ensure the substructure would support the weight without compromising the house construction. This is just the 3rd time he had ever hit the roll in, and he sent a perfect 360. It was truly the perfect way to end an amazing two days of capturing the Landscape of Logan's lifestyle.

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