A Rampage of Emotion

“Do you wanna follow me?” Kyle Strait asks a clearly stressed Kelly McGarry in the final hours of practice for the 2014 Red Bull Rampage. Kelly nods his head and the two prod up the side of a way-too-steep cliff face for maximum speed into a stepdown that accesses the lower part of the 2014 Red Bull Rampage venue. Kyle clears the feature with no problem. Kelly cases it slightly and walks back up, stares at the take off and sets his bike down.


A small crowd of riders, diggers, and media has assembled in the perfect Sunday evening light. No one says anything to Kelly. They watch silently as he stares at the dirt with who-knows-what swirling in his head. Long shadows are cast by the surrounding red mesas, but perhaps the longest shadow is cast by Kelly himself. After suffering one of the most grotesque crashes ever witnessed in practice on Thursday, he’s clearly feeling uneasy and unsure about what line he wants to ride, and that’s not a fun place to be just 16 hours before the finals are set to start.


Emotions. They’ve been running rampant all week long, and the closer we get to finals, the heavier they become. This is a unique thing in our sport. While World Cups and slopestyle events have their fair share of stress, Rampage stirs up something deep inside of the people closest to the event. The chosen lines are inherently dangerous. The work that goes into building a line is serious labor and protecting your investment from poaching is no joke. Big (at least for biking) prize money is on the line. Some of these riders may have total career trajectory changes depending on their results. Team managers, girlfriends, wives, and parents are genuinely concerned for the safety of the riders. It’s almost as if people walk around with some sort of unspoken gut-wrenching feeling, but no one wants to really talk about it.


Welcome to Rampage.

We’re all invested in this sport to varying degrees, but what really starts to show is the ranges in which people are affected by what happens here on a daily basis. For the general spectator it’s exciting to watch. Minds will be blown. These are the heroes of the sport. The icons. The legends. The craziest of the crazy. For the girlfriends and wives, their one giant wish is that their riders make it down safe, followed by a visible sigh of relief when they do. For the team managers it’s the mix of making sure the guys are safe, but also making sure they have what they need to push themselves towards whatever their goals are for the contest. The diggers have obvious loyalties for their riders as well as making sure their work holds up to the standards they’ve created. For the media, it’s watching guys that have become our friends over the course of our careers. We’re closer to some than others and maybe there’s less bias because we’ve worked with so many of these guys before that we feel like they’re all our friends.


Because people are fragile and Rampage is not, each time a run or jump is attempted it’s a challenge met with either a victory or failure. Each consequence carries a remarkable sense of terror, relief, excitement or awe. It’s never just one thing and it’s mentally exhausting to experience. At the end of each day spirits are high, but energy is low and rest becomes paramount in order to just get through the next day.


On the morning of finals some guys appear cooler than others. Some look like they’re about to puke. Some have a look of pure focus. They’re quiet and breathing slowly. Some are chatty as usual, laughing and joking with photographers. Team managers are pacing nervously. The media are scrambling to cover every possible feature like ants taking over a massive farm. And then it all starts. One by one riders write the story of the 2014 Red Bull Rampage with their tires. Some have the runs of their lives. Some are just thankful to walk away from a terrifying crash, and one is the clear standout victor. While there are a handful of guys who could have won, no one doubted Andreu’s dominance in his first run. Slowly, as each rider completes their second run the tension dissolves and celebration mounts. Hugs are given to everyone by everyone. High fives. Beer showers. Victory. Elation… and finally… relief.