Red Bull Rampage 2012 - Thursday: 38 Nugs
 |
 Wheaties ain't got bacon. James Doerfling digs on bacon. Ergo, no Wheaties for the BC Big Mountain Sender. |
 |
| Risk. Warning. Not an overhyped one at that. Amazingly enough, none of the diggers or riders have seen a rattlesnake this year. |
 |
| Brandon Semenuk and Todd Barber, the event organizer, talking turkey on final prep for the venue. |
 |
| It used to be clowns and small cars; now it's media nerds and quads. There are 4 videographers clowning their way up the hill on this ride. |
 |
| The view from the start gate. Lines, lines and lines. |
 |
| Rampage is tough on bikes. You land just one time too many a little sideways, and bang--there go half your spokes. |
 |
| It was hot out there today. Africa hot. Something Mick Hannah knows all about. And he's done pretty damn well in Africa. |
 |
| T-Mac getting downright nasty during this morning's warm up session. |
 |
| It was right here two years ago that the man in the neon green Troy Lee shorts stuck a 360 off the Oakley Sender and won it all. Cam Zink, reliving the line for NBC on the flight deck of the Sender. |
 |
| Brendan Howey charging hard. |
 |
| Darren Berrecloth finishes up his never ending spine ride down the gut of the venue. |
 |
| Lunch was a mad mass of media, riders, diggers, and up tight security. And a chance to hide from the blazing sun. |
 |
| Not out, but it's not looking good. Gee Atherton tweaked his ankle more than a fair bit off of a self-described 'easy step-down'--reportedly the easiest move on his line. He's pre qualified and hasn't ruled out a run on Sunday, but give the brace and the crutch, he may have to sit this one out. |
 |
| Aggy may be having to sit this one out--he's still recovering from his broken leg--but he's here in full force to dig and support his bros on the FMB Tour. |
 |
| The story of the last few days, digging and making the lines perfect. |
 |
| Hand packed with love. Like a parachute. Casey Groves working over one of many lips he means to hit this week. |
 |
| Dry and dusty. But it is, after all a desert. Mike Hopkins, packing on a bit more. Only to have the wind take about half of every shovel load away. Yes, the wind. It was out in full force all afternoon. Sending anything major was out of the equation as riders opted to play it safe and place a few final loads of dirt on their lines. |
 |
| Fairclough. Prepping what looks to be one of the bigger and higher risk features of the entire course. |
 |
| Brendog making practice count. |
 |
| The critical ingredient for making the Rampage a builder's dream is water. And lots of it. |
 |
| Fast? No shit. |
 |
| Crankworx Joyride winner and current FMB World Tour third place overall ranked rider, Thomas Genon, digging in. |
 |
| It ain't a Rampage without Bender. |
 |
| The scope and scale of the building on the site is amazing. I mean, just look at the amount of dirt that was used to fill in this landing. And the sandbags for the sender afterwards. Looking over the hill, it's like a small army went to work out here in the Utah desert. |
 |
| Logan Binggeli making his own dust storm. As a pre qualified rider, Benggeli gets to play on the upper half of the zone. He's also rocking the 650b wheels--the front looks normal at first glance; it's only when one gazes at the rear tire that the size really stands out. |
 |
| With the wind kicking hard all afternoon long, most riders opted to swing a pick or dig. |
 |
| Strong gusts made even simple airs pretty damn risky. |
 |
| Watering down an Oakley Sender step down variation. |
 |
| Near the end of the day the wind died down enough for riders to start getting a bit rowdy on the lower part of the track. This is the look a photographer gets when he inadvertantly is standing on a rider's line. Sorry 'bout that Soderstrom... |
 |
| Sideways. Nico Vink may not be a household name for free riding, but he's been kicking around the World Cup circuit for a long time. And he can throw down a mean whip. Will that translate into Rampage glory? You got me. But he's got a billy goat line up at the top that I want no part of. |
 |
| Stepping down... Doerfling, Sorge, and Vanderham looking over the step down that leads to Gee's wall ride line of two years ago. |
 |
| A jump lower down was sessioned heavily until the winds abated enough to start working over the Oakley Sender; here we see Gulevich getting some frequent flyer miles. |
 |
| Doerfling sending it. This guy can go large. |
 |
| Another rider going large: Cam Zink did one run today. the Canyon Gap. Zink can now tick that "sent safely" box on his pre-finals to do list. |
 |
| Alternate view of the same gap - air miles. |
 |
| There was a lot of this going around today: red moon dust. High winds would blow it around. Just walking around would send clouds of it up. But it's this talcum powder like dirt that makes this place so special. No free rider can really say they've been at the top echelon of the sport until they've wrecked at least one washing machine trying to get clothes clean from a trip to Virgin, UT. |
 |
| Thomas Genon looks to be undergunned, rocking a 180 travel Merida bike on what is arguably a course and a zone for DH bikes only. But he sent this step down with that same effortless flowing style that garnered him the Crankworx crown. This kid may surprise a few cynics. |
 |
| No sun, no problem. Some riders won't let that stop them. |
Author Info:
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Must Read This Week
you can see the landing on one of the photos!
t.co/Jf6LmhWG
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0M7H85x_Fyk
Those are three MORE big names on an already STACKED list.
saturday and sunday?
watch through pinkbike or freecaster?
I don't want that!
1 Zink
2 Semenuk
3 Brendog
4 Berrecloth
5 Lacondeguy
1. Zink
2. Sorge
3. Claw
4. Semenuk
5. Messere
1. Brendog !!!!!
2. Aggy
3. Norbraten
4. Doerfling
5. Soderstrom