Won't Back Down - Red Bull Rampage 2017
Today was the last full day of practice for Red Bull Rampage athletes and the pressure was on to perfect lines and find the flow before the forecasted wind came up.
Waterboy: Matt McDuff.
This morning saw Connor Macfarlane withdraw from the competition after crashing on his drop yesterday. After his experience here last year, no one can blame him for making the right call and putting his health and wellbeing first.
Connor Macfarlane withdrew from the competition after crashing on his drop yesterday.
After deciding not to compete, Connor spent most of the day with a shovel in hand helping other riders.
Vinny T on what looks like a 'choose your own adventure' drop.
Ethan Nell's controlled, powerful runs show experience beyond his years. Growing up in these mountains has certainly helped shape the way he interprets the Rampage terrain.
The St George Utah local, Logan Binggeli, dialling in his ridgeline hip before the heaviest hit on his line.
T-Mac was out for the early bird session and flying high.
Logan Binggeli dropping in this morning.
Antoine Bizet’s team also changed their focus and have etched a new line in the section where he had hoped to have his monster step-down. Again, after coming back from an injury, and facing the bad luck his build team has had with that specific landing – making this late in the game change is the right one for him.
Bearclaw dropping in from the tippy-top.
Darren Berrecloth's Rampage experience was shining through during his clean top to bottom practice runs.
Semenuk worked hard yesterday to chip this shale into submission.
Kurt Sorge's ridgeline flow was smooth and controlled all day.
I'd say Sorge has mad pop but he didn't seem angry at all.
Bike caddies have cool jobs, but I bet this one is glad he doesn't have to carry a bag full of downhill bikes for every different lip on Kurt Sorge's line.
You know Kyle Strait's line is heavy when he uses a canyon gap as a casual setup jump for the next move.
Brett Rheeder's morning was cut short by a crash on this 720 attempt but he'll be back and dropping in first tomorrow during finals.
Kurt Sorge was one of the first riders at the top of the mountain today and the first to flow the ridgeline jumps.
Kurt Sorge was the most prolific rider in practice today, with multiple top to bottom runs.
Ryan Howard dumped this 360 and everyone that saw it flipped. His story is way happier.
Working closely with their build crews today, riders sessioned their lines in sections and tweaked features – changing lips, adjusting landings, and chipping away at the final pieces of awkward rock outcroppings in their way. Bas van Steenbergen hit his gap, which sits just before his big drop, multiple times before picking up a shovel with his crew and making some substantial changes.
Tom van Steenbergen spent the entire day shovel in hand alongside builder, Fest's Damon Iwanaga, to complete his already feature-heavy creative line.
Sometimes Brandon likes funny.
Bas van Steenbergen.
Pierre Edouard Ferry is looking strong and confident this year. First hit of the day for him.
Brandon spent a long time at morning practice working on perfecting the last hit of his run.
Turpin the mountain highway man providing the steeze for Nico Vink's Instagram.
PEF, a hero of our time, celebrates guinea pigging the super-chute.
The silent assassin, Cam Zink.
Reed Boggs gave the spectators a taste of what he has in store when he dropped into his line from the top, riding along the rider’s left ridge, throwing down some big drops and smooth tricks connected with some strong technical sections. Everyone was captivated when he hit his canyon jump, but he, unfortunately, crashed quite spectacularly on the landing. He was up right away – and after seeking some medical attention plans to compete tomorrow.
T-Mac versus the green goblin in high winds.
Heavy wind gusts arrived in the early afternoon and left riders and the media scrambling for cover.
While the athletes and their crews battled the rising winds, Red Bull introduced their VIP Experience attendees to the venue and toured them to the top; allowing each of them to stand on the start platform. The dizzying sight from there was awe inspiring to say the least. For some, it was their first time here, while others had been previous years as general admission guests – but for everyone, their perspective and understanding of what these athletes do was changed. “It was amazing to be able to walk the runs you see on TV,” said Kristen who had been onsite last year. She described standing on the platform – “[it was] insanity.”
One hundred VIP spectators hiked to the top of the Rampage course - the first spectators to be allowed to do so.
"If it's strong enough to hold Carson and his bike, it's strong enough to hold us." Ethan and Beatrice contemplate the future.
Tomas Genon poses for a photo with frothing groms Ethan and Beatrice.
Sunset before finals, the perfect time to build a special lip for a certain aerial maneuver....
The wind refused to die down, whipping dust clouds into the air off the exposed ridges of the canyon. By late afternoon most of the riders had given up on practising and left the site – the parking lot was empty and the hill nearly deserted. There was only one rider stubborn enough to wait it out. Carson Storch was the only athlete left in the canyon at dusk and all eyes were on him as he sessioned his drop from the road. “This year I built my ultimate line,” said Carson standing in the dark near the finish corral tonight “– I’m not saying it’s a winning line, but I’m just going to go have fun on it and see what happens.”
Want something done properly, you know what to do... Storch mucking in with the build.
Storch with the next generation; Jackson Goldstone.
Patience paid off when the wind died down Carson was able to session his drop.
Could this be the year for Carson?
MENTIONS: @redbullbike / @Margus / @natedh9 / @TimZim
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39 Comments
I enjoy the bike porn as much as anybody, but these are pretty niche setups and the bikes get used and abused. It's pretty tough to beat pics of the WC DH bikes after they've been serviced and washed, but then everybody likes their own kind of porn!
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