SOMETIMES IT HURTS
DID. YOU. SEE. THAT!? Rampage 2013 saw riders going bigger and burlier than ever before. Amplitudes that 10 years ago, no one would think possible on a push bike so subtly modified. Some of the features created and conquered this past weekend were simply beggars belief and I can only attempt to assure you - through the inadequate power of the written word - that in the flesh everything genuinely is that much bigger, that much faster and that much more likely to make you sick in your shoe at the sight of it.
When boundaries are ready to be broken, so are bodies. It came as no surprise that things went awry for more than a few of the brave pioneers of mountain biking this time around. But all contenders know two things...One: In this game, injuries are all but inevitable. And two: The Red Bull Rampage is the most outlandish and dangerous event the bicycle world has ever known. The riders are fully aware of what they're getting themselves into; they see the difference between what risks are mandatory and use their expertise to avoid those more voluntary. Sometimes though, there's nothing to be done but take the fall. So without further ado, take a deep breath and revel in the safety of your own home while we take you through the biggest and baddest bails of the 2013 Red Bull Rampage.
Yep, sometimes it hurts.
| Well usually what you do is pick yourself up, dust off...get some ice and grab a couple of cold beers and you know, nurse your wounds! But what all these guys out here are becoming familiar with is just rest and taking care of yourself, man. - Josh Bender |
| I knew I was going to be pedaling hard all the way to the lip. I was in the zone, feeling good so I just went for it...got out there, thought it was all good, then I started nosing and I was gonna case so just at the last second, leap-frogged over the bars and base-ball slid all the way down the tranny. Got super lucky and happy to still be alive! - James Doerfling |
| Thanks everyone for the healing vibes, just got back from first walk on crutches! #roadtorecovery #illbeback - Logan Binngeli |
Kyle Norbraten: Robbing Himself This Year
0% Loaded
prev
1/25
next
.
Geoff Gulevich: Trying To Hold On
0% Loaded
prev
1/34
next
.
0% Loaded
prev
1/18
next
.
Dustin Schaad: Taking a Dive And Limping Away
0% Loaded
prev
1/17
next
.
| The biggest crash at this Rampage would be a toss up between Mark Matthews and Dustin Schaad. But Dustin Schaad fared a little better because he did not break his femur. He just popped his ankle out and popped it back in... - Josh Bender |
Mark Matthews: Busting off more rock than any pick-axe did this week at Rampage
0% Loaded
prev
1/14
next
.
Gee's epic gap from last year was given a complete overhaul by Mitch Chubey. In practice the plan was for he and friend, Mark Matthews, to hold off hitting until the qualis. Mitch stuck to the plan, but Mark went for it, keen to get it off his mind a day early. With a shady run in and a bit of wind it knocked him straight into the rock ledge with pretty devastating consequences.
| Surprisingly it didn't hurt that much. Swelled a ton though. Broke my femur in 2 places just below the hip. - Mark Matthews |
Yes it was a proper job, no question.
The heroes of our sport are continuing to push us into future with an unprecedented velocity. Expectations are smashed quicker than the bones and no one knows where - or whether - some kind of limit will one day be met. The
Red Bull Rampage is the true front line where the World's top athletes go to battle with our concept of what's possible on a mountain bike. So as the contest closes for another year, we should all take a bow to the masters of our incredible gravity sport. We wish all those who put their bodies on the line, in the name of progression, the best recoveries and look ahead - because you never know what we'll be witnessing next.
Check out more photos, videos, interactive content and more at
www.redbull.com/bike.
Good luck to you Mark hope for a speedy recovery!!
Wow you must be some "sortah" idiot.
Confidence: the feeling you have right before to truly understand the magnitude of the situation.
have a parisgore
So irrespective of RBs motives, the end result is the same; people pushing boundaries, going further & bigger, and if that doesn't excite you maybe you should just buy a road bike and be done with it..
That's like saying 'I don't like watching Formula 1 (Or Nascar for you Yanks!) because that's not how 99.9% of drivers drive."
Now what you expect to see in the next Rampage? A backflip frontflip over an higher Icon Sender? Rider's using hardtails? ..and then?
His afterbull video: tv.freeride-magazine.com/frontend_dev.php/video/Benderoni%25C2%25B4s-Statement%253A-Deshalb-nahm-der-Russe-nicht-bei-der-Rampage-teil-/2ce4b3779e698899ccc63a62bdb7e35c
Highest he should have places is second with second moving up to first. Had Zink even done 1 or 2 other small trick/jumps/gaps on his run he would have got first. Had he gotten another run he probably would have.
I don't think he got robbed. I do think that man sitting in first probably should have been sitting closer to were Tyler McCaul was sitting.
The fan vote should only matter and this time the fan voting ranking was the real ranking. The judges screw the fun of every rampage. Have you seen the faces of the riders when they get the vote? It says it all...
Last years winner should of been Cam McCaul and this McGazza! McCaul got 7th in 2012 speechless...not to mention about Norbs...
The other thing is when somebody crashes get such a little score...this is so OLD SCHOOL! Just lame...Aggy 360 was unreal in every way...got 17th...T-Mac line omfg...dear God please make them stop.
Straits line had it all, but definitely out of top 3! Style, fluidity etc is all great, but is so old school too. This was before people started doing huge stunts. Make Strait do a backflip over the Canyon or Osender... I thought so...
RED BULL GET RID OF THE JUDGES, SAVE MONEY AND LET THE PEOPLE VOTE. IF IT WAS NOT FOR THE PEOPLE THERE WOULD BE NO RAMPAGE COMP!
You can also stop using the helis and save the money for the another day comp because of the weather like this year. When they film from the helis is so far, you can barely see anything. No need for heli footage in my opinion.
NEXT YEAR NO LAME JUDGES AND ONLY PEOPLE AT RAMPAGE AND TV VIEWERS WATCHING ARE VOTING!!!!!!!!
People like you are exactly the reason they keep judges. If it was a pure fan vote Rampage would just turn into a slopestyle comp because all you want to see is backflips over canyons. Strait had a great technical line (or "old school" if riding on challenging natural terrain is old school), rode it expertly, and still threw a trick off the biggest feature out there. He had it all.