11/22/2008

We arrived in Utah last night after our boozy shenanigans in Vegas. Perfect timing to be in the state with 3.2% beer and polygamous unions. After a riders meeting I headed up the mountain towards the start of the heinous looking piece of Mountain on which the Redbull Rampage is held. As I walked up I found myself wondering if this all isn't a bit insane. The terrain is steep, unpredicatable and, in some places very bony. The potential for serious carnage at first seemed very great - almost inevitable. After spending the day on the course I am less sketched out and more excited about the event.

This is an amazing contingent of riders. I don't have an official riders list yet but the 26 names I do have are impressive. Perhaps the most high profile rider here today was Cedric Gracia who put on a real show. He did a few of the biggest lines before anyone else and put more vertical on than anyone. Others include Robbie Bourdon, Andrew Mills who won the RedBull Ride in Australia, Brett Tippie, Richie Schley, Tyler Klassen Gareth Dyer and Kyle Straight.

The day began slowly with a lot of chin rubbing which soon gave way to digging and eventually some riding. Most of the folks on the mountain were press despite what the announcer kept saying about spectators staying off the course.

Richie Schley seems to be taking this event very seriously and he had a good day, boosting several impressive lines. A few riders tasted Utah soil today. Johnny Waddell, the first to go down, was trying to gap an outcropping and land below it but he didn't cased his rear wheel and went for a tumble. The crash looked bad but he seems fine. Whistler local Cory Derpak spent a long time looking at an intimidating step down. He was slightly right of the landing when he came down and plowed in injuring his shoulder. No word on whether he'll be ready to go tomorrow. On the same move Dave Fleming went further than anyone all day and landed past the tranny, exploding on impact. He survived to pile again later on in the day.

Bender has yet to arrive along with Steve Peat and Kirt Voreis while Brett Tippie and Tyler Klassen arrived late in the day today. Tippie got in a run but Super T was too late and still needed to build his bike. Mike Kinrade didn't get any runs in either because he spent the entire day digging.

The riders seemed to gain confidence as the day wore on and I'm beginning to get a sense of how exciting the qualifying and finals are going to be.

I apologize for the lack of photos - you'll see them if I can work out some technical details in the tiny town of Springdale Utah. If only I was as nerdy as the pinkbike guys.

Tomorrow is day 2 of practice.

Cam McRae

A Competitors Perspective

I roped first time Rampager Cory Leclerc into giving me his impressions of the event thus far.

I was definitely nervous heading into my first day at the Rampage - actually my first time in Utah ever. After 4 days of debauchery in Vegas I was ready to goof off on my bike. I spent most of the day shovel in hand and I only got one run in. A lot of people did more riding than me but I really wanted to build my own line.

It's pretty inspiring to be surrounded by so much talent on one hillside. One fo the coolest things about this as opposed to DH racing is that you can see what everyone is up to, whether they are riding or building. This showceases the riders who are here. This also creates a social atmosphere, which, even though it's high pressure stuff, adds to the laid back attitude of everyone involved.

Bottom line - it's going to be a cool contest and I'm going to have to step it up to qualify in the top 12 and make the finals on Sunday. I worked like a dog for 4 hours on a line that I don't know if I can ride - but I guess we'll see tomorrow. My mission is to keep myself and my bike in one piece for Sunday. The best is yet to come so I had better get to bed. I'm staying on Cam's floor because he denied me the spoon - but there's always tomorrow night.

Cory Leclerc