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Race
Face UFC IV - The final |
I never predicted that Kurt Sorge would make it this far (I thought he'd go down to Derek Peltzer) but the voting public surprised me more than once this year. After seeing the dynamic duo's (Brooks/Gatzka) second clip I thought they were deserving so I guess 1 for 2 isn't so bad. Obviously the boys kept much of their best footage for the second round and that paid off. Joe Perrizo got some strong support in the semis but he ended up about 550 votes behind Brooks and Gatzka.
Dustin Bryant's effort was amazing. I still can't get over what he manages on a bike - particularly when he must have to stay in the saddle almost all the time. Try standing up on the pedals while riding with one hand on the bars and you'll see what I mean. Oh - and then huck yourself off a 20-footer just to complete the experience.
Now is the time for the victors though - and an opportunity for us to check out the lifestyle videos. Last year the lifestyle videos were a major factor in deciding the Champ. This year with two riding clips to view as well as a couple of relatively uninspired lifestyle clips, I think the riding will be the deciding factor.
You don't need to watch all three videos before voting - only the lifestyle clips - but really it makes sense to judge the riders using all three clips. Putting all three together gives a great overall impression of the riders abilities.
One of the raddest things about this year's comp is the opportunity to reward those who haven't moved on by voting on other categories. There are six to choose from but the best Grom performance is already sewn up. Garrett Buehler was the only rider under 13 years old. How sick is that? Making the UFC before you are even a teenager? Massive props GB.
Check out the prizes for the winners in each Sub Cat;
· Best Line - Manitou Dorado
· Best Air - Giant DH Frame
· Most Creative Stunt - Race Face Diabolus Kit
· Best Urban Assault - Giant STP Frame
· Beakout Performance by a Grom (13 and under) – Manitou Breakout
Fork
· Worst Crash - Race Face arm and leg armor, shorts, jersey and gloves
Don't forget to vote for the Sub-Cats in this year's UFC. There are some very deserving riders who didn't make the finals and this is a cool way to reward them.
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It's cool
that Kurt had enough nerve to speak in front of the camera. It's
ironic that this might actually be the hardest part of the whole competition
for some of the riders. 40-footer? No worries. Reading
a prepared speech in front of a camera? That's gnarr. Kurt's
specialties are his no-foot cans (both sides every time of course) as
well as his nicely-stretched superman seats. He also goes huge though
on both the ORD gap in Kamloops and Gillard in Kelowna and does some
solid and stylish stunt riding in his second clip. It's all solid. |
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Maybe it's
better that it's impossible to tell who is who since Brooks and Gatzka
have entered the comp together. They obviously want to be judged
as a unit and the way they have set up their video that's the only option.
I think it's pretty cool that they threw their lot in together as well.
Never leave your wingman Mav. The riding in their videos
is off the hook without a doubt. Lines with multiple hits aren't
the easiest to find or to shoot but they do the best job of capturing
the feel of what riding is all about - and the boys obviously worked
hard on putting burlesque combos together. They also knock off
Gillard and ORD just to keep the bases covered. |
I guess I can talk about where the riders are from now since Kurt tells us he's from Nelson. The duo is from Kamloops it seems. This is the first time the finalists have both (all in this case) been Canadian since the first year when Cory Leclerc went up against Tyler Klassen - so there will be no nationalist voting to skew the results.
As you may have heard the winner will be announced at Sea Otter on April 16th. I just booked my flight so I'll be with Kurt, Matty and J-Rad at the bike mag awards party when the winner is announced. And I'll let everyone know asap.
