Edited Date/Time
6/29/2022 12:34pm
Scrolling various news feeds this morning, nauseated by the inexhaustible vlogger content from the self-proclaimed mountain bike capital of the world (Bentonville, Arkansas had their festival), there was a glimmer of dopamine-satisfying hope as a thumbnail from Rampage looked to be in line with the letters CNN — a major news network! Mountain biking going big-time! Milliseconds later, their title soaked into my subconscious: Video: How mountain bikers stay calm 3,600 feet in the air. Holy crap, 3,600 feet is a massive jump! Considering I posted a video yesterday of that guy going 169mph on a Scott Gambler being towed by a motorcycle, maybe we’re coming into a new age of extremism! Click. I’m in.
Oh, this is the health section of CNN with a logo that says “Life, But Better” above this video about mindfulness and staying calm in heavy situations. Life, but better? WTF does that mean? Whatever, I’m a sucker for a good title, and I knew before clicking that there wouldn’t be a mountain biker actually jumping 3,600 feet, but the bait won, and I figured I'd see some cliff chucking.
Once the 30-second preroll for “Only Murders in the Building” now streaming on Hulu with Steve Martin (he’s hilarious and reminds me of my dad), Martin Short and Selina Gomez concluded, the sizzle started with Red Bull Content Pool footage from past years of Rampage. FFS, Rampage is freaking nuts. I’ve already won with my click and I notice the URL says "freeride mountain bike advice," so I mentally take inventory that this must be a hot search term right now. 10 seconds in and the narrator explains Rampage is held in Zion National Park (nope, near) and that Rampage features “some of the most elite riders in the world of mountain bike racing” (in court this would hold up because of the “some” part I guess, but we all know Rampage is not a race and “most” riders in there aren’t really race-focused). Then the curious narrator makes the pitch to ask these riders how they stay calm as the ride 3,600 feet in the air. Glad he asked because I wanted to know too!
I was waiting for a sports psychologist or some non-mountain biker to come on with the explanation, but apparently, CNN is better than that because Reed Boggs, Jaxson Riddle and Kyle Strait share their strategies for tackling those precarious knife-edge lines and massive drops. Well-played CNN, those are some legit sources. I won’t miss an edit from any of those riders knowing their steeze and skill out in the desert.
Unfortunately, their advice didn’t help me much this time. No amount of rehearsal, meditation or “mindfulness” could get me to even consider walking up to the start of modern Rampage venues, let alone think about riding anything. But that’s why I love Boggs, Riddle, Strait and every Rampage loony so much. I’ll never know what it means to experience taking my hands off the bars as I’m oozing a 50-foot drop, and I don’t want to. I’ll gladly live vicariously through their achievements. And, thankfully, as I write this from the Boise, Idaho, region, such mindfulness is not required as I'm only 2,730 feet in the air.
If you want, you can watch the CNN video here (it's not embeddable because CNN don't roll like that and I realize just the mention of CNN alone is politically charged) - https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2022/05/31/freeride-mountain-bike-adv…
Oh, and google says it, so it must be true.
Oh, this is the health section of CNN with a logo that says “Life, But Better” above this video about mindfulness and staying calm in heavy situations. Life, but better? WTF does that mean? Whatever, I’m a sucker for a good title, and I knew before clicking that there wouldn’t be a mountain biker actually jumping 3,600 feet, but the bait won, and I figured I'd see some cliff chucking.
Once the 30-second preroll for “Only Murders in the Building” now streaming on Hulu with Steve Martin (he’s hilarious and reminds me of my dad), Martin Short and Selina Gomez concluded, the sizzle started with Red Bull Content Pool footage from past years of Rampage. FFS, Rampage is freaking nuts. I’ve already won with my click and I notice the URL says "freeride mountain bike advice," so I mentally take inventory that this must be a hot search term right now. 10 seconds in and the narrator explains Rampage is held in Zion National Park (nope, near) and that Rampage features “some of the most elite riders in the world of mountain bike racing” (in court this would hold up because of the “some” part I guess, but we all know Rampage is not a race and “most” riders in there aren’t really race-focused). Then the curious narrator makes the pitch to ask these riders how they stay calm as the ride 3,600 feet in the air. Glad he asked because I wanted to know too!
I was waiting for a sports psychologist or some non-mountain biker to come on with the explanation, but apparently, CNN is better than that because Reed Boggs, Jaxson Riddle and Kyle Strait share their strategies for tackling those precarious knife-edge lines and massive drops. Well-played CNN, those are some legit sources. I won’t miss an edit from any of those riders knowing their steeze and skill out in the desert.
Unfortunately, their advice didn’t help me much this time. No amount of rehearsal, meditation or “mindfulness” could get me to even consider walking up to the start of modern Rampage venues, let alone think about riding anything. But that’s why I love Boggs, Riddle, Strait and every Rampage loony so much. I’ll never know what it means to experience taking my hands off the bars as I’m oozing a 50-foot drop, and I don’t want to. I’ll gladly live vicariously through their achievements. And, thankfully, as I write this from the Boise, Idaho, region, such mindfulness is not required as I'm only 2,730 feet in the air.
If you want, you can watch the CNN video here (it's not embeddable because CNN don't roll like that and I realize just the mention of CNN alone is politically charged) - https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2022/05/31/freeride-mountain-bike-adv…
Oh, and google says it, so it must be true.
Several years ago I remember reading a headline on BBC news that Kyle Strait had won a "freeride race" (rampage). I was wow, mtb is big time.
EDIT: Hurricane is 3,248, LaVerkin is 3,192. Virgin shows 3,606. I think I figured it out!
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