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Canadian Chainsaw Massacre, MSA Worlds, 2010. 2nd to Mr. Hill by 2.6 after a gigantic swap/ball ride of the top tube, three turns from the line. Dunno if he would have taken it, but that would have blown some home soil minds. #longlivechainsaw

Nowhere near as dramatic as some of these, but I can’t help but think of Connor Fearon at Leogang. Had the ride of his life and ends up losing out to Gwin with no chain. That’s gotta sting

Kovarik's run at Mount Snow NORBA National with all the world's best there at the peak of the tractor trailer teams the year he won Ft. Bill by 14 seconds. He was the fastest racer in the world and at his peak, utterly untouchable at that point. Fastest qualifier by a long way and blew his wheel apart off screen somewhere. He never won there b/c his wheels disintegrated 3 years in a row with him trying to limp a warped rear to the finish and still finished top 10 on third attempt That Mt. Snow result, standing track side...

Ratboys run in Haffjell world champs. I remember i was more devastated than him at that moment.

Look no further than my 11 year old as an example of what sells bikes. Raised with Rampage, Crankworx and WC media coverage he stills goes back to watching old editions of his favorite events. He's a two weeks a year park rat and wants a DH bike someday. This year we let him choose his next bike and his top choices, Propain, Commencal and Trek (we intervened though and got him a Transition). He admires Gwin but has no interest in a YT or Intense. Remy's early shredits on Commencal are forever embedded in his memory and now not...

Not in the least bit surprised to hear this. The group of athletes at the sharp WC tip of the spear are small, especially from just the US. All these dudes know each other and DH has always been one of the chillest, friendly sides of the sport.

This reminds me of Gee when he pulled out from the british WC team because he was not fully recovered. I wish you a speedy recovery and I hope to see you winning the world champs. Gwin FTW!!!

Hope you heal up and get back into top racing form. Always rooting for you at every race. You still got it!

See, this is why all the chumps ready to vilify Gwin spouting off in here just need to chill. Unreal negativity on a place like Vital would get so hostile from a bunch of dudes that really have. no. clue.

As always, the peanut gallery again looks like we have zero idea what we are talking about (because, we don't). Nuance, turns out, is everything. Thanks for taking the time to update us superfans, best of luck recovering. Keep your head up.

Hey Guys, another update. Austin was one of the first people I called after getting hurt. We're buddies and talk/ride together fairly regularly. I let him know what was up and wanted to confirm that he was staying in Europe for the next month like I thought he was. He's racing Maribor this weekend and isn't planning on coming back home until after the WC in Switzerland next month either way. That was good news as he's easily ready to go if I pull out. I also contacted USAC to make sure they get him everything he needs to compete...

I mean.... Isn't Sven already running the show?!

As a sponsored international athlete, particularly one that has travelled to the US more than once, the expectation is that the athlete knows what not to say, especially in the wake of the events of the past year and the civil rights protests that were seen all over. Unfortunately, the nuances of culture are not easily translated even to those who speak the language fluently, let alone to a foreigner who barely speaks it. Truth is, what Amaury posted is a racial slur. Is he racist? I honestly don't think so. However, if he posts or posted a similar racial...

Difficult to scale ignorance. I imagine culture has quite a bit to do with just how poorly he’s going to come across in the us. He seems like a super genuine and good natured dude. His apology seemed real. Not the first and won’t be the last pro to do something dumb on the gram or at an event. As a kid from the suburbs probably 1/2 my fifth grade class had a haircut or outfit straight out of a rap video. I assume his mimicry is out of fandom as well, but it is wildly tone deaf in 2021.

“Breaking News: Monstrous money making machine that views you as a product now asking you to pay money to be treated like a product.”

I heard Team Robot bought Vital and are putting up a paywall.

I still love Litter Mag!

Whoa! Everything outside of Darkfest is so poorly covered I'd honestly forgotten it even existed and was supposed to be a "series"