Rampaged

JEEEZ I have been putting this one off ! ...its fun to write blogs when you kick ass but when you crash and land on your face it just aint as fun!

Yep . At the 2010 Red bull Rampage I GOT RAMPAGED.

We showed up 5 days before Qualies , to find/dig and ride my line... as usuall it was pretty full on picking out your line . you have to pick something that is ganrly enough compared to others lines and also you want it to flow and look good . you also have to make sure you are capable and have the BALLS to shred the SHIT out of it.

I looked at a few options in the Qual area and ended up deciding to hit ridge 2 with my own line that lead into the Oakley sender ( a 40 out 40 dwn drop)  . figuring it would suck to ride a different line that wasnt as burly , get it clean and still not make the cut . So I went for what I thought was the Gnarliest feature in the Qualie Zone (oakley sender) .

I set about building my line , it took about a day to get er done and was pretty draining in 40 degree tempretures. I shredded my whole line except the oakly sender and was pretty stoked 2 days b4 qual .

the day before qualies I shedded my line in sections and then a few of us MANNED up for the big drop . Buehler was first to hit it and he nailed it ... a couple other guys sent it and then it was my turn ... I let my brakes off where everyone said I needed to and sent it off the drop ( it was blind as hell) I took off and to my horror I could see that I was going WAY too fast and was going to land about 15 feet from where I needed to ... On a drop this big you have to get it RIGHT . I landed and just Exploded
That was the end of the day for me  helmet smashed , chunks of meat hanging from my elbows and general full body beat down.
I woke up sore at 6am next morning to head up for qualies
I got warmed up and headed to the top for my run , Of course I  was feeling a bit nervous about the big drop mid run .
I dropped in and got on it, hangin er out loose AS and feeling really good, I destroyed my line leading up to the oakley drop.
I approched the drop alot slower this time and just f**kin nailed it! YUUUUUUUSSSSS, I was so pumped about shreddin the drop I just let the brakes off and leaned back on the 50ft double following the drop for a big floaty flip (which I hadn,t planned on!)  and sent it ...some how I got off AXIS and ate it .. I dont think I have ever been so pissed off with myself...what the hell.. all I needed to do was get to the bottom but instead I got all carried away and started back flippin shit.. nice one DICK HEAD!
i still had one run to get it right  so I headed back up to the top ... this time the wind picked up real bad , I was super worried about the drop in the wind . I dropped in and headed down my line , things were going well I got thru the upper section and headed for the oakley sender ... the wind was swirling but I ripped off there anyways ... I landed the drop SWEEEET and shralped into my mate MR 50 ft double .... I dragged some brake headin in and sent it ... launched and just went miles too  far ... landed and went into the bushes . BOOM that was it Rampage over for Mcgazza ... there is no room for a crash at rampage and I just cooked two runs.
Pissed was an under statement... Some times when you put alot of pressure on your self to do well you end up syking yourself out.. I made a couple of dumbass mistakes . I talked to the judges and they said i just needed to make it to the bottom of my line and I was thru to the final as my line was high scoring due to the risk .
Any way there wasnt much more I could do than sit back and watch the GNAR that was Rampage finals ..You probably have seen a bunch of footage/pics from the event , Im hella stoked for my Corsair team mate Cam Zink on taking the win ... 3'ing off that thing was INSANE  he fully deserved to take the win. good stuff mate.

 

WHat a sick event Red Bull Rampage is , pushing the sport and the limits of what can be done on a mountainbike. full credit to the team at Red Bull you guys  NAILED it.
For me now its back to Whiss and keep riding my bike until i head back to good ol NZ for another sick summer of ridng!

Cheers mates

Kelly