Post by fattire on May 7, 2007 23:10:48 GMT 8
The Beginning of the End?
by Ron Ige
Don't you think it's time to take a stand on the big hucksters?
They are dropping like flies...
Broken bones are a weekly phenomenon...
Death and dismemberment are soon to follow...
They certainly have the right to hurt/kill themselves...
You certainly have the right to publish their obituaries...
But...
Limits have been reached on safety/sanity...
Perhaps less emphasis on the size of the huck/jump and more emphasis on the style might bring some sanity back.
Young men being injured/dying do not a promising sport make...
Just one guy's opinion...
"rcragu"
Via Internet
9/19/02
We get a lot of letters here at BIKE, but this one proved, at least to me, to be one of the most significant in recent memory. Not only does "rcragu" make an interesting point, but he does it without calling me out as the idiot I truly am, which I always appreciate. What strikes me as most important is that, in certain ways, his letter encapsulates the events of recent weeks. With serious injury claiming Tarek Rasouli, and one of the freeride movement's shining knights -- Wade Simmons -- recently breaking a femur, "rcragu" probably isn't the only guy saying, thinking or expressing these sentiments.
A few weeks back, I was checking up with then-Race Face marketing specialist Chris Gagan on Tarek's status for a web update. As we were discussing doctors and operations and prognosis and other such medical terms that accompany such a tragedy, Gagan paused for a moment. Then he contemplated that, in a strange way, Tarek's injury makes you think about your part in it. Are we, the bike industry -- the media, the sponsors, the filmmakers, the photographers and the members of the public that live to be entertained by big action -- in some way adding fuel to the fire?
The huge road-gap huck by Wade Simmons, captured on film in Freewheel Burning and in print in our October 2002 issue, was the talk of the bike industry for months. It was a gap that Josh Bender couldn't land cleanly, but Wade made the difficult challenge look easy. I ran into Simmons at the 2002 IMBA Trail Summit shortly thereafter, an event Wade attended to promote the positives of freeriding. We discussed the Freewheel Burning jump, and I asked him, "How much bigger can things get?" In his typical, casual, yet sincere attitude, Wade shrugged off his recent accomplishment by admitting he was "a little worried" -- but you could seem the gleam in his eyes when he talked about landing it. He did something he wasn't 100 percent sure he could, but his ingrained skill and instinct brought him home in one piece.
I ask Wade and other freeriders this question often, because this is the movement that many call the sport's next frontier; this "go big and then go bigger" segment is changing what riding a mountain bike is all about. It's now a far different world than the one that I started in some 15-odd years ago. But, for better or for worse, no matter what the sport, things will change, people will push the limits, and people will get hurt. Do I feel good about it? No. But as long as there is sport, there will be danger -- and we all risk injury every time we head down the trail. For riders like Tarek and Wade, their skill is immense, their challenges are far greater, and so are their consequences. Fortunately, the one thing we all have in common is that we want to be chasing that gleam -- whether our moves are over huge gaps or meandering singletrack -- on two wheels.
When I interviewed Wade and Richie Schley in the August 2001 issue, Richie had this to say: "As I get older, I probably won't be the guy that's going the biggest. But really, it's not always about going big. I see myself becoming a better overall rider and sharpening other skills. I'll be taking better lines through sections, riding smoother, with more skill and better flow."
Then I asked Wade where he saw himself when he was no longer the young gun, the guy with the huge moves, the darling of the camera. "The beauty of bike riding is that it's multifaceted. If I'm not the one going huge and pushing the envelope, I'll just change envelopes. I'll be riding my bike on five-hour epics -- just as long as I'm out there."
These are words to live by. My best wishes are with Tarek, and Wade, heal up soon -- the sport won't be the same until you're back.
bikemag.com/features/columns/beginning_of_end/
picked this up in BIKE (online) and based from the email of a BIKE reader, this article came out late 2002.
looks like there were lots of casualties during the pioneering years of FR (gotta watch "ride to the hills" if i can find it in my cd's).
interesting comment from The Godfather of Freeride:
"I'll be riding my bike on five hour epics - just as long as I'm out there."
He's still doing it: pick 3 mtb movies from you video collection and chances are he's in one. Seems like Wade's five hour epics are still a long way to come.
your comments?
by Ron Ige
Don't you think it's time to take a stand on the big hucksters?
They are dropping like flies...
Broken bones are a weekly phenomenon...
Death and dismemberment are soon to follow...
They certainly have the right to hurt/kill themselves...
You certainly have the right to publish their obituaries...
But...
Limits have been reached on safety/sanity...
Perhaps less emphasis on the size of the huck/jump and more emphasis on the style might bring some sanity back.
Young men being injured/dying do not a promising sport make...
Just one guy's opinion...
"rcragu"
Via Internet
9/19/02
We get a lot of letters here at BIKE, but this one proved, at least to me, to be one of the most significant in recent memory. Not only does "rcragu" make an interesting point, but he does it without calling me out as the idiot I truly am, which I always appreciate. What strikes me as most important is that, in certain ways, his letter encapsulates the events of recent weeks. With serious injury claiming Tarek Rasouli, and one of the freeride movement's shining knights -- Wade Simmons -- recently breaking a femur, "rcragu" probably isn't the only guy saying, thinking or expressing these sentiments.
A few weeks back, I was checking up with then-Race Face marketing specialist Chris Gagan on Tarek's status for a web update. As we were discussing doctors and operations and prognosis and other such medical terms that accompany such a tragedy, Gagan paused for a moment. Then he contemplated that, in a strange way, Tarek's injury makes you think about your part in it. Are we, the bike industry -- the media, the sponsors, the filmmakers, the photographers and the members of the public that live to be entertained by big action -- in some way adding fuel to the fire?
The huge road-gap huck by Wade Simmons, captured on film in Freewheel Burning and in print in our October 2002 issue, was the talk of the bike industry for months. It was a gap that Josh Bender couldn't land cleanly, but Wade made the difficult challenge look easy. I ran into Simmons at the 2002 IMBA Trail Summit shortly thereafter, an event Wade attended to promote the positives of freeriding. We discussed the Freewheel Burning jump, and I asked him, "How much bigger can things get?" In his typical, casual, yet sincere attitude, Wade shrugged off his recent accomplishment by admitting he was "a little worried" -- but you could seem the gleam in his eyes when he talked about landing it. He did something he wasn't 100 percent sure he could, but his ingrained skill and instinct brought him home in one piece.
I ask Wade and other freeriders this question often, because this is the movement that many call the sport's next frontier; this "go big and then go bigger" segment is changing what riding a mountain bike is all about. It's now a far different world than the one that I started in some 15-odd years ago. But, for better or for worse, no matter what the sport, things will change, people will push the limits, and people will get hurt. Do I feel good about it? No. But as long as there is sport, there will be danger -- and we all risk injury every time we head down the trail. For riders like Tarek and Wade, their skill is immense, their challenges are far greater, and so are their consequences. Fortunately, the one thing we all have in common is that we want to be chasing that gleam -- whether our moves are over huge gaps or meandering singletrack -- on two wheels.
When I interviewed Wade and Richie Schley in the August 2001 issue, Richie had this to say: "As I get older, I probably won't be the guy that's going the biggest. But really, it's not always about going big. I see myself becoming a better overall rider and sharpening other skills. I'll be taking better lines through sections, riding smoother, with more skill and better flow."
Then I asked Wade where he saw himself when he was no longer the young gun, the guy with the huge moves, the darling of the camera. "The beauty of bike riding is that it's multifaceted. If I'm not the one going huge and pushing the envelope, I'll just change envelopes. I'll be riding my bike on five-hour epics -- just as long as I'm out there."
These are words to live by. My best wishes are with Tarek, and Wade, heal up soon -- the sport won't be the same until you're back.
bikemag.com/features/columns/beginning_of_end/
picked this up in BIKE (online) and based from the email of a BIKE reader, this article came out late 2002.
looks like there were lots of casualties during the pioneering years of FR (gotta watch "ride to the hills" if i can find it in my cd's).
interesting comment from The Godfather of Freeride:
"I'll be riding my bike on five hour epics - just as long as I'm out there."
He's still doing it: pick 3 mtb movies from you video collection and chances are he's in one. Seems like Wade's five hour epics are still a long way to come.
your comments?