KSL Outdoors: 2013 Red Bull Rampage

(Adam) coming up tonight on KSL OUTDOORS.

(Adam) daredevils take to the skies down near Virgin. The public gets a chance to try out new gear.

(adam) and a place you might have never thought of riding.

(Adam) I’m Adam Eakle and KSL Outdoors, starts right now.
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(Adam and Tonya intro) Thanks for tuning into KSL Outdoors, I’m Adam Eakle along with Tonya Kieffer, the caboose. Hey Tonya, we are down here at Moab, Outerbike demo, a chance for people to come and check out some of the new gear, don’t endo. You’ve got some cool gear to show them later in the show? (tonya Kieffer) I do, you know we are going to feature my lovely ride here and hopefully not show any of my little opps. (adam) just a couple so far, but first we wanted to show you some of the craziest guys on two wheels.

(Graham) yeah today is going to be a big session.

On the cliffs above Virgin..

Some of the most daring…

Craziest…

Mountain bikers in the world are getting ready to compete in the Red Bull Rampage. The biggest mountain, free-ride contest that is considered the pinnacle of all mountain bike competitions in the world.

(Graham Agassiz, Kamloops British Columbia) This is our Stanley Cup, this is our Super Bowl, it’s full on, there is no easy way down from the top.

(Graham watching guy wreck) Ohhh…yeah, it’s crazy out here, it’s no joke for sure.

Graham is one of 42 riders competing in this unique contest. 14 riders have pre-qualified for the finals, 28 must qualify on the hill. Five judges will be looking at their skills in downhill freeride, slopestyle, dirt jumping and racing.

(Chris Van Dine, Park City) it’s based on your line selection, technical difficulty of your line, your fluidity, bike control, speed, style amplitude, overall impression.

(Chris Van Dine) you have to play into your strengths, some of the guys are better at technical tricks, you know, flips and spins and off axis things like that.

(Chris Van Dine) My strength?…uh.

(small laugh) I’m a good crasher, that’s probably one of my best attributes.

Chris is not the only local competing, last year Saint George native Logan (bingely) Binggeli took third place, this year he’s aiming for the top spot.

(Logan Binggeli, St. George) most contests are one line, man made, everyone is hitting the same thing. So this is what makes this event really unique. It allows allows riders to ride different style bikes. Different size lines, big, small, tricks, no tricks.

Make no bones about it, this is dangerous. These guys and their crews take this very serious.

They spending hours digging out obstacles, berns and making lines into sheer drops that many riders will only test out when the announcer calls his name in the final competition.

(Announcer) here we go Tyler McCall.

(Announcer) there he is, (crash) Oh landed it clean!

(Blake Smith, Alpine) Oh yeah, last year there was a lot of wrecks.

(Guy crashes) (announcer) oh Hawkins goes down.

(Canyon Jones, SLC) It’s pretty much the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.

(Announcer) clean on the drop. (flip) No! Huge backflip! Kelly McGarry landed a backflip over the 72 foot road gap.

(Cam Zink FLIP) Cam Zink upside down, yes! He landed the flip! Cam Zink just landed the biggest step down in two wheeled history.

(Adam) if you want to watch the finals of the Red Bull Rampage NBC will air the event, right here on KSL, Channel 5, December 21st at 12:30. Hey coming up on KSL Outdoors.

(Adam) A chance for the public to test the newest and greatest mountain biking gear for 2014. That story, just ahead, but first tonights Burt Brothers quiz question.
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(Adam Eakle and Tonya Kieffer, KSL Outdoors) Welcome back to KSL Outdoors, I’m Adam Eakle, along with Tonya Kieffer, and Kieffer, those Redbull guys they have nothing on us! Tonya- you know what, they don’t. We’re down here in Moab, Utah for the 4th annual Outerbike Demo. This is a chance for everybody to come and try out all the bikes for next season without purchasing them, and just have fun. We’re all biking. Adam-Let’s go do it! Moab, Utah. What better place, than to hit the trail.

And, they’re off!

(Ashley Korenblat, Owner of Western Spirit Cycling) They ran when we opened the gate. They run to get their bikes.

(Mark Sevenoff, Owner of Western Spirit Cycling) Outerbike is a 3 day demo event aimed at the consumers but not limited to them

(Ashley Korenblat, Owner of Western Spirit Cycling) The way the bike industry works is, in the fall, all the companies work really hard to build lots of demo bikes to bring to the dealership show in Las Vegas. And after the show, they have semi’s full of demo bikes with no where to go. So we thought It’d be a good idea to bring them to Moab and open it to consumers.

The 4th annual Outerbike Demo allows you, the consumer, the chance to ride and test any bike available.

(Scot Nicol, Founder of Ibis Mountain Bikes) People are able to ride bikes that are brand new, hot off the presses, the latest, the latest and the greatest.

And I’ve chosen a bike, thats name first caught my eye, but so does it’s appearance, The Fatback, rated Outside Magazines #2 Best Cycling product of 2012.

(Greg Matyas, Founder of Fatback Bikes) Originally developed for snow or sand use.

(Greg Matyas, Fatback) Adam-No Suspension. Greg-No suspension. All the suspension is in the air pressure in the tires. So you can air them down to 2 psi.

(Tonya Kieffer, Outdoors Correspondent) It’s foolproof. I can’t hurt myself on this one. Adam- I don’t know about that!

(Tonya Kieffer, KSL Correspondent) I’m so excited!

(Adam Eakle) So Tonya gets a Fatback, well I of course went for the hard tail. No suspension in the rear. Don’t need it.

We set off on a bike trail right outside of camp. It’d been years since I’d mountain biked, so choosing the easy course was fine by me, as I was quickly reminded of what…not to do.

(Adam Eakle) Safe!

(Tonya Kieffer) Oh Boy! Win!

(Adam Eakle) Adam-Hey what was that move. Tonya- I call that, the ugh, the knuckle buster.

(Tonya Kieffer) Adam-Hey what was that move. Tonya- I call that, the ugh, the knuckle buster.

Despite my “it’s like riding a bike” reminders, we continued down the trail with our fellow bikers, and I convinced Adam that he needed to try out my demo bike.

(Adam Eakle) She got me on the Fatback. It doesn’t fit me, but it’s got a neat suspension.

Until I wanted it back.

(Adam Eakle) Adam says- You like the Fatback better? Tonya replies-I do. Adam-Ok we will switch back.

We, along with the other riders, put these demo bikes to the test, which helps industry staff understand just what the consumer really does want, and need.

(Scot Nicols, Ibis Founder) So the industry responds and as a result, the bikes get better, and better, and better.

(Scot Nicol, Ibis Founder) This is the place where you can come and see it all.

(Mark Sevenoff, Western Spirit Cycling) It’s really evolved into a grown-up’s sport, but all the grown up’s are still kids at heart.

(Adam and Tonya) Boy hundreds of miles of trails down here. A great escape from the cold weather up north. How’d you like the Fatback? Tonya-I love the Fatback. This thing has some ginormous tires! Everyone’s commenting about it, and it really climbs those rocks like it’s its job. Like its a, this is a really quality bike. Adam- Baby’s got a little back, that’s for sure. Hey don’t forget if you want to come and experience some of the new bikes and new gear next year, sign up, get down here, experience some of the great trails, some of the great bikes that are coming out for next year. Time now to head back to Salt Lake to the guys at Fish Tech, for tonight’s fishing report.
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Welcome back to KSL Outdoors, I’m Jared Hargrave back here in Moab. You know, Moab has great biking, but there’s another place in Utah that’s less crowded, and the views are just as spectacular.

Here amid the views and solitude of Utah’s desert country,

Are you guys ready to go?

exists the perfect match of a person,

Now you guys can go.

and a place.

(Lamar Guymon) I will be riding behind, mostly because I’m old and incompetent.

Lamar Guymon is co-founder of the MECCA Bike Club.

Which stands for Mostly Emery County Cycling Association.

And is organizer of the annual,

San Rafael Swell Mountain Bike Festival.

This one is the fall festival on the San Rafael Swell, Little Grand Canyon, or the Wedge Overlook.

And he’s poured his love for mountain biking into a single trail.

Today everybody’s going to do Good Water Rim.

It’s a bit of singletrack that Lamar himself discovered.

We worked on this for about 10 years, and started out just following old cow trails and then hooking them together.

I think it’s breathtaking and beautiful.

There’s nothing terribly demanding about it. It’s not hilly, pretty much hugs a consistent elevation. But the way that it winds and curves and hugs the edge of the cliff, it’s some spectacular riding.

I’m old, so I built it so I could ride it.

This curving, exposed, view-laden path is what links Lamar Guymon to this place, but the trail itself was created by the former Emery County Sheriff. Yep… Lamar.

36 years.

I always say that’s the best job I ever had.

I never thought about retiring, but sometimes you just get fired. And then you have to find something else.

So I took up mountain biking and that’s been a blessing. Probably the best stress reliever you can find, and it gives you a reason to be out where you can breathe, and away from people that sometimes drive you crazy.

Lamar shows us really neat trails, like this one he built, so he takes us to all these places you’d never find on your own. And he teaches us all about the Swell.

The trail follows the edge of Good Water Canyon as it snakes around a labyrinth of side drainages that spill into the main gorge. The ride is fast and fun as you pedal through pinon pine forests broken up by endless views of the canyon below.

The view is spectacular. It really can’t be beat.

Beautiful scenery, I mean, what more could you want?

You have to be careful with those views though, because the constant stopping to soak it all in will make the ride take all day.

You can spend the whole day riding 10 miles if you want, just looking at the things that are off the ledge here for you to see and enjoy.

We come down every year for this festival.

We have people come from all over the United States. I think this year we have some from Indiana, some from Idaho, Colorado, and a lot off the Wasatch Front.

The ride’s been great actually. I never thought of mountain biking as a group sport, but riding in a group you can actually find plenty of solitude and it makes you slow down every now and then to stop and look and forces you to soak in the view. So I appreciate that. I like it.

Come! Because these people at the MECCA Bike Club will show you a good time.

They really want to show off their special world.

Hey, if you want to come and check this ride out, you’re in luck. There’s another San Rafael Swell Mountain Bike Festival this spring. For more information, check out BikeTheSwell.org. And now time for tonight’s Utah Field Guide.
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This week we’re down in Moab during Outerbike, which takes place at the Moab Brand Trails.

(Scott Escott – Trails Coordinator, Grand County Trail Mix) This is a non-motorized mountain bike-focus area.

(Ashley Korenblat) There’s about 30 miles of trail from this trailhead that they can ride.

The “Brand Trails” are a singletrack network just a few miles north of Moab. Some trail names are based on cattle brands and spell out the word Moab, and new rides are being added every year.

(Scott Escott) In this particular area, we have Rusty Spur, which is a beginner trail, Lazy EZ, North 40, Deadman’s, Long Branch, Rockin’ A, Circle O, Killer B, Bar B.

(Scott Escott) The cool this is, in this focus area, we’re able to go and say, let’s build absolute beginner trail, you can go ride Rusty Spur, and then you can go ride Lazy EZ, that’s the next step, and North 40, so you can come here as a beginner and go all the way to expert level trails.

And trail builders are creating new rides all the time.

(Ashley Korenblatt) Moab has so many new trails now, that every year we’ve been able to offer whole new trails for folks to ride.

(Jared Hargrave – KSL Outdoors Producer) The Bar M Trails are a great place to take the whole family. You got beginner trails for kids, and the kids in all of us, plus hardcore trails like Deadman’s Ridge. And now let’s head back to Adam and Tonya, on the trail.
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