Red Bull Joyride: Behind the Scenes

Red Bull Joyride 2012 was rife with drama both on the ground and in the air. The threat of an electrical storm pushed the contest start forward by half an hour, but it wasn’t lightning riders were worried about. A storm is preceded by unstable air and heavy winds, leaving riders uneasy about sending huge booters into gusts.

There were many a casualty, and the results of the 2012 Crankworx slopestyle were decided by who could actually make it to the bottom in one piece. We will be running more photo and video, as well as a detailed analysis of the contest, in the coming days. Consider this article a preface to that coverage, a setting of the stage if you will.

  A view from the drop in platform down to the village. Most riders were spinning something off of it. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

Warming Up

  Rheeder flips over Genon in practice. Among the highest on the amplitude meter. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  McGarry was sending the 60 footer and even flipping it in practice. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Zink, 3 off the drop in. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Gully dropping in. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Semenuk getting ready to send it. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Linus Sjoholm 3’s into the village. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

The Bikes

  Genon’s winning bike. A hardtail with one brake. Crazy considering the scale of the course, ironic considering Sam Pilgrim’s choice to go full face and full suspension. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Semenuk’s Furry Trek. No gyro, just a whole lot of cable and some XX brakes. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Fogelquist’s Nukeproof with hydro gyro. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Rheeder’s Trek with Chromag and XTR. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Cam McCaul’s Fox 34. He claimed it to be the only 34 831 in existence… Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

The Riders

  Big guns lining up. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Thomas Genon. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Brett Rheeder. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Cam McCaul. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Brandon Semenuk. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Anthony Messere. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Gulevich and Dueck. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Rheeder and Groves. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Jack Fogelquist. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  McGarry getting amped. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Pilgrim and Granieri. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Casey Groves. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Dueck keeping focus. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

The Fans

  So many fans on the course that you could easily lose the rider in a photo. Sam Dueck with a perfect super flip. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Fogel fan club, including 2012 AIRprentice finalist Ace Hayden. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Front row seating. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  In front of the big screen up top was prime seating. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  #instagram #crankworx Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  This guy was holding a huge sign that said “Get Outa My Boneyard.” Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Priestly. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Inevitable run-through of the banana clan. Some bananas funnier than others. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Fan base always stoked… Photo ~ Toby Cowley

  Especially the little ones. Photo ~ Toby Cowley

  Sea of people. 25,000 claimed. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Where’s Waldo? Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

The Defeats

  Greg Watts with a pissed off bike toss. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Semenuk’s first crash and taco. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Bummer. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Not the way Brandon wanted to head down the hill. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

  Dejected after the 2nd lap crash. Photo ~ Toby Cowley

  Jack Fogelquist had some great lines up top but some bad luck… Photo ~ Toby Cowley

  Soderstrom’s last ditch effort. 3 double whip that could have won the contest. Photo ~ Morgan Taylor

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Some have been referring to Crankworx Joyride 2013 as “Crashworx”. Much carnage out there on the course, but a ton of huge stuff being pulled off. Stay tuned for the action…