The inaugural Red Bull Road Rage descended on Malibu with a mixed bag of pro cyclists. Mountain - road, downhill - stage, enlisted – retired; all breads raced for a piece of the $10,000 purse. In usual Red Bull fashion, the downhill road event - was the first of a kind pushing the boundaries of sports. The stage was Tuna Canyon in Malibu, CA on 2.7 miles of windy pavement descending 1,600 feet flanking career-ending cliffs.
A time trial kicked things off. While competing for a slot in the pack race and claim as the fastest descender, the rider with the fastest speed through the trap picked up a side prize of $1,000. A couple MB athletes, Mark Weir and Erik Saunders, mach-ed the course to take 5th and 6th, with times of 4:36:1 (official results).Weir raced with an Edge prototype, and posted the below TT run. Saunders forgot to power-off his unit and woke up to a drained battery. I guess that’s what separates 5th from 6th. (Sorry Erik, I was hoping for Dot Race. Maybe Garmin will do an auto-off for ya)
Check out Weir’s time trail. I’m guessing the speed trap was 2/3rds down where he hit 55.1 mph. Saunders put down an impressive 57 mph. Neither where enough to beat McCook’s 58 mph.
The pack races were boardercross-style 4 man heats. Like a Chinese downhill on pavement. Check out the video on the Road Rage home page, that’s gotta hurt. They only crowned one pack rider and haven’t listed complete results. If you know the pack results, please comment.
The medley of riders and bikes was my favorite. With a hodgepodge of equipment; frames, pads, helmets, shoes, peddles, forks, it’s easy to see what side, mountain or road, riders came from. The only requirement was 700cc wheels and drop bars. Here’s a look at Weir’s machine. He wasn’t happy with the drop bars – “It was bad ass until I put these *#!% bars on it.”
Check out Erik Saunders site for more pics and behind the scenes color. He's a character and posts some entertaining stuff.
