THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
A Fred’s-Eye View: It was all the Rage
Whoa!
Yes, friends — after watching the first few riders shoot down Malibu’s twisting Tuna Canyon during Saturday’s Red Bull Road Rage time trial, all this reporter could offer up was a dumbfounded, Keanu Reeves-like expression.
Whoa-HUH!
My declaration of disbelief grew louder as riders dialed in their lines and technique around the 40-something sharp turns dotting the two-mile, 2000-foot drop. The average times during the preliminary round of the time trial were in the five-minute range. But by the second round, riders posted times nearly 20 seconds faster, approaching rocket-like speeds. Myles Rockwell’s mind-boggling victory run clocked in at just over 4:20, and David McCook hit a suicidal 58 mph on the steepest straightaway.
OOHHH!
During the day’s second race, the four-up event (think mountain-cross), I gnawed my nails to nubbins watching each round’s four riders shoot down the road within inches of each other. The race appeared about 100 times as sketchy as the time trial, as riders drafted each other into the off-camber, hairpin turns with seemingly reckless abandon.
HO-ly s---!
My guts turned over at the sight of the day’s first crash. Nineteen-year-old downhiller Duncan Riffle hit the deck during the second round of the four-up, emitting the sickening screech of plastic on pavement. When he finally ground to a halt, a sizable crimson stain spread from beneath his leg pads while his skinned hands dripped blood. Happily, after a touch of Neosporin and a few bandages, Riffle and his Mohawk seemed little the worse for wear.
How it went down
Riffle’s road rash would be surpassed in ouch-itude by Dean Meyer’s stack-up during the four-up semifinals. The NorCal native scored the holeshot out of the gate and led into a tight turn, just a tad too hot. His rear tire separated itself from the wheel, and Meyer hit the pavement and shot into the wall, followed by McCook, who sustained minor bruising and cuts to the face (but finished the descent).
"Apparently I rolled up the hill like two rolls and then rolled back down," Meyer said. "I was pretty scared at first because of the impact. But I was more concerned that I had taken out someone. Those guys behind me were all world-class riders and I didn’t want to do that."
Meyer escaped with a broken collarbone, some scrapes and bruises. It was the worst crash of the day — which was amazing, considering the number of top-level athletes pushing the envelope. When all was said and done, the Rage produced a fair share of woahs, ooohs and holy s---s, not to mention plenty of surprises.
Chief among the surprises was the sizzling performance by 2000 world downhill champ Rockwell, who cleaned house in both events. The pre-race hype touted the descending skills of 2005 four-cross world champ Brian Lopes, roadie David Clinger, and Olympic gold medalist Marty Nothstein, but Rockwell left them all behind. And it wasn’t so much what he did, but how he did it. Though the majority of riders opted for specialty machinery, including disc brakes, fatter tires and aero wheels, Rockwell rode an aged stock Giant TCR with blown-out bald tires and a pair of wheels fit for training rides.
"It’s the same bike I’ve ridden for five years," he said.
It was a comeback of sorts for Rockwell, who spent 40 days in jail after a 2004 pot bust — an experience that he says turned his life around.
"I’ve been making mistakes and learning from my mistakes and trying to start over in life," said Rockwell, who works as a woodworker in Durango, Colorado. "I don’t take things for granted any more. I ride once a week now. I did about three spin classes to train for this race. I don’t get to ride as much because I get home from work and have a two-and-a-half-year-old son to hang out with. Priorities change, you know."
Rockwell posted the fastest time in the qualifying round of the time trial, edging McCook. During the finals, Lopes posted the early fast time, which McCook narrowly bested. His top speed of 58 mph was the fastest of the day, earning the road racer a $1000 prize. The last man down was Rockwell — who nicked McCook to take the top prize of the day.
Rockwell continued his dominance during the four-up, a sketchy four-man elimination race down the same course. He won all three rounds, including the final, cruising easily across the finish line ahead of 2004 four-cross world champ Eric Carter. Local hero John Wike outsprinted Idaho native Todd Tanner for the final spot on the podium.
The bikes
More than a few technological oddities caught my eye at the Rage. The most bizarre machines I spotted belonged to Carter and 2005 elite road champ Carl Decker. Both bikes featured large motorcycle windshield fairings. Carter filled in his bike’s front triangle with duct-taped cardboard and rode fat commuter-bike tires. Decker’s bike featured ultra-long cranks and an unusually low bottom bracket, not to mention an on-the-fly adjustable seat post and a water bottle filled with pennies taped to his downtube.
The majority of the mountain-bikers at the race rode some sort of converted mountain frame, which proved handy in the course’s tight off-camber turns. Unfortunately, the long straightaway at the base of the descent did not favor this design; the mountain bikes lost crucial time there. Perhaps this is why only two athletes on mountain bikes scored podium finishes.
Still, in the much-hyped battle between the mountain and road bikers, the mountain bikers won a decisive victory. Of the five athletes to stand on the podium, Rockwell, Lopes and Carter all boast a mountain-bike background, with Wike and McCook representing the road crowd.
Red Bull Road Rage
Malibu, CA. Nov. 5
Preliminary results
Time trial
1. Myles Rockwell
2. David McCook
3. Brian Lopes
Four-up
1. Myles Rockwell
2. Eric Carter
3. John Wike
4. Todd Tanner
