2002-04-27, 18:00
JOSH BENDER
Can this guy ride or is he just insane?
I hear a lot of crap about how extreme freeriders don't really have bike skills, but just a low sense of self preservation. Here's my take on the reigning Big Air King.
In Boulder City, Nevada, I watched Josh Bender drop a 37' high out-cropping that took a lot more than just balls. It was a loose slope coming to a 4' high kicker ramp followed by having to clear about an 8' out-cropping and hit a short transition to keep from landing in the flat.
There was so much that could have gone wrong on this jump. To start you had a loose slope that was difficult to judge speed on. Then a 4' tall kicker ramp that completely blinded the landing and could easily have sent him too far or off at some bad angle. Then an 8' out-cropping had to be cleared, but only by a small amount or he would miss the small transition to safely land. Well...he hit it perfectly. He could of just bumped off the kicker and barely cleared the out-cropping, but instead he caught nice air off the kicker and then dropped the front end just past the out-cropping to stick the landing. That took a tremendous amount of skill to get it all right. Especially knowing that a mistake could be your last. And, it wasn't a fluke. He did it again the next day.
It is true he doesn't have the high speed cornering skills of a seasoned DH racer or long distance endurance of an XC racer, but what he does requires just as much practice and skill as any other elite form of mountain biking.
Finally, he is not the guy you see in the video. There is a side of Bender that is dead serious when its all on the line, but when you meet him in person you'll find he is about the nicest guy you know. I was seriously surprised and look forward to hanging out with him again. His excitement about biking is contagious and he always has a way of making you feel good about your riding, even if you are only going small.
Can this guy ride or is he just insane?
I hear a lot of crap about how extreme freeriders don't really have bike skills, but just a low sense of self preservation. Here's my take on the reigning Big Air King.
In Boulder City, Nevada, I watched Josh Bender drop a 37' high out-cropping that took a lot more than just balls. It was a loose slope coming to a 4' high kicker ramp followed by having to clear about an 8' out-cropping and hit a short transition to keep from landing in the flat.
There was so much that could have gone wrong on this jump. To start you had a loose slope that was difficult to judge speed on. Then a 4' tall kicker ramp that completely blinded the landing and could easily have sent him too far or off at some bad angle. Then an 8' out-cropping had to be cleared, but only by a small amount or he would miss the small transition to safely land. Well...he hit it perfectly. He could of just bumped off the kicker and barely cleared the out-cropping, but instead he caught nice air off the kicker and then dropped the front end just past the out-cropping to stick the landing. That took a tremendous amount of skill to get it all right. Especially knowing that a mistake could be your last. And, it wasn't a fluke. He did it again the next day.
It is true he doesn't have the high speed cornering skills of a seasoned DH racer or long distance endurance of an XC racer, but what he does requires just as much practice and skill as any other elite form of mountain biking.
Finally, he is not the guy you see in the video. There is a side of Bender that is dead serious when its all on the line, but when you meet him in person you'll find he is about the nicest guy you know. I was seriously surprised and look forward to hanging out with him again. His excitement about biking is contagious and he always has a way of making you feel good about your riding, even if you are only going small.