Words can not express how fun this was. Last year I raced the Lopes Biker Bar Banzai from the top of Santiago Peak to Cooks Corner, over 5000 ft of downhill. BLC was so nervous he took off sprinting, crashed twice and froze up at the bottom of Joplin, so funny. Great concept though and Joplin is no joke, very challenging but very flowy.
I thought it would be a killer event to try for Oakley employees since you can spit and hit the mountain from our office, so I approached my hero Mike Bell with the idea. Mike Bell is the coolest m-f-er on earth, one of the original pro mx racers who is as humble as can be and has the energy level of a teenager; and the coolest scars you've ever seen. He once told me to not put my hands out when I crash but just take it on the shoulder, "if you break your collar bone it heals in 5 minutes." His collar bone is shaped like a pyramid and is probably 3 inches out of place from all the hard falls he's taken over the years.
After 3 months of planning the event kicked off on Dec 9, 2011 with about 40 of Oakley's in house riders with a group climb up maple springs and then a race down Joplin, Santiago Truck Trail, and Luge to Cooks. The race was f-ing chaos with bikes and people crashing everywhere. No one got hurt and personally it was one of the funnest days of my life, i think i was just high from seeing it actually happen. I got 9th. Video and photos coming soon via Hans Arnesen productions, but this was without question the raddest thing i have ever planned.
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