DARREN BERRECLOTH
 |
| The Claw |
 | If you are not getting injured here and there, then you are not pushing hard enough. |
Darren Berrecloth has had a rough year. He rode the finals at the X-Games with a torn muscle in his arm that kept him off his bike until Crankworx, where he was injured again. Off his bike and out of the gym, his hips and joints began slipping and getting ‘out of whack’. He competed in his own event, The Berrecloth Invitational, back in August and post event he actively ignored his back pain until he simply couldn’t ride anymore. On his way to Rampage with Doerfling and Aggasiz, he stopped in Californaia for an MRI to find out that a blown disc, the same injury he had seven years ago, would keep him out of Rampage this year. Prognosis is a 100% recovery and Darren is focused on giving himself everyone opportunity to speed it up, including a healthy diet and quality time in a hyperbaric chamber. But regardless he is a spectator this weekend.
| I am totally stoked to hang out and root on the boys. |
Being sidelined at events is not new to Darren, who is surprisingly accepting of the situation. This is his third Rampage to attend without competing. Athletes are always going to be in and out of the game with injuries, it is the nature of the sport. This is his life, his world and he is excited to help out the boys with line selection, support, and cheering.
| That is the beauty of the Red Bull Rampage, it is as gnarly as you want to make it. |
Red Bull Rampage is a blank canvas for the riders, Darren’s eyes light up at a little when he discusses the creativity involved in finding your own line. He firmly believes that you should find something that you are stoked to ride, build it and at the end of the day relish the feeling of achieving a goal that you have set for yourself. Pushing your own boundaries and having fun is the true motivation for most of the riders who come here to compete, it shouldn’t matter if they end up on the podium in 15th place at the end of the day. A big supporter of keeping big mountain and slopestyle as separate events, Darren thinks the evolution of machine building at Rampage can enhance the event by allowing the creation of landings, opening up options previously unattainable with shovels alone. But that is where he draws the line, a rider should not be able to skid down the course, throw one trick and walk away with the win. This is big mountain.
| If you're not having fun out there, in my opinion, why the hell are you doing it? |
When it comes to the new rules around building crews and access for this year’s event, he feels that it has had little impact as this site has already been prepped from previous years - there is simply not a lot of new stuff to build. He did reflect however, that by not allowing an army of builders onsite the building efforts are more restricted to big mountain results; with fewer builders it is harder to create a slopestyle course in the days they have available. Finding a new zone for Rampage is in the plans, however there is a demanding set of criteria for a new location and a lot of work has already gone into it. Darren will be hitting the pavement this winter in search of it. He is excited to have a whole new canvas for riders to paint on.
| For the most part it is a community understanding about how much work goes into building stuff, but there are a select few who make their living off of poaching other peoples stuff, which is unfortunate. |
While riders are not necessarily judged on the creativity of the course they have built there is a certain amount of ownership and pride that goes along with their efforts. While there is a general community understanding that a claimed line is an owned line, the riders still run into the odd conflict on the mountain. Communication is key and most riders are willing to work together when approached, however a poached line is not cool. The work that goes into building up to the event leaves riders with numb hands and aching bodies, and for someone to come in fresh and use the line you have toiled over would be like signing your name to a Picasso. It is uncreative and Darren hates it.
| I hope that someone will ride my lines because I have always wondered if they were as hard as I thought they were. |
As a specatator this year, however, Darren hopes that someone will use his old lines. There has not been much talk of it though and he wonders if it is because of the big front he has put up in the past to keep people off his lines when he is riding. As far as he is concerned now, if he is not riding his past creations are fair game.
| The rain totally changes the contest, that is going to be the biggest factor this year. |
From the couch where I interviewed him, he is only allowed to lay down or stand up, Darren gave up some predictions for this weekend. Rumor has it that T-Mac has a monster on the go, Semenuk’s line will be badass if he stomps it right from the very top, and no one should ever forget about Zink's big style and gambler mentality.
| It is going to be a really good show this weekend and then at the same time it is anyone's ball game, like last year we had a couple guys who came out of the woodwork and were on the podium. |
Komentar
Posting Komentar
Kirim komentarmu di sini