Quadruple X
Four-wheelers do it just as fast
Lindsley is turning into what Kohut calls, “a junkie”; a rider with a downhill addiction. You gotta have guts to downhill period, but when you decide to strap yourself into a 65-pound piece of metal and descend double black diamond runs on a hybrid go-cart, you gotta be mental. At Crankworx ’05 he became the first four-wheeler to hit and land Whistler’s nine-foot GLC drop, and though he didn’t crash, it’s something you have to be prepared to do. 4X is a splinter of two-wheel downhill, and crashing is inherent to both sports. Besides, chicks dig scars — right?
Non-4Xers are beginning to show more than a fleeting interest. Scott Hart, the editor of Decline, a mountain-bike sports and culture magazine, rode Therien’s R-One bike down B-Line and plans a review in a forthcoming issue. Earlier this summer at Monterey’s Sea Otter Classic, Lindsley and I met up with American X, a Tahoe-based extreme-sports production company, who, after filming us at the event (and with some coaxing from Lindsley), funded our Crankworx trip and sent two cameramen to film the events for a forthcoming DVD. “The hope is that through this increasing publicity, the sport will continue to develop and grow to the point where the price of these things will drop,” says Lindsley. Right now an R-One ride will set you back $10,000, and though that’s not much more than the $7,000-$9,000 you’ll spend on a top-end two-wheel ride, it’s still steep — especially for a “new-extreme” sport.
“If people are interested, they’ll pay,” says Kohut. To develop to the next level, the sport needs more riders, and he thinks it’s just a matter of time. “4X is a blend of skateboard attitude and BMX style, on a downhill course.” At the suggestion that the X-Games could be a potential future venue, Kohut says, “The X-Games are in city centers, not really conducive to 4X, but if they want to hold it on a course where we can perform like the showmen and -women we are — it’s on!”
Hell, yeah.
Web resources:
www.crankworx.com
www.r-onefourcross.com
www.sitski.com/offroad2.htm
www.whistlerblackcomb.com
www.castellanodesigns.com
www.activeforce.org
www.teamphoenix.info
www.livewiremedia.com/chariot.html
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