After a week of building, wind delays and hard choices, Georgia Astle stood on the Rampage women’s podium in third. It was the top Canadian result and a career statement built on nerve, patience and one enormous decision.
“I’m so stoked for all the girls and I feel like there is once again just like so much progression this year,” Astle says.
Last year’s inaugural women’s event introduced what was possible. This year, riders pushed deeper.
“Totally, I feel like last year for the first year there was a lot of unknowns. No one wanted to bite off more than we could chew and then this year was like let’s see how much we can we can bite off. Let’s see what we can do.”
The decision: 57-to-60 feet of consequence
Astle’s run hinged on El Presidente, the massive drop first ridden by Tyler McCaul in 2015. She found it almost by accident.
“That one was Tyler McCaul’s drop from 2015 Rampage, and it was funny because I started the track walk up that side of the course when all the other girls were on the other side. I didn’t realize that was the only option of getting out of that ridge. So reluctantly I ended up choosing that massive drop but it ended up working out really well.”
How big?
“So I think 54 feet was like the takeoff to the knuckle and then the sweet spot would have been like 57 to 60 ft.”
Bigger than anything she had done before. “That is definitely the biggest.”
She was not alone.
“Myself, Cami Nogueira and Chelsea Kimball shared it. Cami and I had it in our finals run.”
Judging and what counted this year
Rampage judging is always debated. Astle’s take is measured and specific.
“Yeah, I feel like I’m really happy first of all that Robin Goomes and Hannah Bergemann got judged the way they did. I’m really happy that Cami and I scored really close because that just showed that the big drop scored. They really liked the amplitude of the big drop, so we scored high. Although maybe it favored amplitude over style or the amount of tricks. However, I think it just showed that they love seeing big airs on the whole run.”
On the men’s side, she saw a different emphasis.
“Yeah, the men’s is so tough because, right away, we noticed that the looker’s right ridge was scoring way higher. I think for the women it was amplitude and tricks. For the men’s side it was degree of difficulty and exposure that was setting riders apart there.”
A heavy week, a careful process
The desert…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…