Sending Big Drops: Interview with Logan Binggeli
Click on the dot to find out more about the product. Photo credit to Dan Severson
Josh Campbell: I saw your super gnarly crash at Rampage last year. Explain to me what exactly happened. (See crash below)
Logan Binggeli: Basically, I broke my femur! I completed the rotation of the flip and landed it and I caught the edge of the retaining wall that they had built up and it just flung me right over the bars. On top of that, I think my leg landed on a rock, which broke it.
JC: What was the first thing that went through your mind when you hit the ground?
LB:The first thing that went through my mind was that I didn’t want it to be serious. Like paralyzed serious. Then they said there was a femur deformity when the EMT ran up which was actually good news to me. I was still like “Oh my god, I broke my femur” but I knew right away that I was going to be a lot better than it could have been. I was just bummed that I didn’t make my run. I felt like that if I could’ve stuck that run, I could’ve made it back up on the podium. So I was just bummed for the fans and myself.
JC: What was the worst part of your big crash?
LB: Definitely being couch-bound for a month. I could barely shower, and I was constantly in pain and constantly taking pain pills. Just staying motivated was hard too. I trained harder than I have ever trained just to get back to square one. I got lucky that Rampage is in my hometown and I got flown into a great surgeon who was on call in the emergency room and then I spent two nights in the hospital and then I went home. Another kid broke his femur and he was all the way from Europe, so he was kind of screwed. So that was a big plus for me. Just staying motivated was the hardest part though. I had a lot of great people in my corner helping me out from doctors to family to therapists.
JC: What got you started riding?
LB: Well I have a seven-year amateur motocross background and I got really burnt out on that from just pushing myself too hard. Then luckily, there was a little zone right next to my house that I call a mini Rampage. We would just go out on mountain bikes just to kill time. Then I went to lunch in eighth grade in 2003 and that’s when I saw the Red Bull Rampage. That’s basically what sparked it all and I went and bought a bunch of mountain bike videos and I saw that there is not only freeriding, there is racing and it’s basically like moto without a motor. So I got super hyped on that and just totally got onboard with mountain biking. I then went on to do my first race in 2004.
JC: What do you think the next big step for downhill biking is?
LB: TV. There is anything you could imagine on TV these days and a lot of it is pretty stupid but you still don’t see mountain biking on there. So hopefully Red Bull or Monster Energy or some rich dude or someone decides to invest in TV coverage soon.
JC: What do you think your next step is?
LB: My next step is to keep racing and keep winning. I would really like to get back and make it back on the podium this year at Rampage. I’m still stoked on going back and I feel like I have something to prove coming back from injury and show that I still have the drive to do that. I also have a race coming up in Italy that is the first of its kind. It’s six men racing down a downhill course all at once with a lot of man-made obstacles. I think it could progress into a whole other market. It’s called the Red Bull Wide Open.
2013 Rampage Crash
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