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Show Friday, April 8,2005 Sports Editor: Jon Nelson Page 7 The Signpost Sports Phone: 626-7983 Freeride: Extreme mountain biking ripping tendons 3. Blew out right shoulder, costing $10,000 in surgery By JASON STALEY 4. Broke three ribs on the 20-foot drop asst. photo editor in Virgin | The Signpost 5. Blew out left shoulder, broke wrist, broke three more ribs, bruised right kidney Unloading their bikes from their and spleen, all on a different trip to Virgin. vehicles, a semi-new variety of extreme His riding partner, Weber State mountain bikers known as freeriders University senior Malone Molgard, has prepare to.embark on an uphill trek. not had the same stint of bad landings. From the 22nd Street trailhead in Only two major wrecks have cursed him. Ogden, the freeriders, unlike other In one of them, he rode off a 12-foot drop mountain bikers, push-their bikes up the and hurt his neck. The other was at 22nd narrow single tracks. Once they make it to the top, they board their rides and Street He launched off a jump and pulled whisk down the hill, launching off jumps up too hard, causing him to superman - where thefronttire goes straight up and the and into the air like rocket ships. back goes down - and missed the landing. With a soft suspension, packing 8 to "I skid on my butt from about halfway 10 inches of travel, the bikes are difficult through the- transition to about there to peddle up hills but are a soft landing (about 20 feet}," Molgard said. "My pants for the rider. These bikes have only two were ripped, my underwear was ripped, purposes: going super fast and getting my butt was just pure flesh wounds." massive air off large jumps and drops. Barker and Molgard agree that the joy "The biggest jump I've taken is here of freeriding outweighs the pain of the on 22nd Street; it is a road gap (jump that injuries, but there is a point when both of clears a road or trail) that is 18 feet high them begin to think twice about a jump. and 40 feet across," said freerider Phillip With wives and children, they Barker. "It is over here, called Indian trail decided to limit their drops to 15 feet gap, only about four guys have ever tried and their gaps to 20 feet because, unlike it; it's big and huge." professional freeriders, they are not paid Baker has also launched another when they are hurt. 40-foot road gap in Virgin, Utah, and "It is hard to pay house bills when dropped a 20-foot cliff in Virgin. Getting big air and big speed can mean big you're sitting home in a cast," said Barker, injuries; that is why many freeriders wear who spent five months off work with bike injuries in the last year and a half. pads and a full-face helmet. Molgard and Barker are not alone; on Even with his helmet, Baker's injury any given evening between 4 p.m. and tick list looks like this: 1. Face planted in a tree stump and dark, freeriders congregate on the hiils received six stitches in his nose above 22nd Street. 2. A stick stabbed an inch into his leg, The sport of freeriding is not exclusive The Great Outdoors WSU senior Malone Molgard jumps a 20-foot trail gap on his freeride mountain bike Wednesday afternoon at the 22nd Street trailhead. to men; women also take the big drops and jumps. Addy, one of their female friends, is fast and places first or second in many races according to Barker. Molgard's two-yearold daughter is already learning to ride a bike and often talks about when she will be "big enough to ride with papa." By the time Molgard's daughter is big enough to freeride, the sport will probably be more available on the Wasatch Front. The best freeriding in the Ogden area is the 22nd Street trailhead, but there are places all over the state to ride. Salt Lake City's I Street, in the avenues, boasts some big jumps and gaps. In the deserts of southern Utah the trails are countless, especially near Moab and Sl George. For the rest of the state, the best way tofindplaces torideis to ask a bike shop or a freerider; they know all the secret spots. "Someday downhill (freeriding) will be just like downhill skiing; cross-country biking will be of the abnormal rather than the normal," Barker said. "Downhill now you see guys with their downhill bikes and their pads on, and everyone is like 'Who is the weirdoes, what are they doing."' -•?! w. Wildcat Briefs Horspool Earns Big Sky Field Athlete of the Week Weber State University senior Jake Horspool has been selected as the Big Sky Conference Men's Field Athlete of the Week. Horspool earned the honor after his performance at the BYU Cougar Invitational meet last Friday. Horspool won the javelin with a career-best mark of 222-06, which improves his NCAA qualifying standard. The mark is the sixth best in the nation this year and the best in the Big Sky Conference. It also ranks fourth in WSU history. Horspool won the event by 38 feet. HER NEIGHBORS HELPED WITH THE: DECORATIONS AND THE MEALS, ; HER SISTERS HELPED BUY THE DRESS, - ; > HER FATHER HELPED HER DOWN THE AISLE. AND TOGETHER, THEY HELPED MAKE SURE SHE'D GET A BEATING EVERY DAY; FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE. BECAUSE THEY KNEW HER HUSBAND WAS ABUSIVE THEY DID NOTHING 'Cats take 13th at BYU Dixie Classic The Lady Wildcat golf team overcame foul weather, for the third straight tournament, to shoot a 678 and finish 13th at the BYU Dixie Classic in St. George, Utah, earlier this week. WSU struggled to a field-worst 356 over the first 18 holes but bounced back in the final round with a 24-stroke improvement. The 'Cats were led by Amy Mombert who shot team-best scores in both rounds, with an 82 in the opening round and a 78 in the final round. Mombert finished in a tie for 19th overall. Men's golf 19th at Pacific Coast Intercollegiate The Weber Slate University men's golf team fired a final-round 305 (o jump two places and finish I9th at the BHe/Paalic Coast Intercollegiate golf tournament on Tuesday. Barry Schcnk led the 'Cats with a 13-over-par 229, while Matt Wiffiams and Clay Bingham led the final round with team-low 75s. Bra'ndt Hoffman and Greg Buckway rounded out the Wildcat scoring with 236 and 237, respectively. r It's hard to know what to do itop Violence Against Your Community Connection 2266 Adams - Ogden, Utah 392-7273 s |