Red Bull Rampage, the world’s premiere freeride mountain biking competition returns to Southwest Utah to showcase the world’s top riders as they carve through rugged ridgelines and steep jumps of desert landscape. 18 of the best international mountain bike athletes will compete on Friday, October 21st streaming live at 10:30AM MDT exclusively on ESPN+ in the U.S., and on Red Bull TV in all other countries. The complete event will be available on-demand on both ESPN+ and Red Bull TV following the competition. Viewers can also tune-in to a condensed 2.5-hour replay that will air on ESPN on October 30th.
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We had the opportunity to catch up with last year’s third place winner, Reed Boggs, before the competition this week. Reed Boggs hails from Cleveland, OH and currently lives in Hurricane, Utah. Reed started as a digger at Red Bull Rampage, supporting Nicholi Rogatkin at the 2015 event. He qualified for Red Bull Rampage in 2017 but injury forced him out of the event before start. Boggs finished in third at Rampage last year, his best finish at the event, but is aiming to take the next step and compete for the title this year.
How are you feeling about Red Bull Rampage coming up?
Reed Boggs: I’m very excited for the competition, this will be my fourth or fifth time competing and it’s the highlight of my year. It’s a lot of work that goes into it and a lot of reward at the end if you complete your line, so very exciting!
What preparation have you done for this course?
I’ve been traveling a lot to different competitions all summer, but towards August and September it’s just Red Bull Rampage time in my head, so a lot of yoga, lots of gym visits, lots of breathing and meditation to try to get the mind right for Rampage is the biggest thing for me.
It’s so different from every other competition because there’s two runs, you spend 10 days out here building with the team making sure your line is perfect for that one-to-two-minute run. Everything comes down to that, so you have to make sure your mind is right and physically, you have to be in top shape. Breathing is huge part for me because I get super scared up there and the fear can sometimes overtake you so getting the headspace right is the most important thing for me.
Reed Boggs seen at Red Bull Rampage in Hurricane, Utah, USA on 14 October, 2022 // Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202210150183 // Usage for editorial use only //
What kind of bike are you riding?
I have a Yeti SB165. It’s a trail bike/downhill bike, a hybrid I’d like to say. It doesn’t have the most suspension, but I have enough and with the way we build things out here, it’s very steep with very steep landings, entries, and jumps so you don’t need the most amount of suspension, but you need it really stiff and very progressive.
Reed Boggs builds at Red Bull Rampage in Hurricane, Utah, USA on 13 October, 2022
What makes Red Bull Rampage unique and exciting for you?
Rampage is so unique because you get to build what you want to ride. We get to build our line top to bottom so if you really want to take it to the next level and build some really scary stuff you can do that. And if you want to keep it chill and ride a ridge and play it safe you can do that as well, but I feel like I’ve been doing that in years past and now I really want to compete with the big boys and compete for the win.
Last year, I got a taste for it and I got third place, I kind of found a formula that works for a good score so now I’m just trying to incorporate everything in my run and have some scary stuff, have some technical jumps, and some fast flowy ridge lines to rip down, so I just want to include everything and do my best and get up there with the big boys.
Reed Boggs rides the course at Red Bull Rampage in Virgin, Utah, USA on 13 October, 2021 // Paris Gore / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202110140012 // Usage for editorial use only //
Do you do other types of sports besides professional mountain biking?
Being a professional mountain biker right now, it takes the majority of the year. But during the off-season, I love riding my dirt bike, pit bikes, side by sides, and just being out with two wheels. I love the adrenaline. Other than that I’m pretty terrible at basketball or football, terrible at the “normal” sports, but I’m better that the extreme sports like snowboarding. If you can ask me to throw a football I couldn’t do it haha. My life really revolves around two wheels pretty much.
Reed Boggs performs at Red Bull Rampage in Virgin, Utah USA on October 13, 2021 // Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202110140051 // Usage for editorial use only //
What are you looking forward to after Red Bull Rampage?
I’ve been really working all year for Red Bull Rampage, after this I’m going to take a step back and enjoy my winter and get back to normal life and take a break from normal riding. I think it’s pretty healthy to do that and get a balance rather than just thinking all year about biking, so looking to go to the beach and take time to myself. I spend majority of the year training, biking, and traveling so during the winter when we don’t have any competitions it’s super nice to stay off the bike and regroup and come spring time get back to it.