I was wondering that too...and that was the part of the race that I found most frightening. I could almost hear Montgomery Burns shouting UNLEASH THE HOUNDS!

Which is one of the things that makes this the country it is, the right to get an impartial trial when someone is hurt. I wonder how many would want Chile's legal system after an accident?

Cool race. Gotta love the dog!. Random obstacle. Doesn't appear to have too many rules. At the end of the video you can hear the offical from the UCI lecturing him on wearing a full face helemt.

I sat a little too close to the monitor and now I am not feeling so hot.

That must be one big mountain to take that long to get down.

I was also struck by the length of the race. I can't imagine staying in control on a course like that for that long!

Give me a full body crash suit and a full suspension MTB and I'm there.

I could think of less awesome things to kill yourself doing.

I have been DH racing since 1985. I did well at the masters world championships. The race is crazy because of the fence and dog etc. the actual terrain is pretty modest.

Watch this film of world champion Sam Hill. It would take 2.5 hours to drive down this hill in a 4X4 truck. I think it took Sam around 3 mins.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIygwolIHjg

While that was amazing, no one threw a dog at him.

:)

The dog wasn't part of the course, and these redbull urban downhill competitions occur regularly in Southern America. There are pretty much no rules besides stay in the course, and you have to deal with what you get. The dog happened to walk onto the course and nobody intervened because dogs aren't little house pets in most of Southern America.

I knew this, actually :). But I like the idea of dog-throwing as part of the obstacles better.

That's impressive. One article I found about the race claimed the elevation drop is around 2000 feet, though it changes year-to-year as does the exact course.

whew ...
watching that made me shrivel up like a spider on a hot stove.

No ambulance-chasers.

I've always thought alley cat races were fun, but I can't drink like those youngsters.

snarky''s video had me craning my head back. great vid.

This guy gets a lot of them, too.
http://www.digave.com/videos/

Makes my kidneys hurt just watching!

Ah, to be twenty again.

Reminds me of my "stint" racing Elsinores and Husqvarnas.

....and no, I didn't race chainsaws. :)

I can't ride or drink like them :(

My opinion is, the American legal system isn't so hot. I'm not impressed by lawyers who are out to shake down anyone who has a dime in his pocket for anything they can trump up. Too bad we're no longer responsible for our own decisions.

No, American lawyers are mostly just bottom-feeders.

Great (but motion sickness inducing) video, cool course! Stupid American liability laws! I also choose to believe the dog was a planned obstacle. Maybe it's an alley dog race?

Until you're injured and can't work. Then it's thank God for liability laws. One of the most amazing things in recent history is that somehow the average person has been convinced giving up his right to a jury trial for fair compensation is a good thing.

The only protection any of us have against grievous abuse and harm is access to lawyers and the court system.

Besides...you're in LA, that's barely the US anyway. Napoleanic code :rolleyes:

This is true, our liability laws mostly involve the guillotine. I really meant the litigation-happy modern American culture in general; no sense of personal responsibility, caveat non emptor, etc. But that is really a discussion for another time and place.

:lol:

Let them eat cake (that's made with carcinogens).

THAT WAS AWESOME!

I wanna see Zaphod do that! :lol:

I'd be missing body parts after a ride like that.

After?
I would probably be laying dead on the side of course near the top.

I wanna see you do it on your Peugeot! :lol:

truthfully I kinda wanna see me do it too. I like how its got that "Group B Rally" feel to it with the people lining the course and the dog...I think the part that I thought looked most difficult was the 180 Degree wall-ride turn. I'm ok with big jumps and riding down stairs...wall rides not so much.