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Chile Challenge XXII
Dry and hot, with ever increasingly rough rocks and roots, are what awaited us in Angel Fire, NM for the Chile Challenge. This was the site of a World Cup stop in 2005, and we were treated to testing our mettle on the same tracks as the top guns of that race.

Branney Turn

 

Unfortunately the long, rough DH track and the super-sized 4X track weren't the only factors to overcome for us and many others on this otherwise perfect weekend of racing. During afternoon 4X practice, a Junior-X rider from the Mojo Wheels team was seriously injured and had to be flown to Albuquerque to be placed in critical care. By early Saturday morning he still showed no signs of recovery, and his parents started the process of taking him off life support and arranging for organ donation.

Most of the Junior gravity community knew Craig Lange, or at least had ridden with him, and the news struck us like being hit by lightning. Many of the Mojo Wheels riders ended up not racing, and the 4X event was cancelled out of respect to Craig, his family, and the Mojo team's wishes. 

Andy Proctor

By Andy Proctor

Angel Fire was another race unlike any others that I have been to there, that I can remember. This was because of the crazy New Mexico heat, all weekend it was around 90 degrees. You would just go stand in the sun and start sweating. It was almost weird being there and not being cold from either rain or snow, but still great.

Unfortunately we lost a rider there named Craig and the four cross was cancelled, but the downhill went on. With how tight the racing community is, it sorta seemed like the rest of the weekend was dedicated to him, which was awesome to see.

I ended placing first in my category in the downhill, and then the weekend was over that quick.

Andy Podium

We raced our best given the circumstances, and like Andy said it seemed like the weekend was dedicated to our fallen brother. 3rd place Cat 1 Junior rider Madison Bailey held a sign up on the podium that read "Craig Lives", and there was a memorial for Craig at the base of the lift on Saturday evening, with the majority of the gravity community in attendance, we cheered Craig on to the next life as if he'd won the World Championships!

Check out more photos from the race by clicking here to go to the gallery!

 
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