Red Bull Rampage – First Tracks

Nicholi Rogatkin is a BMXer by nature, but this wild card is taking to his big bike pretty well…

After taking multiple practice runs at the Polaris RZR Moto Booter, Rogatkin felt comfortable enough to send it. By Monday he was almost linking the entire bottom half of his run together, including a few small backflips and suicide no-handers on his final step-up jump.

“I’m having fun out here,” he says. “That’s the goal.”

While many of the competitors haven’t thrown a leg over the bike yet, most have been working hard on the gnarlier upper mountain sections and are well on their way to finishing the more serious half of their lines.

It’s expected that Tuesday and Wednesday will see more bikes on course. In the meantime, Rogatkin knows he has work ahead of him.

“I think I’m done for the day,” he says, as he puts his bike away. “I need to get up there and start building my upper line.”

Will Rogatkin make the cut to the final? We’ll find out in Friday’s qualifying round, and then you can watch the webcast of the final on Sunday, September 28, starting at 1:00 p.m. MT on the official Red Bull Rampage site as well as Red Bull TV.