Red Bull “Stomping Ground” To Invade the 312

If you’re not going to ABA’s Alabama race, and are a Midwest local, Red Bull is prepping a huge event, just west of the Chicago Loop. The Red Bull “Stomping Ground” will take over an abandoned construction site, within sight of the famous “Main Post Office” (featured in the “Dark Knight” movies), and will plunk down a prize purse of $50,000 ($25,000 for first). A total of 49 riders (20 “pre-qualified” and 29 invited qualifiers) will do battle for the cheddah.

The course will be the creation of dirtsmith Fuzzy Hall, and there will be a full week of events leading up to the big day. The “Dan’s Comp Rally Track” will be open to the public several days leading into the event. The Red Bull release calls it “A park for all abilities where pump track flow meets the rhythms of dirt jumps, locals will get their chance to meet the course builders and riders, get lessons on how to make their own jumps, and of course take a few laps.” A huge “Don’t Miss” event will be on Friday, May 7, as Fuzzy leads a clinic on how to build and groom BMX trails. BMXNEWS thinks it is way cool that Fuzzy and Red Bull will be specifically devoting time to help local riders build better trails, and whether you are race or freestyle, this should be a great time.

The actual location of the event is at the corner of Wells and Harrison. Parking is probably nightmarish-at-best down there, so definitely a hot tip to ride, walk, or hop a Greyhound (which lets you off only a few blocks away). Certainly, the CTA is also a great way to fly.

If you can’t get to Chicago, NBC will broadcast the finals on Sunday, May 23.

For more information, check out http://www.redbullstompingground.com/