Red Bull - Streets of San Francisco

On July 27, 2002, I went with my son Milo to watch the Fourth (and last) annual Red Bull Street Luge event on De Haro Street in San Francisco. It was a great day - warm, clear. Below you can see my pictures (scanned from photos). There are better shots on the official website here: <http://www.redbullstreetsofsf.com/>. Also, there were folks taping for the extreme sports show "RE: Evolution of Sports". This event should air on TNN September 28th (Check your local listings for time). Look for me and Milo!

If you are interested in learning to street luge, you can check out <http://www.wildfro.com/>.

01-Milo at Starting Gate
01-Milo at Starting Gate
02-A Little Luger
02-A Little Luger
03-Suiting Up
03-Suiting Up
After the initial time trials in the morning, the heats began. There were eight four-man heats. As you can see in the first picture below, De Haro street is pretty straight, but like most SF streets on hills, the intersections are level, so each cross-street was a bit of a bounce. These lugers were going around 60 MPH! To make things even more interesting, the event coordinators also thought it would be neat to put in a 2" jump at the second cross-street.
04-Out the Gate
04-Out the Gate
That's a long way down!
05-Down the Hill 1
05-Down the Hill 1
06-Down the Hill 2
06-Down the Hill 2
07-The Lugers Hit the Jump
07-The Lugers Hit the Jump
08-To the Finish
08-To the Finish
After the main event, they changed the course for the "Big Air" contest. Here, they replaced the 2" ramp with a 6" ramp. Lugers would take the jump individually and go for distance (not height!!!). They covered the entire ramp with foot powder so when the lugers would cross it their wheels would be coated white and they could see where they land. (That's why there's a big cloud behind the luger below as he hits the jump). The winning distance this year was 82 feet. Last year it was over 90!
During the contest, one photographer got too far out in the course and was nailed. They had to carry him off in a stretcher...
09-Big Air Contest
09-Big Air Contest
10-The Canadian's Big Air Attempt
10-The Canadian's Big Air Attempt
11-Where's My Shoe?
11-Where's My Shoe?