GoPro: Shady Acres
We head into the tall pines of Washington for the 8th round of the 2012 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. Check out Josh Grant, Travis Baker, Jessy Nelson, Alex Martin, and Weston Peick rip through the woods at Washougal MX!
Round: 8; Washougal
Length: 3:17
Features: Josh Grant, Jessy Nelson, Alex Martin, Travis Baker, Weston Peick
Race Footage: 3 minutes
Extra Footage: 8 out of 10
The extra stuff was cool. While there wasn't an evident connection to anything, it was nice to see the GoPro guys really accentuate the Washington scenery that was all around. Plus, how weird is it for a donut to be in the shape of a voodoo doll, let alone in bacon maple flavor. More than anything, I want to try that donut now. It really sounds delicious. The quick clips from the pits were alright, nothing special. I wish we could have seen more of the fans besides just girls. Being a predominantly male-based sport, I understand that girls are essential in capturing attention to non-race footage. But would it have hurt to put in one kid or dude? Really?
Atmosphere: 6 out of 10
Uhm, I don't know about the rest of the 2,507 people who viewed this before me, but I thought the chanting/rap music was the weirdest thing I've ever heard. It didn't really do anything for the video, but it didn't really hurt it either. I guess the beginning gave a cool natural kind of feel to everything, but... just no. Didn't work. End of story.
Race Footage: 8 out of 10
There wasn't anything super spectacular about this week's race footage. But it was still fun to watch. The footage of the rider (I don't know who it was) just tipping over right in front of Weston Peick off the start was pretty cool to see. And, to be honest, I completely forgot about Josh Grant's crash until I saw it from his perspective. If you're one of those non-rider fans who doesn't believe that there's a difference between starting in the middle-back of the pack and starting up front, check out the comparison of the two different starts in this week's edit. Peick got a start near the back of the pack, where as Grant got a second-place start. Big difference.
Overall: It was a good week for the guys at GoPro. Nothing special for them. It was nice to see the rider's-eye footage of the difference between the lit and shaded areas of the track. The Washougal whoops in the shade looked super crazy. It just really makes you respect these riders and how crazy fast they're riding in these conditions. I also liked them adding in the finish of Nelson's race. It's always interesting to see how riders interact right after crossing the finish.
We've got a couple weeks of break now, but I can't wait to come back in action after Southwick!