Nothing represents the biggest, baddest most technical freeride mountain biking like the Redbull Rampage. And no one has left an impression from the event like Kelly McGarry. “McGazza”, as he’s known, wowed the crowd in 2013 with his enormous backflip over the iconic 72 foot canyon gap. His run landed him a second place podium spot while he captured the hearts of the viewers to take the People’s Choice Award, as well. With well over 23 million views of the Red Bull video of his incredible run, you could say, McGazza really knows how to go big.
Born in 1982, McGarry started out riding motocross and BMX in his hometown of Nelson, NZ before moving into downhill mountain biking when he outgrew those—literally. At 6’5” McGarry is giant. As with most people who fall in love with mountain biking, McGarry dreamed of riding the infamous trails in Whistler, and in 2006 he moved to Canada for the summer to live the dream, riding the bike park every day. The rest is, as they say, history, and for the past 9 years, McGarry has focused on freeride and slope style competitions.
For all his crazy stunts and huge performance on the bike, this “gentle giant”hasn’t let fame go to his head. A carpenter by trade McGarry never intended to become a pro rider. Perhaps it’s his humble roots that make him such an affable, approachable and gracious role model for mountain biking. Yakima is proud to sponsor Kelly and hope he doesn’t stop building or biking any time soon; he’s going to leave extra big shoes to fill when he does.
