Ed Bryant, then 37, was a well known street luger from the Southeast. Bryant began riding luge in the Ohio area in the mid 1990's before moving to Atlanta. Ed, a long time muscle car and motorcycle enthusiast, also had a reputation for his exceptional skateboard skills. After moving to Atlanta, Bryant would ride the mountain roads of North Georgia mainly by himself. Often hitchhiking a ride back to the top after a run. Ed would also ride with Mike Shannon, National Street Luge Association promoter, in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. Bryant would also travel to Southern California to the epicenter of street luge and run some epic roads such as Templin Hwy.
Bryant was contacted in the summer of 1998 by Doug Anderson wanting to try his hand at street luge. Al Braun had also wanted to take a shot at it. After bombing their first hill, Ed would mentor Braun and Anderson during their early riding days. The three would be found somewhere bombing the mountain roads on a regular basis. They would log hundreds of miles in the Southern mountains thru the years.
In 1998, Bryant would help Anderson who founded Bodrodz Land Luge Workz . Ed would be a major contributor with his unique pan style luge design. Bryant, Braun and Anderson would now ride under the Team Bodrodz banner. Holsenback would join shortly.
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Bryant and Anderson a top of Brasstown Bald 2000
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the "Fast Eddie" and the Bodrodz Missile Story
This is the last picture of the Bodrodz
Streamliner Missile. Ed "Fast Eddie" Bryant was the pilot of this sled. Anderson
and Bryant began construction of this sled in early 2000. The sled was finished
in early 2001, but for what ever reason no pics were taken of it completed. I
believe the sled weighed in at around 70 lb.s and was 12 ft. long. After
testing, decided they'd take a shot at the century mark. Bryant, no stranger to
speed, having piloted another luge with basic aero work to a speed that topped
out at 94.9 MPH, he and Anderson agreed that 100 MPH was within their reach with
a good aero sled..
In March 2001, Bryant, Anderson, and Holsenback arrived at the hill with the Bodrodz Missile. Running on an open road, the plan was to make a series of runs, working our way up the hill with increasing speed increments to make sure the sled had no bad habits at the upper speed range. Scott Holsenback would chase on a standard boomed luge.
With the trucks cinched down, the first run from a third of the way up produced a low 80's run. Holsenback commented that after what seemed like around 70, the Missile would get up and walk away. The draft being minimal at best. which made it impossible for the Missile to drag Holsenback along any further with it. Second run from half way yielded 87 mph.
With plenty of hill left, thoughts this might be a historic day began to surface. Third run from about 1/8 mile up the road netted 93 MPH! Now solid in the 90's Bryant wanted one more run before going from the top. Ed commented he really had to concentrate keeping the Missile on course at those speeds.
From a 1/4 mile from the top, Ed was looking for a high 90's run to make sure the sled would not throw a curve ball at that high speed. 100 MPH was now within Bryant's grasp. Ed rolled off with Holsenback in chase and Anderson driving chase vehicle. Now hauling ass and Scott falling behind, Fast Eddie, well into the mid 90's, elects to abort the run and all hell breaks loose!
Now at full speed, Bryant sits up trying to airbrake some speed off the Missile now hurtling toward the chicane with a guardrail, the low pressure area created by him sitting up made a ton of turbulence which caused the Missile to start a slow death fishtail. Lying back down he regains control and the speed again now begins increasing. Not wanting to enter the chicane at these speeds and the seriousness of the situation escalating quickly, Ed begins removing his legs out of the bodywork to get the shoes to the pavement, only to have the air load on one leg blow the Missile completely sideways and pukes Ed out on the road and both now headed for the ditch. Still at warp speed.
Anderson in the chase vehicle tops a small crest only to see pieces of the Missile raining down thru the trees after ramping up the ditch embankment and Bryant tumbling to a stop motionless down range. Holsenback who was running mid 80's overshoots the crash site is now running back up the hill to assist Bryant. Thoughts are now of this day just took a very serious turn for the worst.
Bryant, coming to after a brief loss of consciousness, advises Holsenback and Anderson not to touch him while he's doing inventory on what's broken. Believing his ankle is broken, wants to know the speed on the GPS. With the GPS missing from his left breast pocket, Anderson finds it. Somehow it ended up jammed in his leathers down at his right ankle. The pressure from it made him think his ankle was broken. Nothing broken.
The day ended with a blistering speed of 95.3 MPH, a completely totaled Bodrodz Missile, and Bryant beat up a bit with no broken bones. He was lucky. Falling short of our mark, Fast Eddie Bryant lived up to his name and proved he is without a doubt, one of the fastest men in gravity sports.
In March 2001, Bryant, Anderson, and Holsenback arrived at the hill with the Bodrodz Missile. Running on an open road, the plan was to make a series of runs, working our way up the hill with increasing speed increments to make sure the sled had no bad habits at the upper speed range. Scott Holsenback would chase on a standard boomed luge.
With the trucks cinched down, the first run from a third of the way up produced a low 80's run. Holsenback commented that after what seemed like around 70, the Missile would get up and walk away. The draft being minimal at best. which made it impossible for the Missile to drag Holsenback along any further with it. Second run from half way yielded 87 mph.
With plenty of hill left, thoughts this might be a historic day began to surface. Third run from about 1/8 mile up the road netted 93 MPH! Now solid in the 90's Bryant wanted one more run before going from the top. Ed commented he really had to concentrate keeping the Missile on course at those speeds.
From a 1/4 mile from the top, Ed was looking for a high 90's run to make sure the sled would not throw a curve ball at that high speed. 100 MPH was now within Bryant's grasp. Ed rolled off with Holsenback in chase and Anderson driving chase vehicle. Now hauling ass and Scott falling behind, Fast Eddie, well into the mid 90's, elects to abort the run and all hell breaks loose!
Now at full speed, Bryant sits up trying to airbrake some speed off the Missile now hurtling toward the chicane with a guardrail, the low pressure area created by him sitting up made a ton of turbulence which caused the Missile to start a slow death fishtail. Lying back down he regains control and the speed again now begins increasing. Not wanting to enter the chicane at these speeds and the seriousness of the situation escalating quickly, Ed begins removing his legs out of the bodywork to get the shoes to the pavement, only to have the air load on one leg blow the Missile completely sideways and pukes Ed out on the road and both now headed for the ditch. Still at warp speed.
Anderson in the chase vehicle tops a small crest only to see pieces of the Missile raining down thru the trees after ramping up the ditch embankment and Bryant tumbling to a stop motionless down range. Holsenback who was running mid 80's overshoots the crash site is now running back up the hill to assist Bryant. Thoughts are now of this day just took a very serious turn for the worst.
Bryant, coming to after a brief loss of consciousness, advises Holsenback and Anderson not to touch him while he's doing inventory on what's broken. Believing his ankle is broken, wants to know the speed on the GPS. With the GPS missing from his left breast pocket, Anderson finds it. Somehow it ended up jammed in his leathers down at his right ankle. The pressure from it made him think his ankle was broken. Nothing broken.
The day ended with a blistering speed of 95.3 MPH, a completely totaled Bodrodz Missile, and Bryant beat up a bit with no broken bones. He was lucky. Falling short of our mark, Fast Eddie Bryant lived up to his name and proved he is without a doubt, one of the fastest men in gravity sports.
Bryant explaining street luge. Ansted WV 1999
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Bryant would race numerous NSLA and EDI races across the country in the pro category. He would compete at the Gravity Games and the X-Games with strong showings. Ed was a strong competitor and always finished near the top. Bryant was always the one the rest of the teammates would chase to the bottom. Only after Holsenback had honed his riding skills, he would be the one to give Fast Eddie a run for his money. Bryant, not only was he an excellent rider/racer, he was a great spokesman for Bodrodz Land Luge Workz and the sport of street luge. At the end of 2003, the team would eventually go their own ways only to reunite and ride occasionally together. Bryant was off to road race motorcycles.
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In late of 2010, Bryant ran into Anderson at a party. Reminiscing over old luge times, Anderson expressed interest in building a gravity car and wondered if Ed would interested. Bryant again, was all in. The two where back to designing and building again. The name would change to Bodrodz Xtreme Gravity Racing and construction would start soon. They would heavily modify a kart chassis and testing would begin. Ed would build the wood body, which would be appropriately named the "Atomic Splinter". Bryant would also start construction of his own car, "The Bodrodz Bullet". These two cars would be some of the fastest in the world. After a day of driving his Bullet, upon inspection Ed discovered a broken chassis. Not long after that, Bryant would relinquish the ownership of the car to Anderson in late 2013.
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Bryant during early chassis testing. Wolfpen Gap 2011
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Anderson would now beef up and mod the chassis again, then reshape the nose for better aerodynamics. Also the Bodrodz Bullet would get a handlebar steering system, which gave Bryant and Anderson fits trying to figure it out and make it manageable. Anderson would maintain the car and Bryant would have the driving responsibilities. The video on the right shows the handling problems Anderson/Bryant were fighting. The Bullet is traveling in excess of 60 mph entering the left hander. If it had not been for Bryant's calm cool driving skills, disaster would have been inevitable. This is no doubt one of the GREATEST gravity car saves in history!
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Byrant would pilot the Bodrodz Bullet without canopy to 2nd place in 2014's Bodrodz Ultimate Speed Challenge
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Ed would continue to drive the Bodrodz Bullet thru 2014. The two would work to refine the handlebar steering system. The Bodrodz Ultimate Speed Challenge was ending at the end of August. Jason Camp, who was now on board as a team member, helped make the Challenge runs possible. A Californian named Donnie Schoettler was having problems documenting his speed. He had run 88 mph GPS but could only document an 81 mph run. With a few of days left to the Challenge, Anderson laid down an 84 mph run. With two days left, Bryant tip toed the still twitchy Bodrodz Bullet down the hill for a 82.5 mph pass to secure a 2nd in the 2014 Bodrodz Ultimate Speed Challenge. Anderson would finish 1st and Schoettler would ended up 3rd even thou he'd ran faster.
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Then, in the fall of 2014, to the dismay of Bodrodz Xtreme Gravity Racing, Ed would leave Team Bodrodz. Anderson would now drive the Bullet thru the summer of 2015. Scott Holsenback would now rejoin the team and take over the Bullet's driving responsibilities. A good friend, a great driver, and teammate, Bryant would be missed
In early, 2021, Bryant was back on board at BXGR. Ed is in the process of re-creating the street luge streamliner he rode in 2001 which he rode to the mid 90's in Northwest Georgia. This will be a great project. |
This was a 50+ mph crash at EDI's 2001Last Chance Gravity Games qualifier in St George UT. Jono Moore and Bodrodz riders Ed Bryant and Scott Holsenback burned in out of left hander at the bottom. No major injuries with everybody walking away. The same three would crash the following year, in the same corner. Jono Moore would be seriously injured.
"Fast Eddie" chasing the "Taz" at Cheaha 1999
Bryant readying for a test pass in the new nosed Bullet. 2014
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Bryant's 2nd Place Trophy in the Bodrodz Ultimate Speed Challenge. He would run 82.5 mph. " How Ed was able to drive the still twitchy handling Bodrodz Bullet that fast is beyond me. It had to have been a real handful. That just proves again how good a driver Bryant is." says Anderson. 2014
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Ed "Fast Eddie" Bryant would be the first Bodrodz rider to run in the 90's. Ed become a 90 MPH Bodrodz club member when he piloted his mildly aero'd luge to a scorching 94.9 mph registered on his GPS in the fall of 2000. In 2001 Fast Eddie would go faster piloting the Bodrodz Missile.
Fast Eddie at the 2001 X-Games
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Bryant autographing at the X-Games 2001
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Ed "Fast Eddie" Bryant