Ed's Blog: Popping the freestyle cherry!
Written by Administrator Thursday, 07 May 2009 23:30
After almost two years at the helm of this crazy magazine, I'm ashamed to say I still hadn't hit a freestyle ramp..until two days ago.
I don't know what's taken me so long to finally sack up and hit a ramp. Maybe it was nerves. Maybe I just hadn't been feeling it. Maybe I'm a hell procrastinator who loves delaying things I dread as long as possible. Maybe it was all of the above.
But one of my 2009 New Years Resolutions was to hit a freestyle ramp before June, and last week, with my 2009 Yamaha YZ250F project bike all completed (check out issue #55 for the finished product) – including a freestyle revalve from Serco Yamaha's factory race team – I felt the time was right to get the FMX monkey off my back. And hell - you can't really edit a FMX magazine without eventually knowing what it feels like to hit a steel ramp.
So earlier this week I hit up my Brisbane buddy Cam Sturtridge to see if he wanted to head to a local compound owned by Adam Bayard (pictured on the left). Sturto had had his head buried in Uni papers for a couple of weeks, and after conquering the 75ft flip recently, he was super-keen to head out and practice a few more.
It was on.
The fateful day arrived and after belting out a couple of stories for the next mag before lunch, I packed my shit into Sturto's van and headed to Bayards, where Steve Mini, Adam and JC Epidemic's Jimmy Bartle were all gearing up for a ride. Damn, I didn't know I was gonna have an audience!
We pushed one of the ramps right in to 30ft for me and I geared up, kicked the bike over, then cruised around the compound trying to psyche myself up. Suddenly hitting a ramp seemed like an exceptionally stupid idea. Couldn't I just stick to motocross tracks? But I was here, geared up at a freestyle compound, and with a group of guys who I'd all told that today was the day I'd pop my FMX cherry and lose my freestylin' virginity.
Jimmy Bartle was kind enough to stop Backflipping 75ft for a while and give me a few speed-checks up to the ramp, which, at the time, looked more like a white plywood wall that was gonna shoot me to the moon. Flip, this was a little scarier than I thought it would be.
"You ready?" Jimmy asked me at the start of the run-up.
I took a deep breath and nodded. Let's get this done.
As we approached the ramp I ran through all the steps in my head. Hell, after editing Freerider MX's Ultimate Guide to Freestyle last year I knew all the theory inside-out. Cruise up to the ramp in second, let the bike move underneath you while keeping your body perpendicular to the ground, wind the throttle on off the ramp, spot the landing, land with both wheels on the downie at the same time, ride away grinning ... easy done.
Now Jimmy was on a two-stroke and ambled up to the ramp as if he was gonna park up next to it, then as soon as he hit the steel, blipped the throttle. Brraapp...and cleared it no worries.
I hit the ramp at the same speed, wound on the 250F's throttle, allowed the hangers to come up towards my chest and left the ramp. And suddenly realised my mistake. Being on a four-stroke I was going waaaay too slow. Instead of enjoying the thrill of finally getting airborne off a FMX ramp, I spent the time preparing to come up horribly short on the down-ramp.
The rear wheel clunked into the face of the downie as the front (thankfully) made the safety deck. I blipped the gas to get some drive and coasted down the downramp with my body still intact. Alright, need to hit it faster then!
I spent the next hour or so perfecting my speed and technique, until towards the end of the session I could comfortably land with both wheels kissing the downramp at the same time, and ride away ready to give it another go.
It felt like a huge weight had lifted off my shoulders. I could now understand the feeling off launching off a ramp, floating through a gentle arc in the air and adjusting the bike's angle for landing. So THIS is what it's like! Damn, it felt good. And because you're hardly charging at the edge of your limits like you would around a track, you can ride for ages before you feel like you need to take a break.
Unfortunately the weather packed in and it started pissing down before I could advance my freestyle career any further. I was a bit gutted that I couldn't keep practising, but I guess that's the one gay thing about this sport – as soon as we get any sort of adverse conditions we're forced to throw in the towel.
But now I'm HOOKED! I can't wait to get back out there and have another lash at this crazy game. I'm keen to push the ramp back another 10ft and feel what it's like to spend a bit more time in that glorious sweet spot where you experience almost complete weightlessness. I guess this is how it starts for everyone...
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