Enjoy the Exciting Sport of Freestyle Motocross
If you love extreme excitement, freestyle motocross is the sport for you, whether engaging in it or just watching it. It is a variation of motocross involving jumping the motorcycle and executing stunts or tricks while in the air. It is considered as an extreme sport and is now one of the most popular sports entertainments because of the thrilling, and at times, death-defying stunts performed by the riders.
From freeriding, motocross with freestyle feats evolved as a distinct motorsport, specifically featuring jumps and the accompanying acrobatic stunts. Unlike in freeriding, the events or competitions are structured and organized. This has warranted the need for the best motorcycle jacket to keep riders protected and safe. In a competition, the riders are judged and scored based on the originality of tricks or style of performance, the level of difficulty of the tricks and the success in execution. The sport was introduced to the X-Games in 1999 and became a mainstream sports competition, attracting competitors and audiences worldwide.
The Events
The events are usually in two formats:
- Big Air, also known as the Best Trick
Competitors are given three attempts to perform their tricks. Their score will be based on their one best attempt, thus, their “best trick”. o Freestyle Motocross – Riders compete on a course that will allow them to perform several jumps of varying lengths and heights, executing a series of tricks.
The most popular events in freestyle stunts are Big-X, Red Bull X-Fighters, the X-Games, Night of the Jumps, Gravity Games, Moto-X Freestyle National Championship, and Dew Action Sports Tour.
The Tricks
If jumping a motorcycle from a cliff or ramp for lengths of up to more than 150 feet (46 meters) is thrilling enough, the daring skills or tricks done along with the jumping will take you off your seat. After all , t’s the tricks, with the danger and suspense involved, that provide the excitement in freestyle motocross. Knowing the tricks performed by the riders will make you better appreciate and enjoy this high-adrenaline sport.
Numerous tricks, combinations of tricks or enhancement of tricks have developed as the riders tried to outdo one another. Among the popular tricks are:
- Can Can: The rider brings one leg over the seat so that both legs are on one side of the bike.
- Nac Nac: Rider whips the bike sideways, removes front leg and swings it around behind the bike to the other side.
- Cliffhanger: The rider stands straight up and catches the underside of the handlebars with his feet, then raises his hands up as in the rollercoaster position.
- Superman: The rider releases both his feet and legs and kicks them straight back, extending his entire body backwards in horizontal position.
- Superman Seat Grab: As in Superman, rider extends both legs backwards with hands on grips, then releases one hand and grabs the seat with another.
- Double Grab: As in Superman seat grab, the rider grabs the back of the motorcycle with both hands while extending his entire body backwards.
- Kiss of Death: The rider positions the motorcycle as close to vertical as possible then kicks his legs up above his head.
- Rock Solid: The rider executes the Superman Seat Grab, then releases the seat and extends both his arms away so that the bike is completely detached. He then grabs the seat back and remounts the bike.
Remember, the tricks are done while the rider and his motorcycle are up in the air. Now, is that exciting enough for you?