This kid must have been bitten by a radioactive bicycle when he was young or sumfink.

[JonS]

Haha man you can tell that there's a lot of old geezers on this forum from all the bitchin.

Yep.

It's basically the bicycling version of parkour.

Yep, although parkour - at least what I've seen of it - tends to be more fluid and continuous. This is more like a series of awesome vignettes editted together.

[Michael Emrys]

Haha man you can tell that there's a lot of old geezers on this forum from all the bitchin.

Listen buster, if you are real nice and learn to make the tea properly, you might last long enough to become an old geezer yourself. I can hear it now: "Why, in my day we didn't have anti-gravitational floating devices sewn into our jeans. Nosiree, we had to pedal our bikes and go up ramps and stuff. But you shoulda seen Denis the time he fell through the ice. Funniest thing I ever saw, hee hee."

Yeah, you're gonna make a terrific geezer all right.

Michael

[Merkin Muffley]

Besides, he's clearly gotten to the point where it's not any more dangerous for him than driving down the street in his car is.

...

I doubt it's just "heavily edited". I'm sure he fell and hurt himself constantly over the years practicing, but it *is* possible to get that good at something.

The clip itself (5+ minutes long) says that it was filmed over several months. Presumably there's never more than 5 minutes decent weather OR it was hideously difficult to get right and had to be edited.

The cycling along the railings, for example, took 8 hours to get right - or 7hrs 59mins going wrong, I guess. (These things are google-able).

The video is fantastic; the guy's fantastic; the bike's fantastic. The idea that he knocks these stunts out without occasional grief - even when he knows how to do them - is Hollywood optimistic. The idea that there aren't kids trying to copy this and (unthinkingly) being a total menace to pedestrians, or breaking things other than themselves and their bikes, is unlikely.

[noxnoctum]

The clip itself (5+ minutes long) says that it was filmed over several months. Presumably there's never more than 5 minutes decent weather OR it was hideously difficult to get right and had to be edited.

The cycling along the railings, for example, took 8 hours to get right - or 7hrs 59mins going wrong, I guess. (These things are google-able).

The video is fantastic; the guy's fantastic; the bike's fantastic. The idea that he knocks these stunts out without occasional grief - even when he knows how to do them - is Hollywood optimistic. The idea that there aren't kids trying to copy this and (unthinkingly) being a total menace to pedestrians, or breaking things other than themselves and their bikes, is unlikely.

bah whatever, I got a friend who's a ridiculous breakdancer/parkourer/gymnast and he busts this kind of stuff out (not on a bike of course) all the time. if you put in the hours anything's possible. he does random backflips just standing still on flat ground or off of walls etc. in the 8 years I've known him he's botched it once (cause he was drunk).

and what are you saying...so let's just ban everything that's not 100% safe? cmon give me a break. more people my age (21) and under need to be getting off their asses watching tv/playing video games and partying it up/living life. that's what being young's about. "a menace to pedestrians"? If I didn't know better I'd think you were all being extremely tongue in cheek.

I absolutely hope this inspires kids to get into bmx/skateboarding/etc they're awesome sports. no pain no gain. who cares if they break a few bones along the way or piss off a few people. pain heals, chicks dig scars and glory lasts forever (great quote from a stupid movie )

what are you all a bunch of women? seriously remind me of my mother more than anything. cmon now .

[Thomm]

he does random backflips just standing still on flat ground or off of walls etc. in the 8 years I've known him he's botched it once (cause he was drunk).

It is all about the backflip, all, I am telling you.

A mean, mean move.

I pulled my first clean back-flip on a trampoline on the first attempt (at the age of 39, btw.) and on the second try I nearly broke my back, hehe.

Best regards,

Thomm

[dieseltaylor]

http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/BRAIN.pdf

As you are so young Nox { : )} then the explanations of why young men are bad at judging risk and outcomes so will be of interest to you!!! [and I forgive you for currently winning our game]

I am all in favour of the young doing things and having fun. I can vaguely remember being young myself but then in those days money was a consideration. Whether there is an argument that the media steers teen interest to photogenic and lucrative sports rather than other fun activities is another discussion probably worth exploring. I remember the huls-hoop craze ... from movies. : ).

To be rather boring if an elderly person is knocked over and suffers a fractured pelvis then there life span is reduced. As I was looking it up I was surprised that the general death rate is quite high. However any youngster hurtling around a corner on their bike or whatever will probably be padded up and aware of the possibility of falling wheras the victim will not. And yes I have read of a case as outlined AND I have seen a young lad routinely ride at speed around a blind bend on the pavement/sidewalk.

So lets agree that doing these things is fine but upsetting a few people ain't , so it better be in an appropriate area.

BTW you were probably not a member of the forum when we had the huge thread on whether it was right that a girl was excluded from school for doing gymnastics in the corridor. Interesting thread as it generated a lot of heat on individual freedom.

[Michael Emrys]

and what are you saying...so let's just ban everything that's not 100% safe? cmon give me a break. more people my age (21) and under need to be getting off their asses watching tv/playing video games and partying it up/living life. that's what being young's about. "a menace to pedestrians"? If I didn't know better I'd think you were all being extremely tongue in cheek.

Not in the slightest. If the fellow wants to break his bikes and maybe his neck into the bargain that's fine with me. Only I don't want him doing it in my vicinity. Forty-one years ago I was rammed from behind by a kid on a trike who wasn't watching where he was going, and I've had back trouble of varying severity ever since. Eleven years later, I was almost run down by another kid on a bike who also was showing off and not watching where he was going. I've seen kids lose control of their skate boards, turning them into dangerous projectiles countless times.

In my town we have a skateboard park with ramps and bowls where skateboarders and bikers can do their thing to their hearts' content. Some of them have broken bones in the process. As far as I am concerned that's just part of the learning process and they are welcome to it. Nobody is in that park who didn't go there voluntarily, and if they don't know there is some risk involved in being there, they should wake up.

But when I am on a public sidewalk and proceeding to some destination or other, I don't want to have to be ducking some nitwit who has pretensions of being a daredevil genius. Basically it is precisely the same issue as one person smoking in a room full of non-smokers. His right to smoke DOES NOT trump my right to not have to breathe his smoke.

Get it now?

Michael

[Thomm]

When I waited for my snowboard to be serviced (F2 Silberpfeil 168, thank you very much you freestyle girlies!) the shop assistant told me about a teenager who broke his neck in front of his mother when he attempted a backflip with his snowboard.

Best regards,

Thomm

[Affentitten]

Wow. I can't beleive the negativity. I thought the guy was awesome. I showed the clip to my kids and my Mrs and they were inspired by it. Like somebody else said above, it's better than sitting on your arse in front of the Xbox and stuffing Doritos in your face.

[dieseltaylor]

Interesting Affy. Do you expect children to have the capacity to see downsides? That IS the area of the brain that develops last and though I have no doubt your children are exceptional ....

As for your wife is it possible that the initial reaction is the same as mine was, and it is only after the event I started examining what I had seen.

Furthermore is it concievable that as you had taken the trouble to get them to watch it then you were implicitly recommending it. Your wife being smart knows what the correct reaction. As a matter of course a lot of women enthuse at the correct time regardless of their personal opinion. After all they often have bigger fish to fry and having you onside before a shopping trip is easy : )

However the feeling was that doing whatever activity it is in the correct environment is a good thing. Getting children/teenagers to get off their arses is a good thing.

Just to revert back to the video a moment can you imagine the feelings of the people who rushed to the edge when he flipped off the parapet onto ground below. My impression was that they were concerned/shocked/worried that he had had an accident. How droll that he was not. And if they were of extremely nervous disposition and suffered palpitations well its not his problem. Now I have only watched it once so possibly I misremembered it - but actually I think not - so it is interesting to think what other people remember from a single viewing.

[Affentitten]

But aren't you the boy racer who likes to thrash cars around? How much more threatening and environmentally damaging than trick cycling is.

[dieseltaylor]

Nope. Have a sports car yes but that was on the basis it pleased my wife when she commuted and the model change rate was low. As it happens in London its a pain in the butt - one is better off with a LandRover type vehicle to account for the pot-holes, sleeping policemen, and the inadequate snow clearance.

However the average driving in a week for us is now probably under 30 miles. I suspect you, and most other readers do more : )

[Affentitten]

Nope. Have a sports car yes but that was on the basis it pleased my wife when she commuted and the model change rate was low.

Well you know women. They enthuse at the correct time no matter what their personal opinion.

[dieseltaylor]

: )

She chose it. I prefer functional like an estate - or Kangoo etc.

[Ron]

Awesome video Other Means, thanks for sharing. It is humbling and inspiring to see. The problem with age is it's filled with ideas and experience and knowledge and fear; it has forgotten the simplicity and wonder of life.

[Other Means]

Cheers Ron and all.

[gautrek]

What about this guy then.

Nuts or what

http://biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=18882

[Michael Emrys]

I was disappointed with that. I wanted to see the part where he goes over the side and tumbles for 1,000 feet to a bloody death.

These guys seem to be very experienced at this stuff. I don't think I would ever have been too eager to even walk that trail, let alone ride it. Then again, I might have...

Michael

[Other Means]

What about this guy then.

Nuts or what

http://biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=18882

Defo nuts. Couldn't believe it when he stalled it.