Demons are for ever....
By TMX Archives on 16th Jan 08
This week JD is kicking himself for not going to see the Crusty Demons at the MEN and urges you not to miss out if you get the chance to see the show of a lifetime... I'VE been kicking myself all week for something that I didn't do. And what I didn't do, believe it or not, was go to the recent Crusty Demons show at the MEN Arena, Manchester – as featured in T+MX last week, not to mention front page, something which raised a few eyebrows!
Yes I know, you may think that I come from an age when riders could barely lift front wheels off the deck due to a combination of massive weight and low power. That was the bikes, not me, I hasten to add, although I suppose that these days it is pretty close to the mark.
Me, I've been fascinated by simple things like wheelies all my life, for some strange reason, and used to practise them at every opportunity. ACU Trials committeeman, Mick Wren, is my witness as he once watched – with aching sides – as one top gear wheelie on my old yellow Ossa (or new yellow Ossa as it was at the time) ended with yards and yards of yellow paint on the road as it spun round and round in circles after I was forced to bail-out and leap into a handy patch of stinging nettles when it all went inevitably wrong.
It didn't put me off though and I subsequently knocked myself about more than a bit in pursuit of the perfect wheelie.
Which is one reason that I get a real kick out of watching the current breed of cool dudes who long since moved on from
simple wheelies into doing seemingly impossible things with motocross bikes.
Oh yes, things have moved on tad since the likes of Roger Harvey used to impress us with 1970s cross-ups, which were of course the big thing in the 1970s. And you don't get more 1970s than Harve!
Jeremy McGrath is, of course, the guy given most of the credit for the arrival of the Freestyle scene when he began enlivening his Supercross wins with the infamous ‘Nac Nacs'. The boy obviously became bored with just winning. The Backflip then became the Holy Grail of the Freestylers and (very short history lesson, this) following Cary Hart's initial televised (now almost laughable) vertical loop and equally vertical landing that really rattled his teeth, Freestyle really took off. Mike Metzger was the first to perfect the ‘simple' backflip and I was there, cheering as loud as anyone, when John Hellam brought Metzger to Sheffield to perform the first ever backflip ever seen in Britain (although I did come close while wheelieing the Ossa!).
From there, things have simply gone ballistic and quite honestly, I can't begin to understand how the hell you pull the stunts that guys like the Crusty crew pull as a matter of routine. Sure, I understand the backflip, but how do you pull-off a Superman while inverted? Where do you find the nerve to do anything while inverted? I just don't know and I am in awe of these guys. And if I watch the clip of Pastrana completing his infamous double-flip 100-times I will still lay odds on him not completing that second loop. For me, Travis really did do the impossible.
You may well ask: "What the hell has any of this got to do with trials, motocross or enduro?” And an honest straight answer would be "Nothing whatsoever!” But then again, who said that it should?
The Freestylers simply display quite
outstanding control of an off-road bike, coupled to nerves of total steel, and what they do is genuinely exciting. The ‘Crusty Demons' show, which is what we started with here, is a natural progression for the riders to showcase their skills.
And with a near sell-out crowd at the MEN the other week there is clearly a demand. And winter, when speed events are thin on the ground, is the perfect time to run events like these.
I guess it could be argued that events like this could serve to attract new blood into the sport but it's not something that I would get too sold on. It might attract a few to take-up Freestyle – and good on 'em, but that's the end of it. It's a bit like complaining that Arena Trials don't do anything to attract youngsters to trials riding. So what? Enjoy it for what it is! I've said before, people enjoy watching the lion-tamer in a circus – but no-one actually goes out afterwards and buys a lion!
All I would say is, if you get the chance to see the Crusties, don't miss-out like I
did – JUST GO!