Red Bull X-Fighters Jams: motorcyclists up in the air
Hair-raising aerial acrobatics will be the order of the day when motocross comes to Central for the Red Bull X-Fighter Jams
Have you everwondered how it might feel to be suspended mid-air hanging from a soaring 100kg motorbike - apart from very frightening?
"It's one of the closest feelings to flying without a plane," says professional daredevil Nick Franklin, who will be performing at Hong Kong's first ever freestyling motocross event in April alongside three other "FMX Fighter" legends Gilles Dejong (Belgium), Marcin Lukaszczyk (Poland) and Marcus Dubois (Sweden).
"You're floating in the air, you're weightless and everything feels so light," he says, adding that, although it is an amazing experience, living with and working through fear and threat of injury is all part and parcel of a sport in which a spectacle is made of performing crazy-looking tricks to a incredulous audience and panel of judges.
The 33-year-old, who was brought up on a New Zealand farm, first found himself behind handlebars at the tender age of 10, taking part in motocross races alongside other fresh-faced dirt bike enthusiasts. Most FMXers start off this way, according to Franklin. "It's important to learn to crawl before you can run," he says.
"I feel like I started later than loads of other kids. Some started at six - some as young as four - I begged my parents for years before I got a motorbike."