So over the past few months I have been expressing to Alpinestars that I would really like to start shooting some webisodes where I meet up with some of the athletes from different sports, and "Cross over" for the day. I have always found it really interesting how a professional athlete can be in perfect shape to perform their sport, but when they attempt a totally different sport their muscles do not know how to react. This has been scientifically supported by the SAID principle of fitness, which basically states that when your body is put under physical stress of varying intensities and duration, it will overcome this stress by adapting to manage it. This is why I think it is so cool to be able to experience sports other than surfing, with the professionals that do them....
The first athlete that I attempted this project with was Ashley Fiolek. She is a professional motocross racer who rides for both Alpinestars and Able Planet headphones. She is an incredible person, and amazing athlete. This past year Ashley actually won a gold medal at the X-games for women's motocross. Check out her website here if you get the chance. I actually first met Ashley and her father Jim at the CES convention Vegas, and they were all about getting me up to their compound and riding... Since the water has been so cold we decided to hold off on completing the whole shoot, but this past monday I took advantage of an invite to go get a couple practice laps in at their track....
I now have an extreme amount of respect for professional motocross riders. That was hands down the sketchiest experience of my life. It did not help that I was riding Ashley's old Honda 250 super cross bike, when I have never even started a dirt bike in my life. Needless to say that was a little to much bike for me and I got my ass handed to me all day by a girl who was half my size and weight. I found it pretty amazing how in control Ashley was of this massive bike, she was punting airs, and doing wheelies through ruts that I couldn't even ride through. The only thing I can relate the experience to is riding a beach cruiser through soft sand, but with a much heavier bike, with much heavier consequences. After a while I grew tired of stalling out, so I decided to test out some of their other off road toys. I felt much more comfortable on their jacked ruckus, and their little four wheeler. By the end of my riding session I was actually clearing one of the little table tops on the ruckus.
All in all it was an incredible day hanging with Ashley and her family, they were such wonderful and accomodating hosts. I have already made plans to head back and master that sport soon enough. I just have to wait until all my sore muscles heal, I'm just going to chalk those up to the Said Principle.
Oh and I cannot wait to get Ashley in the surf, I have already planned to wait for a big northeaster to take her out and get a little revenge for throwing me straight on to a 250....ha
Here are a couple photos from my first attempt, I will keep you updated on when we complete the full shoot, and put together a short video about it....