Instead of the normal New Year’s Eve celebration, my family and I have a tradition of watching Red Bull No Limits. This year two men jumped their vehicles over 300 feet of water at Embarcadero Marina Park in San Diego Bay at midnight (EST) to mark the New Year - Robbie Maddison on a motorcycle, and Levi LaVallee on a snowmobile. To some this may seem like just a promotional sideshow; however, I see this as a way to popularize the sport of offroading. It can only help our cause to have our sport featured positively in the mainstream.  

Snowmobiles

Although I am a Colorado native, I have never been on a snowmobile. Racing down snow-covered trails in the cold has never appealed to me. However, I have great respect for those who do partake in the sport. These are our wintertime brethren; these folks are using many of the same ATV trails we ride on with our dirt bikes and four-wheelers in the summer time. They have to fight the same fight we do in order to keep the forest service trails open. Without snowmobilers, our fight would be even more difficult.

In my last post, I discussed the Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition.  Snowmobilers are a large part of the COHVCO; they back the coalition as much as the ATV, dirt bike and Jeep groups. This time of year, it is the snowmobilers who are cruising up and down my favorite trails at Taylor Park. Right now, they are up at ten-thousand feet making lifetime memories, much like my family did last August. Snowmobilers want to keep those trails open as much as my ATV and dirt bike riding buddies; they want to pass the hobby onto upcoming generations in the same way as us dirt bikers.

Levi LaVallee brought sleds to the mainstream on New Year’s Eve, with national television coverage on the hour-long special. To highlight snowmobiles even more, he jumped a record 412 feet!  He actually flew further than any dirt bike has ever flown - in the tandem jump with Robbie Maddison on his dirt bike, LaVallee was still in the air when Maddison was rolling down the landing ramp on his motorcycle tires. It was simply astounding to watch the sled, which weighs the equivalent of two refrigerators, fly as far as many home run baseballs. I can foresee the No Limits show getting more people interested in snowmobiles in 2012.

Motorcycles

Freestyle motocross has been around for many years; it is becoming more and more a mainstream sport. Pioneers like Travis Pastrana, Cary Hart and Mike Metzger brought us such tricks as the Backflip, the Lazy Boy and the Heart Attack. These gentlemen brought the sport to the general public, as folks wanted to see these sweet tricks. Some people, I think, just tune in to see the potential carnage if the riders fail (kind of how some people only watch hockey for the fights). Although these guys sometimes suffer some serious injuries, most tricks are pulled off successfully in dramatic fashion.

With Maddison performing his daring tricks on national television on New Year’s Eve, he is bringing dirt bikes to the mainstream, the same way LaVallee is with his snowmobile.  In doing these stunts during these New Year’s Eve shows, non-dirt bikers see it and become interested in the sport. Many may end up purchasing bikes of their own and delve into the sport. This night Maddison jumped his dirt bike 378 feet over the San Diego Bay. Three years ago on New Year’s Eve he jumped his motorcycle to the top of the Arc de Triomphe at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas. 

The more times an FMX rider does such a feat in the national spotlight, the more offroaders will gain positive public relations, which will help our riding population grow. This gives us a stronger voice with our elected officials; it makes the politicians see that this is a community to be reckoned with - we cannot be ignored. When we have the government officials’ attention, it will make it harder to close our trails. I am passing on my lifelong hobby of dirt biking to my son Joey; I would like to see him pass it on to his children. I will do what I have to do to keep these trails open for future generations.

Conclusion

Not only does a program like No Limits bring offroad to the mainstream, I think it also helps to portray the sport as a family activity. In the warmup to the actual jump, the program highlighted how Maddison and LaVallee are family men.  Maddison had his wife, young son and his parents in attendance and they were very much in support of his feats. LaVallee had his fiancé and his parents at the jump and they greeted him as he landed the record-setting jump.

What I have gathered from watching this program and from previous years’ shows, is that these guys are putting offroad in the mainstream in a positive way. They are setting records every time they throw a leg over the seat, they have portrayed offroad in a positive light and they are showing that they are good family men. This promotes goodwill among riders of ATVs, dirt bikes, snow mobiles and Jeeps. They are helping in the cause of keeping our riding trails open; so please keep supporting these daredevils for this reason. The groups who are fighting everyday to keep our public riding areas open need our support.

James Parker