Australian Motorcycle News — January 30, 2018

18 amcn.com.au

He did what? WORDSPETER WHITAKER

Maddo Madness

Havingperformed everystunt imaginable on terra

firma, Maddo’s next foray has proven controversial

Pushing extreme beyond the extremities

THE DAYSUSPENSION

guruscreatedawayfor 250kg

ofbikeandrider to survive

athree-metrejumpwithout

catastropheorcastration,

topriders created the double

jump. Thenextday it was the

triplejump,whichin turn

gave rise to Supercross.

Bythe time Robbie

MaddisonfinishedYea r 10

at Kiama HighSchool,being

airborne on a motorcycle

was second nature. Across

thePacific,Jose Yanezhad

alreadybackflippedhis

mini motocrosser afteryears

of BMXpractice. In 2000,

CareyHart attemptedthe

firstbackflip on afull-sized

motocross bike, crashingin

aless-than-perfectreturn

to earth.Afew monthslater

Hartfailedagain,freefalling

1 5metreswithathumpheard

across thestadium.

Across theUSA,Freestyle

Motocross(FMX)thrived

andin what seemstobea

tautological conundrum,

MikeMetzger completed

aback-to-backbackflip.

Stylehadreplacedspeed,

Supercross had become moto-

gymnastic exhibitions with

fireworks,lots offemaleflesh,

intriguingtattoosandahint

ofdisasterintheKiss-of-

DeathBackflip.

Backathome in theback

blocksofwestern Sydney, it

was almost unnoticedwhen

23-year-old Robbie Maddison

completed 13 backflipsto

win theXGamesheldat

Wonderland. Hejoined the

CrustyDemons, winning

innumerable international

FMX contests andbreaking

severalGuinness World

Records.Onthe40th

anniversaryof Evel Knievel

jumping thefountains

atCaesars Palace in Las

Vegas,MaddowasinVegas

toreplicate the stunt. But

thefountains weren’twide

enough, so Maddo took to the

localfootyfield,flying over 98

metres to anewworldrecord.

He saved his best for the

home crowdin Melbourne

onlyafew monthslater. He

broke his own record bythree

bike lengths, then did it again;

settinganever-bettered

recordabee’s-dickshort of

107 metres.Neverbettered

thatis,untilhejumped

across San DiegoBayseveral

yearslater. Due to thedamp

conditions on takeoffand

the mid-winter fogobscuring

the far side of the bay,Maddo

came upshort ofexpectations

but stillincreasedtherecord

to over11 5 metres. Between

these record-settingstunts

Maddo won his share of FMX

events and in Madrid won the

best new trickcontest withan

‘under f lip one hander to side

saddle lander’. (Don’t take it

too hard ifyou’re not entirely

sure exactlywhat this means–

thoughyou’d failmiserablyas

anFMXjudge.)

On1January, 2009, Maddo

wasbackinLasVegas–the

city ofextreme everything,

where too much money

andtoolittletastehas

replicated many renowned

cities, including Venice and

Paris.The latterfeatures

afauxEiffelToweranda

1 0-storeyreplicaoftheArc

De TriomphewhichMaddo

planned to‘jump’. The 39

metre f light up appeared

tame. But in the videoyou

can almostfeelRobbie

psychinghimselfupfor the

return.Andthe24 metre

freefall down to the ramp is

themostdeath-defyingstunt

you’llever see on two wheels.

Six months later Maddo

jumped London’s Tower

Bridgeandincludeda

backflip; thestuntseemed

more dangerous but was

notableforthelocationmore

than technicalaspects.

Having performed

every stunt imaginableon

terra firma, Maddo’s next

forayhas proven more

controversial. Boltingskis

ontoamotocrosserbegsthe

question: is Maddo’s mount

stillamotoorapaddle-

poweredjet ski?

Inastuntthat went wrong

in 2015,Maddocheated

deathinthesurfoff Tahiti.

Practice makesperfect – if

yousurvive–andMaddo

wentontoconquer thewaves

andon stillwater, madea

record ride of over 30km. By

thetimeherodehistakeona

wet-bikeonSydney Harbour

last November, it allseemeda

bittame.

But we doubt Maddo’s done

setting recordsyet:canyou

imagine a backflip overa

four-metre swell at Maui?Or

what about an ‘underf lipone

hander to sidesaddlelander’

in the pipeline?

No tricks: speed,

angle of attack,

balance and a lot of

faith let Maddison

combine riding with

his love of surfing