Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Where speed is king

The biker in the distance leapt off the hump before executing a sharp turn round the bend of the muddy track, all the while fending off muderous G-forces.

Decked out in striking red riding gear and a helmet, he then negotiated a muddy slope before blazing through the finish line with an air of authority of someone who knows the roads.

Scenes like this are a common sight at last Friday and Saturday's Channel U Motocross Challenge 2007 which is jointly organised by Channel U and the Motorcycle Safety and Sports Club (MSSC).

The event featured pit biking where bikers have to race through an uneven terrain marked by bends and artificial obstacles. The bikes used, known as scramblers, differ in capacity (70cc onwards) and wheel size (10 - 21 inches).

I was covering the event for The Straits Times and I had the chance to try out the bikes and do a few trial runs on the track. Surprisingly, it is not that difficult to ride a motorcycle. It is like cycling, with the brakes and all, except that the bike is much heavier and you can control the speed with a throttle using the right wrist, rather than pedalling.

It is a relatively safe sport but accidents do happen when one does not observe the proper safety procedures - like when I accelerated when moving round a bend and collided with the road markers. My bike toppled over and the engine died. Luckily, I was wearing jeans which prevented any scratches.

I had the chance to talk to a couple of the Channel U stars there for my story. One of the more familiar ones there was Miss Cui Fang, the winner of last year's Superhost (I didn't catch that show unfortunately). She is a surprisingly warm and friendly person, without putting on any airs or pretensions, who looks you straight in the eye and stands (very) close to you when she speaks. Very eloquent and sharp-witted. Little wonder she won the hosting competition.

It's times like this that makes the job so much more fun. Here are some pictures I took of the event:

A row of gleaming scramblers by the organisers' tent. These are off-road bikes specially designed for pit-bike racing. Their structure ensures uniformity in aerodynamics and an in-built recoil spring helps to absorb the impact during high-altitude maneuvers.



The terrain can be rather uneven and muddy due to the previous day's rain. That makes racing up slopes like this rather tricky.


A biker leaping off one of the humps. Some humps can go as high as a few metres. Notice how the biker slightly stands up during the leap. This allows his knees, rather than his back, to cushion the impact when the bike touches ground again.


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