Extreme Sports Get That Name

EXTREME SPORTS GET THAT NAME for a reason . . . they earn it. For years in freestyle motocross, competitors were happy flying 70 feet off jumps, twisting the bike in the air, letting go of the handlebars and floating above the machine, and clicking their heels together in every which way. But that wasn’t extreme enough for Carey Hart, so at the 2000 Gravity Games, he pushed the sport to a new level by attempting a backflip.

Hart was the first person to try a backflip in competition on a motorcycle 125cc or larger. Although the force of the landing knocked Hart from his ride, the Providence, Rhode Island, crowd and Hart’s fellow competitors came to their feet and cheered. From that point, the race was on to be the first person to nail and ride away from a backflip. And about a year and half later, Caleb Wyatt became the first man to complete the trick on a bike that big when he rode his 2002 Honda CR 250 into the record books—although it almost killed him.

During his first attempt to hit the trick in 2001, Wyatt came off his motorcycle in midair. He hit the ground first and then the bike landed on his head! If it hadn’t been for a good helmet and a soft landing surface, Wyatt would have died. But the extreme athlete didn’t give up and finally landed the trick in the spring of 2002 on a dirt ramp in Clamis, California. It took him six attempts and several bad spills, but on Wyatt’s sixth try—with a crew filming Road to the X Games—he controlled the rotating bike and stuck a picture-perfect landing.

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POINT Having a metal motorcycle that weighs hundreds of pounds land on your head would have been enough to scare away a lot of people, but not Caleb Wyatt. He weighed the risks, planned the jump, and didn’t give up until he completed a backflip on his motorcycle . . . and he did it safely.

The writer of Proverbs encourages us to listen to God’s wisdom to stay safe. God may ask you to do some pretty dangerous things, but if you follow his will, he’ll keep you safe.

GOAL! Read through the Bible to find some of God’s wisdom on staying safe—but remain ready to take risks for him.