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RAMPINGTON — It’s one thing to master a trick as a BMXer, it’s quite another to master a trick in a few tries just because you were on a ramp and you felt like it.
Professional BMX rider Pat Laughlin did just that in Shanghai, China, with a bike-to-bike transfer.
What’s a bike-to-bike transfer you ask? Laughlin rides his BMX bike down a huge ramp with a friend holding a second bike at the apex of a second ramp. He then ditches the first bike mid-jump from the first ramp to the second and lands on the second bike, continuing down the second ramp. And Laughlin does all in one impressively smooth motion.
Trust me, the description does not in anyway negate the awe you will feel while watching the video. It’s like a modern-day version of an old-time Western movie where an outlaw jumps from a train to a horse, or a Pony Express rider switches horses mid-gallop. But better. Much, much better.
Unlike Josh Sheehan, who spent over a year planning the biggest jump in action sports history, Laughlin appears to have decided to do his trick on a whim, according to the video. It’s an impressive combination of guts and skill, a stunt that I’ve watched at least half a dozen times already.
“It’s all about having the best bad idea of anyone, and Pat just won,” says fellow BMX rider Mat Hoffman in the video.
Agreed, Mr. Hoffman.
