The crowd screamed.
Armen Djerrahian: Matt nous donne l'impression d'être en contest. Il va haut, fait toutes ses figures dont 540° no hand et revient sur la plateforme quand... Duke: chers kidz, Matt va réaliser un trick qu'il n'a rentré que très peu de fois, ça s'appelle le 900°.
Et oui ! Le public retient son souffle, Matt prend son élan et réalise ce que personne en France n'avait encore jamais vu.
Quand, pensant que rien ne pouvait être ajouté, le Duke nous dit que Matt va réaliser une figure qu'il n'a jamais montrée à quiconque auparavant. Que restait-il pour nous tuer ? 900° no hand ? Et bien non, s'élançant sous les cris du public, Matt Hoffman exécute sous nos yeux effrayés un back flip, quôa ?? Oui j'ai bien-bien diiiit un back flip.
Séquence animée à partir des photos de Spike Jones dans GO (507ko)
Go july 1990: The resounding buzz which swept the bike industry and remainded the focal point of all conversations in the two weeks following the Paris Bicross race was of course, Matt Hoffman. You don't even have to ask why. We already did that for you ...
So how long have you been doing the back flip ?
Matt: About a month or two.
Where have you done it ?
Matt: In the secret Ninja warehouse. The secret Ninja warehouse of death. That's where I practice everything.
Go july 1990, FLIP WILSON
Dear incoming,
My name is Eddie Greenplate and I make this 'zine called"Sucker MC You Better Think Fast". Anyway, my friend Phillip Dubois from Paris wrote me saying that Matt Hoffman did a backward somersault in the air and landed on his bike. However, my friend's english is horrible so I'm not sure what he was trying to say. Is it true about Matt Hoffman doing a flip at a show in Paris, or is my friend just crazy or too foreign to communicate ?
Eddie Greenplate
Normal, Illinois
Mat Hoffman, The Ride of my Life, 2002: I'd wanted to learn backflips for years, so Steve Swope and I brought a launch ramp down to a nearby lake, like scientists setting up lab equipment The first guy in the sport to pull a backflip was a cat named Jose Yanez. He used toe clips to keep his feet attached to the pedals, and then did the trick ramp to ramp. For his skill, Jose scored a steady gig with the circus. I was on a mission to bring flips to vert; but it was a risky riddle trying to figure out how to do it without breaking my neck. Hence, I started doing backflips off the dock, into the water After a few soggy trial runs off the dock, Steve and I returned to the Ninja Ramp and built a platform extending out of the transition. The new section of deck stretched away from the coping and out over the middle of the ramp, so would catch me as I carved my flips off the vertical wall. I scoured the Dumpsters outside Goodwill and found a few old mattresses and couch cushions, and those became my low-tech landing pads. I practiced pulling flips off the coping, hoping to land on the platform, The first few attempts were ugly, and painful. A couple times I missed the platform, landing upside down from fourteen feet up. I woke up puking.
Slowly, I earned the mechanics of the motion and began to lower the platform to simulate the feel of landing a flip on a solid surface, until finally just took it down -I had to make the trick or trash my body. My goal was to pull a complete flip, coming into the transition backward and riding it out as a fakie. To make it, I needed at least six feet of air so my head would clear the coping. It was the kind of stunt that required 100 percent conviction each time. I practiced them every day until I had the flip fakie pretty wired, landing high on the transition rather than jarring into the flat bottom Then, I got invited to France.
Every year there was an annual spectacular race in Bercy stadium in Paris. After the last stadium race was run, it was demo time. The show went well, Kevin ripped up the ground with his trademark swirling flatland boogie, and I pulled all tricks out of my bag, saving the best for last. While I caught my breath I called Spike over. "Put in a fresh roll and shoot a sequence of this next one," I said to him, trying to sound casual. "I'm going to try a flip." Spike found his angle just as I was ready, and I hit the Coca-Cola quarterpipe at full speed. I pulled off the coping, leaning back as hard as I could, and got about six or seven feet out as I peaked. I remember being upside down, seeing flashbulbs popping. I don't think the French spectators were ready for what they saw, but the reaction was thunderous. I landed hard and slid out, but I guess that didn't matter. History was made People freaked, and the promoters wouldn't let me ride anymore because things were rapidly getting out of control. The floor was rushed by fans and riders, and some kid grabbed the laminate around my neck, strangling me until he got his souvenir. The flip fakie made the cover of five bike magazines, including Go, with a headline that read: "Sickest Trick Ever:'
Invert #11, june 1990.
Bicross and skate magazine #88, mai 1990.
Go #9 july 1990. Photo: Spike Jonze.
FAT zine #17/18