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RUN_FMX

Crusty Demon Turned Skydiver...

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Hey crew,

So since I was 15 years old ive been getting paid to jump my dirt bike in front of thousands of people at shows all around my country (on the other side of the world to most of you). I rode with the infamous Crusty Demons, I won our first and only amateur championship, I signed a lot of autographs and broke a lot of bones (9 bones in 4 years). Generally just had the time of my life.

Then one morning earlier this year I kinda woke up and went 'Wow, im over this now, lets do something new'. So I set about trying a whole bunch of other sports to see what could replace the constant adrenaline rush and mental workout i was used to. NOTHING even came close. Nothing mesmorised me like the sport of Freestyle Motocross has for so many years. That was until I did my first AFF jump!

I have since made 4 AFF jumps and I am so pumped to have finally found something that is not just a sport, but a lifestyle. Granted im not even living in the same world as most of you guys who have hundreds or thousands of jumps under your belt (so jealous!) but I am accustomed to the feelings you get and the thoughts that go through your head every time you do it.

I have huge respect for you guys on here. I have lined up in front of 8,000 people to do backflips on my dirt bike and that made me no where near as nervous as my first few dives, even though statistically I was far more likely to get hurt jumping bikes (and i did!) So you guys really impress me.

I just really wanted to introduce myself and join in on some of your convos. I know very little about the sport of skydiving in general but it has captured my imagination like nothing has before. Well, nothing apart from launching a 100kg bike off a 3metre high ramp, floating 80ft through the air while doing a trick and trying to land on another ramp. Doesnt sound very smart huh?

So hey, Im Steve, and im in love with your sport. Let me in!

Ive attached a pic to give you more of an idea of what i do, or did until recently.

Steve Gregor
www.runfmx.co.nz

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i was at this party with one of my skydiving buddies last year, he works for redbull, and there were those FMX'ers; my buddy did his work there, we went jumping and after we headed back, we chatted for a little while with the FMX'ers; they called US crazy!

funny stuff! :D:D:D

good luck with your jumping and enjoy the "ride"! :)

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

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HAHA, to damn funny.

Same here steve, 9 yrs of moto-x and to many injuries to count.

Went the same path, everything was boring compared to that kick of the huge triple or narrowly escaping the first turn demolition.

Welcome to the mix.
I Am Sofa King We Todd Did!!

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Welcome aboard. Judging only from your original post, it looks like trying to come into the sport with a little humility (about skydiving) and an open mind, which is good.

It can be a little tough mentally for someone who is shit hot in one adventurous sport to start right down at the bottom of another. Of course skills in physical body control, evaluation of risks, thinking under pressure, and so on can transfer over and help speed one's progression. But there are some people out there who become annoying, and dangerous to themselves and others when they try to do too much too quickly, after having been involved in other sports. Although everyone is different, that's one of the categories of new jumpers that skydivers know is out there!

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Thanks again guys.

I know exactly what you mean, and at the risk of sounding less 'hardcore' skydiving scares the shit out of me and therefore i respect the shit out of it. I think as long as that deep respect for what it is your doing and the people around you doing the same thing stays with you at all times, you will have a much easier time staying alive and staying out of people ways.

The whole FMX thing actually worked against me at first as after the instructors met me and learned of my past they took on a bit of an atitude like 'ah this will be nothing for him then' and i felt like I wasnt allowed to be scared. I have since changed DZ's (I now drive 5 hours every time I wanna jump) and my new instructors are very well aware of the fact that being good at one thing doesnt qualify me for another, a truth that I keep at the forefront of my mind at all times.

Im not your typical FMX rider. My buddies are some of the best FMX'ers in the world and they are crazy. They ride crazy, drive crazy, party crazy, live crazy. Im the opposite. Im a deep thinker, analytical, dont touch drugs or even alocohol, in the gym, eating right etc, im the cleanest kid you will ever meet to come out of this sport. Thats why I love the thought of skydiving. There is less of a 'fuck it ill give it a go' attitude and more of a mental thinking process to it. Im claustrophobic as all hell, cant even get in an elevator, so having to sit in the Fletcher and sit calmly talking through the jump is a challenge in itself, and I enjoy that challenge.

Hopefully some of us might cross paths in the future :)

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Dude that's awesome! I used to be a huge fan of the Crusty Demons and had like a dozen of your VHS's back in the day when I was in my teens and raced motocross and wanted to someday get into FMX. Me and my friends used to watch a ton of Crusty Demons and drink beers on the weekends and I remember at the time it was really the only place to see FMX because travis pastrana hadn't done the backflip yet and nobody cared about moto jumping in the x-games yet. Pretty much the only other people who did FMX were Jeremy McGrath and other AMA racers on their victory lap when they won a race.
http://www.mixcloud.com/prajna
http://vimeo.com/avidya

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Thanks heaps bud, always love talking to fans of the sport!

In fairness I should point out im not one of the big name Crustys, like i dont tour the world with them! I rode with them when the tour hit my neck of the woods, which only 4 people in this country can say so it was a real honour for them to call me and ask me to ride with them. Its considered the epitome of awesomeness if you crack into a Crusty show, something not a lot of people achieved so certainly a career highlight.

BUT those days are behind me now. 21 years old and officially retired from FMX, even have to hold down a 9 to 5 like a normal person! Its hard getting used to!

Luckily ive got this new sport to stop me from getting too bored! If you wanna see something cool then check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1wmOysNbdA

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Well I gotta say, I had one of the best days of my life last weekend!

Got to my DZ nice and early with only 7 jumps under my belt and up to AFF5, and 8 hours later I left the DZ with 14 jumps under my belt having done my first 2 solos!

Had perfect weather throughout the entire day, one of those beautiful deep blue skies that looks like it was made for skydiving.

My AFFI is one of nicest guys your ever likely to meet and very, very good at relaying info back to me as a student. I gotta be honest, I think I was more nervous doing my first freefall backflip and solo exit than I was the first time I tried to backflip my dirtbike! But it all came together for me on the day, I progressed and learned more in that one day than I have the last 6 months put together. Theres a lot to be said for doing a number of jumps in a row as opposed to a couple a month like I was doing.

Im learning so much, loving so much, and everyday I my respect for the likes of my instructors and other eexperienced jumpers goes through the roof. You guys are amazing.

Hope to see you all in the sky one day soon.

Steve Gregor
www.runfmx.co.nz

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So hey, Im Steve, and im in love with your sport. Let me in!

Ive attached a pic to give you more of an idea of what i do, or did until recently.

Steve Gregor
www.runfmx.co.nz



Yo Steve! I bet you can get more hang time jumping out of a plane then launching yourself off a rampl :P

Welcome to the sport. It's a great sport, fun sport, dangerous sport, and you'll love every frickin' minute of it. Having fun with the jumps so far? B|

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Thanks for the comments guys.

Yeah theres definitely a little bit more airtime with skydiving! The downside though, is that on my bike im used to being able to do 500 jumps a day until I get the trick dialled. If you could do 500 skydives in a day imagine how much youd learn!

If I was having any more fun, I wouldnt know what to do with myself. Every aspect of it is something Im so glad has become part of my life.

Now, if only I could find some way to get paid as much to skydive as I did to jump bikes...Hmmmmmm....

Another FMX pic attached for anyone who cares :)

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> If you could do 500 skydives in a day imagine how much youd learn!

You can! I've done 3 hours of tunnel in a day (equivalent to 180 skydives.) If your back could take it you could do 10 hours in a day; equivalent to 600 jumps. Of course your wallet would take quite a beating.

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In fairness I should point out im not one of the big name Crustys, like i dont tour the world with them! I rode with them when the tour hit my neck of the woods, which only 4 people in this country can say so it was a real honour for them to call me and ask me to ride with them. Its considered the epitome of awesomeness if you crack into a Crusty show, something not a lot of people achieved so certainly a career highlight.



Either way dude, well known or not, you still had to put many thousands of hours and taken many many bad falls, trying do to what you love, either way Ive got major respect for that. You took what you loved and ran with it. Good job. And congrats on passing AFF!
Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

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Many bad falls? Nah not me! Only this short list:

Snapped tibia, snapped tibia again, snapped ACl ligament, knee reconstruction, broken rib, broken rib, broken rib, snapped collarbone (came through the skin), snapped collarbone again, cracked shoulderblade, snapped ankle, dislocated both wrists, 3 major concussions and a hell of a lot of skin lost and blood shed. All within 5 years of each other.

Im 21 yrs old and have so much arthritis i cant even run. No matter how smooth my skydive landings are, they all hurt.

Was it worth it....?

HELL YES

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Many bad falls? Nah not me! Only this short list:

Snapped tibia, snapped tibia again, snapped ACl ligament, knee reconstruction, broken rib, broken rib, broken rib, snapped collarbone (came through the skin), snapped collarbone again, cracked shoulderblade, snapped ankle, dislocated both wrists, 3 major concussions and a hell of a lot of skin lost and blood shed. All within 5 years of each other.

Im 21 yrs old and have so much arthritis i cant even run. No matter how smooth my skydive landings are, they all hurt.

Was it worth it....?

HELL YES



haha yeah you practically made it out unscathed, LOL.:P
knock on wood, ive yet to break a bone. :D ive truly lucked out with all the stupid shit ive done.

but then again i havent gotten up to your level of amazing crazy shit, so either way. . . .
Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

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Its the same general principal as skydiving...learn as much as you possibly can without hurting yourself or others.

Dude I had / have absolutely no natural talent on a dirt bike what so ever. When I was 15 I decided I wanted to get paid to jump my bike, so thats just what I did. Now I want to learn to be a safe / smart / competent skydiver, so im learning!

Point is, if you wanna go jump your dirt bike, i cant recommend it enough! Its almost as fun as jumping out of a plane ;)

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yeah i always wanted a dirtbike, but never owned one, since my parents were absolutely aginst it. but now im past that point(out on my own), throwing everyting ive got and will have for a while into skydiving, to see what fun i can have here. :)

Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

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