FreestyleXtreme Magazine Issue 10 | Page 37

With more rain forecast, we hightailed
it back to Rinaldo’s place. After playing
around on transfer lines over the dirt
jumps, Hannes needed to practise his
new trick, the Volt, for NOTJ China. He
had it perfect in the foam pit. I thought
he should take it to dirt now before
China, but then David’s YZ250 bogged
on the ramp and he landed straight in
the back of the landing! Somehow he
didn’t break himself, and after this we
all called it a day.
Flying
It’s one of the truly remarkable
accomplishments by human beings,
and I’m still in awe that you can fly such
a huge piece of metal into the sky!
NOTJ: Shenzhen, China
Flying Cons 1: Leaving home extra
early, arriving at the airport two hours
early, then dealing with security and
the overpriced airport food and drinks.
Actually this makes up most of the
cons for flying!
Flying Pros 1: The same time it took to
drive from Germany to France, we flew
to China, halfway across the world! A
whole new culture and a whole new

adventure!
We landed in Shenzhen and I was
thrust back into the best job in the
world; hosting the intro videos for
NOTJ. We end up walking around the
city, tasting new foods and trying to
get the best shots for the intro video.
But soon enough I was back to doing
the toughest job in the world; being a
freestyle MX judge! With David Rinaldo,
Maikel Melero, Libor Podmol and
Hannes Ackermann all throwing down,
it was like splitting hairs between the
riders and it was one of the toughest
rounds to judge for sure. Hannes
landed his Volt to dirt for the first time
too! Othe r highlights had to be the
hour-long €7 foot massages and the
countless street meat vendors!
NOTJ: Caraguatatuba, Brazil
I had never been to South America
before, and Brazil was one of those
places that I have always dreamt of
seeing.
Flying Cons 2: Catching a 12-hour flight
with Air Europa. They didn’t even have
TVs, and the plane still had ashtrays!
It was sunny and warm as we started
our 2-hour shuttle to the event. After
3 hours of driving we were informed
we were still 2 hours away. Haha. I
guess Brazil time is like ‘Island time’.
As we snaked our way down towards
Caraguatatuba and the beach, the
scenery was unreal. The clouds
appeared but we were hopeful the
weather would get better.
The following day I was back to doing
the best job in the world, this time

© MARTIN ZOELLNER
© MARTIN ZOELLNER

© MARTIN ZOELLNER

© MARTIN ZOELLNER
© MARTIN ZOELLNER

been too, but this time we brought
the rain! Knowing Maikel and Hannes
weren’t up for a ride in the rain, I
decided to put my phone in my boots
and go for a solo trail ride through the
olive trees. The red clay soon turned
to the slipperiest mud imaginable, my
goggles fogged up and to be honest, I
was a little lost after 25 minutes haha,
so I pulled a U-turn. It still turned out to
be another awesome day though!

filming the NOTJ intro video at the
same venue as the São Paulo Surf
Open! The film crew thought it would
be a good idea to get me to surf for
the video, unaware that I’m the only
Australian who has never surfed before!
Luckily the film crew could all surf, so I
was in good company to stand up for
the first time. Long story short: surfing
was hard, and I sucked at it!!! After
about 20 minutes I finally got up, but
surprisingly I didn’t get a wild card into
the São Paulo Open.
Unfortunately it rained the whole time
we were in Brazil. The competition
never took place and most of the riders
didn’t even touch the course once. The
Brazilians tried to ride, but were rained
out in the middle of qualifying. So
really, the biggest thing to happen that
weekend was that an Australian learned
to surf for the first time, in Brazil and
taught by a German!
So which method of transport wins?
Driving or flying? Hard to say, the road
trip itself creates memories, but takes
so much time. Flying however, allows
you to see all new cultures in a short
amount of time. It’s a whirlwind effect
and equally as satisfying. I’m going
to sit on the fence after these past six
weeks! T
/SteveSommerfeldFMX
@stevesommerfeld
@stevesommerfeld