Rob Adelberg
But even though he has a brace
of silver X Games medals, a tonne
of Night Of The Jumps wins and
podiums to his name, and has
perfected the uber-technical Cali
Roll, the oftentimes reserved
“Bobby Dazzler” could arguably
still be one of the most under-
rated riders on the international
contest scene.
That could all change in the
near future. At 29, Adelberg has
a burning desire to claim that
elusive X Games gold medal and
has his heart set on doing so
at the all-new 2018 event that
was announced in October – the
Sydney X Games. No victory
would be sweeter than to bite that
gold medal at his home event,
even if he has to master the
Double Backflip and the Front-flip
off standard ramps to do so.
We caught up with Robbie for an
honest chat about his year, his
dreams, his distaste for elements
of the sport, and what it’ll take to
finally claim the X Games gold.
Cheers for the chat, mate. Well, 2017
is pretty much in the books now.
Looking back on everything, are you
happy with how it panned out?
Yes and no. On the positive side,
I bought a 50-acre property and a
three-beddy house in my home town
of Benalla, Victoria and have built a bit
of a compound there, but in November
last year I had surgery on my wrist and
got it fused. I was off the bike until
about June, then went straight into X
Games and Red Bull X-Fighters. I was
pretty disappointed with my results
there – last year I got a X Games silver
medal but this year I felt like I was just
showing up. I don’t like doing that; if I
turn up to a contest I want to compete,
not just participate.
When I came back home I was doing
some fencing and busted my finger,
then I just got back on the bike and
headed away for Nitro Circus Live,
which I haven’t normally done. I like
travelling and to do it without having
the pressure of a contest was quite
new and refreshing.
Let’s just go back to your wrist.
Is that the same wrist you injured
years ago?
Yeah, in 2007 I broke and dislocated
it, and it never came right. This year
I ended up getting the skin graft
removed and they fused my wrist
completely, so it doesn’t move at all.
It’s stiff as.
Wow. So there’s no need for flip
levers anymore.
I just need one for the right hand now!
[laughs] If I’d gone from a perfectly
good wrist to a completely fused one
I would’ve been scared, but I’ve lived
with it for 10 years already, so right
now I feel like I’ve gained more than
I’ve lost.
It’s lucky it wasn’t your right wrist
or it would’ve been a hell of a short
career.
I’ve thought about that. If I’d busted
my other wrist I would’ve just used a
quad throttle. I would’ve f**king hated
it, but I would’ve sucked it up and just
been the biggest goon at the track.
Hahaha. Sorry, we’re jumping
around a bit here, but how many
Nitro shows did you do?
Six all up. I’d ridden for them
previously in Australia, but it’s the first
time I’ve travelled to the other side of
the world without the pressure of a
contest. As much as I love competing
and that’s what I want to do, it was
refreshing to go and ride without that
pressure, make some money and ride
some shows with my mates.
I haven’t been drinking since
February, but we still hired scooters,
blasted around, there were plenty of
opportunities to get out and explore,
and the atmosphere between the
riders is a lot friendlier.
Why have you given up drinking?
In February I made a personal deal
with myself that I wasn’t going to drink
for the rest of the year. Whenever I
drink I do dumb s**t - whether it’s
getting physical with people or just
doing things that a sober me wouldn’t
appreciate. [laughs] I gave myself a
break and hopefully I’ll be a smarter
drinker next time.
Before you moved back to Benalla
you were living near Jacko Strong’s
weren’t you?
Yeah, I originally moved there as it
was halfway between where my son
Cayden lives and my home in Benalla.
I bought my first home out there and
would train at Truman Carroll’s and
Jacko’s compounds. Truman stopped
riding, and I was in a financial position
to buy some property back home, so I
made the move back.
But you’re further from your son
now, I guess.
Yeah I am, but he’s turned seven so he
can fly on his own. I’m able to fly him
out of a town about an hour away, so
that makes a big difference.
Nice one. Just going back to this
year, it must’ve felt like you were a
bit on the back foot coming into the
contest season with very little time
to prepare.
It did for sure. I missed Nitro World
Games altogether and it sucks the
other big events were stacked right
on top of each other. I mean there’re
other competitions like NIGHT of the
JUMPS, but it seems a bit ridiculous
to have all the big contests so close
together.
It works well if you’re like Levi, who
came into the season with some
banger new tricks and there was no
time for anyone to play catch-up. If
you can come in u
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