Dirt is fun, there aren’t stupid people around, so you can just do your thing, relax, and get away from it all. There’s always a risk involved when you’re on your bike, but hey, it’s like David says, “No risk, No fun”.
However, dirt can also be extremely dangerous, and seemingly tiny crashes can lead to giant problems. Some part of this is on the rider as well, if you don’t wear proper gear, you’re going to get fucked one way or the other.
One weird thing that I’ve noticed with ALL dirt riders is that none of them wear proper gloves, it’s always a thin piece of cloth on their hands. I’m not certain why, some people say it’s because you need a lot more wrist movement off-road, but I’ve never felt restricted in my full-gauntlet gloves. I think the reason for this is psychological, people need to feel macho, even if that’s against basic common sense.
Only pussies wear full leather gloves in dirt.
Well, pussies generally don’t find themselves in the middle of nowhere with a broken wrist, so I’m quite happy being called one. Here are 4 interesting videos about the dangers of dirt, and all 4 of them are about different kinds of dangers.
1. Brutal crash compilation
Don’t watch this if you are squeamish, if you feel weird at the sight of broken bones. This video is epic in many ways, some of the crashes look so benign, but the end result is so completely unexpected. Tells you a lot about the unpredictability of motorcycles.
Also, this channels has some pretty interesting footage as far as dirtbikes go. I generally don’t like such aggregators, people who just pick up stuff other people have made and combine it together, but this one’s alright. Apparently people send him their videos to get “featured”, for whatever reason.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJvhzrQHP4s
2. Falling off the edge, almost
Here’s our very own Deelip Menezes exploring an innocent looking trail, that suddenly opens up to a scary narrow cliff section.
First off, no video camera does justice to the perspective that a rider can see. I’m sure you’ll not be scared much looking at the video, but real life is very very different. Second, this video also tells you something about the hidden dangers of dirt riding. Crashing into your own riding buddy is a very real possibility!
3. Red Bull Sea to Sky crashes
Red Bull organises a fuckload of adventure sports, don’t really know how well that sells their sugar piss, but who cares.
This video gives you an idea of how royally even seemingly “professional” dirt riders can fuck up, it takes so little to make a huge mistake! I guess that’s part of the rush, and at least they are all geared up and ready for the storm.
4. You don’t have to professional to get hurt
Even casual trail riding can lead to some pretty nasty situations, most of them funny, some of them not so much. And this is why riding dirt with someone else is useful, and also why carrying a whistle around with you might help, even if that makes you look like a pervert football coach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJFx9DI_eUI
5. This is just hilarious
I will not reveal the secret of this video, just watch it. It starts rather boring, just 2 guys mucking around on tiny dirtbikes, but things get very interesting after the halfway mark.
6. And this is how real men do it
These riders have reasons to push hard, this is their job, to be the fastest, but that doesn’t mean physics is any different for them.
As someone who hasn’t broken a single bone in his body till date, this is just fucking insane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awy9oCe5Cl0