Youths choose stunt biking as career

Abhyudaya Kotnala

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 12

Chris Pfeiffer, a four-time world champion stunt biker from Germany, is an unknown name for many of us. But the stunt biker is a role model for a group of youth from the state capital who have formed a stunt-biking group “Team Evolution”.

Even though stunt bikers are perceived to be the most anti-social elements by the general public and the police, the group of young bikers is bent upon making a career out of it. For “Team Evolution”, stunt biking is just like any other sport, but due to some misgivings, the sport has lost its reputation.

For Ankit Bhaskar (18), a member of “Team Evolution”, it is the only career choice. Anirudh Rived (18), another member, said, “Earlier my parents use to scold him for performing stunts, but when I won the Extreme Drifting League (XDL) Championship in Noida and earned a cash prize of Rs 20,000, their viewpoint changed. Now they support my decision.”

Gone are the days when stunt biking was considered a fun sport or worthless risk-taking activity. These days even a rookie biker can earn anything between Rs 10,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh by performing stunt shows. A trained professional can earn even more, says Ayush Rana (19), member of “Team Evolution” and a stunt biker.

Members of Team Evolution said professional stunt biking had many strict rules, which they follow. However, they hope that the public view towards the adventure sport would change. According to them, South India was a paradise for stunt bikers, where stunt biking was accepted by society as a profession and bikers get all facilities. Presently, the group is practicing for forthcoming Indian Bike Week to be held in Goa in 2015.