Last issue of Freerider MX we uncovered the freestyle parks of Germany. This issue thanks to our captain Busty Wolter, we move on to Switzerland where the ultimate European FMX road trip continues…

Caption: Busty behind the wheel and M80’s Adam barker thrashing it out to some punk tunes as the road trip heads into Switzerland.

Busty idled his big white VW van up to the guard holding his hand up for us to stop at the border control between Germany and Switzerland. The guard poked his head in the window, “Passports please”. We handed them over and he asked what we were up to. Busty tells him we’re a freestyle motocross team making a documentary throughout Europe and points to myself, Ryan Leyba and Adam Barker (M80 Fuel TV) informing him we’re the film crew.

“Ah, so you’re on your way to Mat Rebeaud’s place then, yes?” he said as if he was talking about a famous actor from Hollywood.

Busty replied yes in a surprised tone, thinking what we were all thinking at the time, which was, how the hell does this guard know a freestyle motocross rider who lives in a small town most people would never have even heard of?

The guard then took a quick look around the van, checked out our passports then waved us on our way.

Switzerland is a small but very wealthy country that’s surrounded by Germany in the north, France – west, Austria – east, and Italy to the south. Unlike the rest of Europe it hasn’t conformed to the European Union and has stayed independent – hence the passport check. It’s known for its high mountain ranges, pristine lakes, clocks, cheese, and to those like our friendly border guard, the home to one of the worlds best freestyle motocross riders, and as it turns out, the only FMX rider Switzerland seems to have, and they’re obviously proud of the fact.

Why is that you ask? Well most kids in Switzerland grow up with a pair of skis strapped to their legs as snow skiing is one of the most popular sports in the country. But for someone like Mat Rebeaud, whose father and grand father both raced motocross, a mini-bike was his toy from a young age instead of a pair of skis. He raced motocross while other kids slid down steep white slopes of snow.

You could say Mat is a rare breed in Switzerland where three months during winter it’s too cold to ride, and a session riding his foam pit sees him spending hours clearing the snow off the ground beforehand just so he can get a clear run at his kicker.

Arriving at his park in Brit, only 15-minutes away from his hometown of Payerne, snow was the last thing on the menu as the spring sun was shining and soaking up what was a damp freestyle course after a few days of rain.

Mat arrived not long after us, with Italian rider Alvaro Dal Farra not far behind. We’d already checked out Mat’s park, and weren’t confident of any action straight up as the dirt landers and run-off areas were slippery from a top layer of wet dirt. But to our surprise Mat wasted no time after the introductions by climbing aboard his bobcat and working the course like it was his full-time occupation. Twenty minutes later he’d got his gear on and started to tear up his parks many hits with precise surgeon-like perfection.

The course had one large dirt downramp that could be landed on from opposite sides down one end of the park. It also had a wall ride wedged into one side, and landing on the side heading up the park led towards a 90-foot dirt double, the upramp also used as a small quarter pipe with a hit shoveled into one end. Running back down one side of the park was a series of dirt double jumps that finished with a small Fun-Box.

Third jump in Mat Flipped the 75, and soon after threw down a Whip Flip, Candybar and Nac Flip, and a casual Underflip. Then, to totally blow away those of us watching his awesome display of riding, he decided to gamble the damp 90-foot dirt double and Flipped over it after a few warm-up attempts, and this was after riding in from Flipping the 75. If he was out to impress it definitely worked!

The Lone Ranger

Mat practices alone most of the time, unless friends from other countries drop in to ride. “Riding alone has its advantages as nobody knows what tricks I’m working on until I get to the events,” he says. “Like at X Games in 2006 when I did the Underflip Nac for the first time everybody was surprised, and they were like, what is that?”

Mat was in first place in Freestyle Big Air at X that year with his Underflip Nac, just ahead of Bilko’s Cliffhanger Flip, until Travis Pastrana unleashed his all-conquering Double Flip. He knew straight away he’d lost first place as soon as Pastrana pulled the ground-breaking trick, and although unhappy at first, he thought the trick was very cool and a new step forward for the evolution of FMX.

On the Double Flip Mat doesn’t believe it’s the trick of the future as its pretty special, and X Games is always looking for something fresh, and doing the same trick again wouldn’t have the same impact as the first time. He says more variations of the Flip, Underflip and 360 is where we’ll see riders putting their focus.

He also points out it’s important to have your own foam pit when you reach the top level in FMX, especially for events like X Games where the latest, biggest trick wins gold. He says practicing at other riders pits doesn’t allow you to experiment with any new ideas you’re working on for yourself, which is why he doesn’t mind being hidden away from spying eyes.

Mat still gets to keep a close check on his competitors though by spending several months of the year practicing in America when he can’t ride at home.

At events like the X-Fighter series in Europe he gets to compete against the likes of Pastrana and other leading riders from all corners of the globe so he can check where he’s at with his riding.

He is fiercely competitive when it comes to contests, saying, “When I go to contests I go there to win! I want to beat everybody. And somebody told me once that this is not the freestyle attitude, but I say if someone doesn’t like my attitude I don’t care. Its days like today riding with my friends when I get to have fun.”

You can’t always hide your tricks away though as Mat found out when busting his Backflip Seran Wrap at X-Fighters in Madrid, 2005. Pastrana had seen Mat do the trick at the event and then two weeks later they talked about it while practicing at X Games. “I explained to Travis how I put my foot under the gear lever, which enables me to do the trick. Then he came out in Big Air and pulled one off, and I’m like, hey man that’s my trick!” Pastrana took the gold with Mats trick and he says everybody gave Pastrana the credit for it. Mat learnt a valuable lesson, and wasn’t too mad about it as he says, “When Travis Pastrana does one of my tricks it means I can’t be too bad hey.”

Some consolation for Mat was taking the silver medal a few months later at Winter X Games with the trick, just beaten by Pastrana who did the same trick with a one hander to take gold. That’s one of Pastrana’s talents, being able to pull out that little bit extra at just the right moment, and to this day an X Games gold medal is the one Mat still lives and breaths for.

Talking about X Games he says, “That event is by far the most pressure for me because when I ride most events I ride a little on the safe side, but at X I forget this and its wide open! I think it’s the same for everybody. Nobody goes there to ride safe. You either pull the trick or crash!” “It’s funny as when I crash at an event or see myself on TV afterwards taking risks I think to myself I am stupid for not riding safer, but at X Games its all or nothing. I am a very motivated when riding my bike and don’t feel scared, but sometimes afterwards I think to myself, why did I try that?”

One Big Family

After the practice session ended the whole crew ended up back at Mats new home for a BBQ, so new in fact it was the first night he would spend in it with his girlfriend Sarah. He even had to unpack and put together his new BBQ, and while he did I asked him about what it’s like to be a freestyle rider in Europe.

“The freestyle scene in Europe is very friendly. Most riders talk to each other, the atmosphere is very good at contests and we all usually party together afterwards. You could say we’re like one big family. It’s funny when all the riders get together as we all come from different countries where we speak different languages so we all try and speak our best English. You can imagine how the communication unfolds when you have an Italian, a German, a Norwegian and a Swiss talking English, it can get pretty messy.”

Sitting around the outside dinner table after Mat had mastered the barby it was cool to see the different characters come alive off the bike. Busty the German cracking his not always funny jokes, Alvaro the Italian party boy living up to his reputation as beers flowed all-round, and Mat loving the company of old friends as stories unfolded over dinner and long in to the night. “I rode my first contest with Busty”, explained Mat. “He’s a very cool guy and at a competition he’ll always help you if he can. He’s a true friend and the guy that speaks to everybody, which is why everybody knows Busty Wolter in Europe.” “Alvaro is also a good friend to me. He has great motivation and likes to party a lot. A true Italian you could say. He comes from snowboarding and has a different mentality than most FMX riders, which is pretty cool.”

Mat spoke about the great support he gets from his family, especially his father, who works on his bikes and will meet him after work most afternoons to operate the crane at his foam-pit, which is where we all met the following cloudy morning so the riders could work on some of their tricks.

Watching Mat ride the foam pit is quite awesome as every trick is done with perfection as if he was jumping to dirt. Underflip Nac, Indian and Superman Flips, every one executed to perfection. It’s clear he strives for such perfection so that when he takes a new trick to dirt the chances of him failing are minimal.

The crane Mat uses is industrial size and it has the riders lifted out quickly. Once Mat had his 10 jumps out of the way Alvaro got to working on his Flip variations as did Busty with perfecting his Nac Flip. It gave him a chance to adjust his gear lever to the correct height so his foot would not slip off upside down.

Watching pro rider’s session a foam pit you quickly realise the importance they play in the modern era of FMX. If you don’t have one you’re pretty much out of the ball game.

Mat didn’t spring any real surprises for us into the pit; obviously keeping his ace card close to his chest for X Games later in the year.

Everyday he wakes up with the dream that one day in his life he’ll wear that X gold medal around his neck, and with the effort he’s putting in for 2007 X Games, that dream could soon become a reality.

Mat Rebeaud

Age: 25

Lives: Payerne, Switzerland.

Rides: KTM250.

Website: www.matrebeaud.com

Highlights:

Red Bull X-Fighters, Ireland, 2007, 2nd

Red Bull X-Fighters, Madrid, 2006, 3rd
X Games 12, Los Angles, USA, 2006, Big Air, 2nd
Red Bull X-Fighters, Mexico City, 2006, 1st
Winter X Games, Aspen, USA, Moto Best Trick, 2006, 2nd
Red Bull X-Fighters, Madrid, 2005, 3rd
IFMXF Ranking 2005, 1st
8 wins on the Night of Jumps tour, 2005
IFMXF Ranking 2004, 3rd
IFMXF World Championships, Hamburg, 2004, 2nd
Holder of world "Highest Air" record (11 metres)

Dew Action Sports Tour, 2004, (Debut in USA), 4th

Ride To Party – With Italian Alvaro Dal Farra

Very few FMX riders can carry the “Ride To Party” attitude and be taken seriously. Italy’s number one freestyle rider Alvaro Dal Farra is an exception. He likes to party, ride hard, live life to its fullest, all in a very positive way.

A former pro snowboarder he entered the freestyle scene in 2002. He was looking for a new challenge, and after seeing a similarity in the spirit of the two sports – the extreme action, fear factor, lifestyle, freedom – he decided to give it a go and has never looked back since.

Italy is famous for its pasta, pizza, Ferrari’s, style, fashion, and road racing sensation Valentino Rossi, but according to Alvaro, not as famous for its extreme sports compared to other leading countries in Europe. He says Rossi has raised main stream awareness of motorcycle racing in Italy, but there is still a long way to go before freestyle reaches a similar level.

To help raise the profile of FMX in Italy, Alvaro, and the first core group of freestyle riders he started riding with in Italy, have formed a freestyle team called “Da Boot”, named after the shape of the country, which looks like a big boot.

Da Boot is growing in size with Alvaro saying, “All our riders have the good spirit for riding. We have our own mobile landing set-up and put on demos all over the country to help promote FMX. We also have our own park and foam pit so we can train together. It’s good as the car company Fiat is taking notice of the sport and supports me personally, and is looking at sponsoring Da Boot too, which is really good for us.”

Publicity of the sport in Italy is growing via TV coverage and the recent introduction of “FMX Rider”, the first freestyle specific magazine to be published in the country – and guess who is on the front cover of the first issue? … It’s Alvaro, and he’s the kind of guy who stands out from the crowd due to his artistic personality, and his sense of style, which stems from his earlier days spent studying art at college.

Take one look at his bike and you’ll notice the gold coloured plastics and Ride To Party graphics he designed himself.

He also likes to wear bright coloured bandanas, Tees and shorts that all reflect his Ride To Party logo or latest fashion.

And it doesn’t stop here as he has started his own shoe company with a friend named CMYK, and one of his snowboard sponsors has recently released a signature Alavro Dal Farra snowboard binding, as in the off season the slopes is where he spends most of his time.

Alvaro really seems to have all corners of his career covered. He puts a lot of effort into learning new tricks on his bike. He rewards himself by partying when he can. He travels the world doing what he loves, and has a firm grip on the business side of things, and where he wants to be in the future. He’s the kind of guy who makes you look at your own life, and go, how do I make it better?

Alvaro Dal Farra

Age: 30

Lives: Belluno, Italy.

Rides: KTM250

Website: www.alvarodalfarra.com and www.daboot.it

Highlights:

IFMXF World Championships, Night of the Jumps, Hamburg (GER) 2006, 6th
Night of the Jumps, Torino (ITA), 2006, 6th
Night of the Jumps Torino (ITA), Whip Contest, 2006, 1st
Night of the Jumps Cologne (GER), 2006, 5th
Freestyle.Ch Whip Contest, 2006, 5th
Italian Freestyler of the Year 2005

The Road Trip

We started off in Busty’s hometown of Berlin in Germany, visited three FMX parks heading south towards Switzerland, have been fed by rider’s families and dropped in at ugly hours of the morning to stranger’s homes to find beds waiting and then breakfast served come morning by the friendliest people.

There’s something special about being in a foreign country travelling to corners of the globe you’ve never been before, meeting new friends, and riders who you’ve only ever read about in magazines or seen photos of on the net.

And we’re not even half way on this adventure uncovering the FMX parks of Europe. Next we head to France where more of Europe’s best freestyle riders await. Our convoy has grown too. Now we have Alvaro and his crew that includes one photographer and one camera man making a total of seven.

750 kilometres traveled so far and a few thousand more to go. Keep an eye for next issue where you’ll be able to read about French riders Manu Troux, Remi Bizouard and the exciting Page brothers Charlie and Thomas. Au Revoir, as they say in France…Goba.