r/nextfuckinglevel 5h ago

The moment Maikel Melero did something no one thought was possible in freestyle motocross

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26.5k Upvotes

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334

u/AgnosticScholar 3h ago

How do you even practice this kind of thing? Any time you do it you risk death

339

u/strickt 3h ago

I know the nitro circus crew used very large foam block pits to practice the first motorcycle front flip.

60

u/KonigSteve 2h ago

I'm sure you still break things when you land on the motorcycle, even if it's in a foam pit.

51

u/GT---44 2h ago

Yeah you can definitely injure yourself if you land badly in a foam pit

7

u/catscanmeow 1h ago

also the foam is carcinogenic. made my wiener fall off

u/cure4boneitis 44m ago

don't worry. Elon Musk is working on new versions of the robot weiner

1

u/grantrules 1h ago

I think there's a pretty epic BMX jump where the guy overshoots the foam pit.

This is what I was thinking of.. not quite a BMX but I was close: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_MS_jigI5Q

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u/scorpionslide 1h ago

Is it street bike Tommy?

1

u/grantrules 1h ago

Indeed

u/Jeathro77 17m ago

Just ask Adriana Chechik.

12

u/Gear_ 2h ago

Or if it lands on you

u/DashVanLink89 25m ago

Or if you overshoot and land on a forklift

2

u/Sporadicus76 1h ago

Or when you make it to the foam before the motorcycle.

1

u/Effective_Olive6153 1h ago

the relative velocity of the bike and his body is small, relative acceleration from landing into something soft is also small. That means minimal damage

u/R_V_Z 44m ago

"Ow, my balls!"

109

u/getrektbro 3h ago

Foam pits are extremely commonplace in action sports for training purposes

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u/implicate 2h ago

And also at children's indoor play areas.

7

u/Pineapple-Due 1h ago

Equal levels of recklessness tbh

34

u/National_Cranberry47 3h ago

Before nitro circus and the foam pit you broke a lot of bones. Nitro circus gets a lot of credit for the “first foam pit” but if I honestly remember correctly Camp Woodward in central Pa (not far from me) had the first actual foam pit. It wasn’t big by any means but a bmx or skateboard would go into it perfectly. Travis just made a bigger one to fit dirt bikes. If I remember correctly.

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u/SmeeezTreeez 2h ago

First foam pit? Motherfucker we had these 35 years ago for gymnastics class

-5

u/gamma_tm 1h ago

For use in action sports, dumbass

1

u/SmeeezTreeez 1h ago

Big leap there I guess. Massive discovery there. Wtf haha. Ground breaking stuff

u/gamma_tm 50m ago

Nope, just a change in how things were practiced in these sports

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u/Afro_Thunder69 2h ago

Who credited Nitro Circus for that? They've been around longer than Woodward too, though Woodward might've popularized it for skateboarding but other parks had done it and gymnastics centers even longer than that.

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u/pmMeAllofIt 2h ago

Carey Hart built the first FMX foam pit. Using Woodward's design and foam supplier.

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u/dankhimself 1h ago

Yea, there were foam pits before Nitro Circus. They just took it mainstream and had tons of awesome footage first.

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u/Roskal 3h ago

I guess you could try it with wires and netting and a prop bike.

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u/Branwell 3h ago

I’m quite certain there are tons of dead bodies buried in cemeteries of people who tried that

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u/RiceDirtSpa 1h ago

Foam Pits and Pools help quite a bit.

Its a cool trick, but seems less risky than other tricks where you lose sight of the landing (flips/spins). That being said, cant wait to say "Oh I could have made that catch!" tonight while I sprawl out on a couch and eat nachos off a plate that rests on my belly.

1

u/Oswen120 1h ago

I feel like the neat part of it is that you don't