Back in 2014, college student Sarthak Sardar had no clue about wheelies or stoppies. He'd never heard of BMX or MTB bikes. And he thought bicycles always moved on two wheels.
Then, one fine day, Sarthak, saw a 15year-old practising amazing stunts on his bicycle. The boy twisted and turned, stood up, crouched down, raised a wheel skywards -and did a series of jaw-dropping manoeuvres that let him own the empty road space like a gymnast in a performance arena.Sarthak was hooked.
Today, just over three years later, Sarthak and a band of 20-odd boys are part of a huge team of stunt cyclists.Going by the name of Stunt Snofferzz, they can perform elaborate stunts.
And here's the big question: where do you think they learnt the tricks?
From videos available on the internet! Yes, Sarthak and his gang picked up the nuances of this extreme sport by just reading up on the net and watching hours and hours of videos online.
It was not so easy in the beginning though. Sarthak started out alone and depended solely on information he picked up online. His passion for the sport soon found him a companion in Pritam De, another teenager who wanted to take up stunt cycling as well. Over the months, their group grew gradually.
“This is pure adrenaline rush. Being city boys, we don't have mountains or oceans. But who cares, we have our cycles!“ said Pritam, brushing up on some stunts on Sunday afternoon. The group's preferred location of practice is the parking lots of the building or deserted areas.
The boys can perform over 30 stunts, they claim, including regulation ones like wheelie and stoppie and tough tricks like rolling stoppie and switchback coffin. The team puts in a few hours of practice every day and almost all of them are skilled at even repairing the bikes.“Damage is inevitable when you're performing stunts. So it's a must to understand the repairs. It saves money,“ shared Sarthak.
The bikers operate on generally two types of cycles, BMX Flat Land and Mountain Bikes (MTB), which have shock absorbers, special brakes and five gears. Each such bike starts from `15,000. “We're all from middle-class families and it's not always easy to arrange the money . But all of us maintain a balance between studies and cycling, which is why our parents don't object,“ said Santanu Pal, another biker.
Parents get really worried when they return home with injuries. “Every other day , he would come home with a bloody elbow or a bruised face. Initially, I'd thought he was involved in some criminal activity in the name of cycling. But when he invited me to one of his shows, my outlook changed,“ said Santanu's mother Soma Pal.
But for these avid cyclists, family objection is the least of their headaches. The biggest challenge is to find a proper place to practice. Though they use the parking lot of a station, they are often chased away by police.“This sport requires stamina, concentration and hard work, but it is unfortunate that most people still think it is a waste of time,“ felt Sarthak.
When we spoke to his neighbours, we found that he was not far from the truth. Most of them did not have any idea about the sport, or thought the boys were setting up a circus group.“When you have cricket or football, why do you do stunts?“ is the general refrain.
However, their teachers seem to be more supportive and see their involvement in this extreme sport as something positive. “Boys of Santanu's age get involved all types of unlawful activities. At least they are doing something positive, which is not harming the society in any way ,“ said Raja Chandra, a retired school teacher and the Santanu's private tutor.
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