Thursday, March 27

Ryan Capes -- The Road to the Record

By Dave Finger
EXPN.com

A revolution is brewing in the world of freestyle Motocross and it's moving fast -- and far.

The revolter's name: Ryan Capes.

His mission: to jump his dirtbike farther than any human has gone before.

"I'm a professional distance jumper," says Capes. "I'm not a daredevil by any means."

Capes already has a couple of notches on the handlebars of his Honda CR 250:

His 233-foot jump on October 6, 2003, in his home state of Washington is the world record distance for a ramp-to-dirt motorcycle jump.

The 226-foot dirt-to-dirt superman seat-grab at Manney's Jump in Cali in August of 2001 stands as an unofficial record for the combo of freestyle and distance.

While working up to his 233-footer, Capes cleared more than 200 feet over 20 times in one day. Another record? Probably, but who's keeping track?

See that big blue dumptruck down there? It should help put a little perspective on just how big 233' actually is.

Capes will launch his next record-setting effort at Lake Stevens, Wash., within the next couple of days, depending on weather conditions. His goal: 260 feet, breaking the ramp-to-ramp record of 253 feet set by England's Jason Rennie on July 9, 2000. The ramp is set and Capes is primed to fly.

"I'm going to go farther than anybody has ever gone," says Capes. "My intention is to break all records."

Capes first became interested in freestyle jumping in 1996 when he saw Carey Hart and Mike Metzger throwing down during an event in Albany, Oregon. In 1999, he built his own ramp, based on a design he had used for a skateboard ramp. He realized the error of his design while in mid-air, the oversized quarterpipe of a ramp went nearly to vert, popping him as far up as out. He overshot the landing and buckled himself, but somehow stayed upright.

The lessons learned from that first jump are still evident in the ramps Capes builds today for his monster jumps. Most distance jumpers fly off a long, low-angled, high-speed roller. Capes opts instead for a high-angled, lower-speed pop. "The higher you go, the farther you go," says Capes. "A lot of distance jumpers are scared about this."

Ryan is one of the only riders around throwing freestyle tricks at these distances -- 185' superman seat grab.

To clear 233 feet, Capes launched off a steel ramp that was 12 feet tall, and 50 feet long. He left the lip at 68 mph, fifth-gear wide open. He was airborne for 3.05 seconds.

To fly 260 feet, Capes coated his ramp with polyurethane mixed with Kitty Litter for traction. It is the same ramp he used for the previous record, but this time he's got a longer approach and new gearing for a planned launch speed of 75 mph.

"When you take off, you get the big-time stomach feeling," says Capes. "It feels like the take-off and landing of a 747 … you're flying."

The most famous distance jump of all was the sand dune-to-flat 300-footer thrown by Seth Enslow in Fleshwound Films' Crusty Demons of Dirt. The jump broke his bike and almost killed Enslow, but he emerged as a hero to Capes and most of the FMX world. ""That was the gnarliest thing I had ever seen," says Capes.

Capes was hangin' with the boys at Winter X Games VII while recovering from a broken arm ... and he's got the scar to prove it.

Enslow's jump is not listed as a record for the simple reason that he didn't land it and ride away. Which raises the question: Can anyone ride away from a 300-foot jump?

"My goal is to go over 300 feet before the end of my career," says Capes with a smile. "I want to jump goal post to goal post … at the Super Bowl."