Sophomore finds thrill in dirt biking

Dirt biking doesn’t even resemble a leisurely bike ride in the park. Just ask sophomore Eric Ferguson and his close friend sophomore Eric Ringsrud.

“Dirt biking is a lot different from regular biking in a lot of ways,” Ferguson said. “It’s much faster, a lot more exhilarating, the bike has an engine and the bike weighs more than 100 pounds more than a a regular bike.”

Ferguson and Ringsrud have been dirt biking for a year and a half, and they really enjoy it. However, they acknowledge that there are some potential dangers with dirt biking.

“I think the most dangerous is probably falling, and making sure that the bike does not fall on you to prevent broken bones,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson likes the danger associated with the sport, but he thinks that the best part is just going extremely fast and doing jumps.

“I think my favorite memory ever dirt biking was when I was on a dirt bike track and I landed my very first jump by doing a nose dive [landing the jump going straight down]” Ferguson said. “But right after it happened, I was really scared because I could have gotten majorly injured if anything went wrong.”

Dirt biking has also helped them see new places and meet new people.

“I think one of the best parts of dirt biking is that you can explore new places with friends, then you can talk with them later about how you had such a good time and compare your experiences with where they went,” said sophomore Eric Ringsrud.

Since its beginning in 1924, dirt biking or motocross has evolved into bigger competitions such as the annual X-Games, which features the best motocross riders in the world.

“I definitely don’t think I will ever go pro or be featured in any big competitions for dirt biking,” Ferguson said. “But it is definitely a really fun activity outside of school, and I plan to keep dirt biking for a long time.”