Is your country a sporting country?

[billy rubin]

my son plays the winter sports

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI0qPNrq8NYBPwDQA3z2QnwvoomukxJUF&si=h9qL54ffW9K9aIX7

i dont know how to extract just a few

[Recusant]

OK back to sports. Is this bicycle rider an athlete or a  dumbass?

https://imgur.com/gallery/jumpy-f9b2jXX

That was "What the crew saw" of the Red Bull sponsored stunt. A YouTube of the same thing with a slicker presentation:

The biker is doing fairly standard stuff for that version of show-off competitive bike stunts, except on a train. Those guys are undoubtedly athletes in my opinion. He clearly was confident enough in his skills to take it on, but I can see an argument for describing it as a dumbass thing to do. One mistake and he could be in a world of hurt, though perhaps only briefly. 

[Icarus]

I shudder when I recall some of the dumbass things I did when I was 18 to 23 years old. The episodes of stupidity occurred mostly motorcycles.

 Another recollection of unspeakably bad  judgement involved an older woman with whom I should never have allowed myself to become involved. Youthful fools often believe that they are immortal. Mea  culpa.

[Dark Lightning]

I personally used to race my friends on mountain roads. Stupid, yes. There is one road that I used to go stupid fast on, with some corners marked for 10 MPH. I took that road many times without dropping below 25 MPH. One corner, I was a bit too exuberant and slid across the road (I had been on the inside of the curve) onto the shoulder and got a scenic view of the 500+ foot cliff drop off.  There were other roads that we raced on. I had a '64 Malibu that I had made to handle as best as could be done with shocks, tires and stabilizer bars. Most of my compatriots had big engines, and subsequently had to raise the rear ends with air shocks. Their corner handling was a joke. I had a 283 CI engine in my Malibu and could out-corner them all. If I had installed a bigger engine, I probably wouldn't be posting here. Some of those associates ended up dead from getting a little too competitive.

A link to the road I nearly slid into eternity, if you're interested. The bikers obviously drove slower than I did, because they seem to have been looking at he scenery instead of the road.
Little Tujunga Canyon

A link to the road where associates (people I knew but who were not all friends).
We raced from Santa Clarita to Quartz Hill. Some people died in this competition. I watched my boys (3 of them) like a hawk so that I didn't bury them.
Bouquet Canyon Road

[billy rubin]

very nice. dry curvy roads a re a gift.

i have hilly roads where i live but i dont go as nuts as i used to. im less interested in the edge of the envelope,i guess, and more in the scenery.

[billy rubin]

icarus i dont see how hanging out with older women can be a problem. i do it every day

[Icarus]

^ Perhaps not on an equally  questionable social arrangement as the one that I recall.

[billy rubin]

i ran off with the one i have now in an alarming workplace scandal. she was my most productive employee and we both divorced our respective spouses to marry each other.

five kids and over 30 years later it has sort of settled into place as a serious realignment.

it was the best mistake i have ever made.

[zorkan]

Has any person here heard of speedway?
This is where motor bikes without brakes race around an oval circuit.

Once claimed to be more popular than football in England, but I guess health and safety stepped in.

https://www.theoldie.co.uk/blog/what-was-speedway-roddy-mcdougall

Tennis and rugby are in big decline now among younger people.
But football? It's manic.

[Icarus]

Speedway racing used to be popular in the US. In the Midwestern states it still has some adherants.  In the Northeast there is similar racing but on ice.

Motocross has pretty much taken over the motorcycle sports here and elsewhere. I have no interest in Motocross but I do admire the riders.  That sport requires some skill but what is most required is physical endurance. It is a brutal sport that punishes the body unmercifully. Injuries, often serious injuries, are commonplace at Motocross courses.

Back in the day, when Speedway racing was popular, one of the most desired engines was the J.A.P. That was a British engine that was at the head of its class.

There was a time when motorcycle racing was a big deal for the Brits. They managed to capture many world championships and continued their dominance until the Japanese bikes began to arrive at the race venues around Europe. Italian bikes now appear in the winners circle with regularity. These bikes are closed course road racers that can approach speeds near 200 MPH. That kind of racing is so expensive that only factory teams can compete on an even basis.