Welcome to Planet Stoica!
Loyal column readers with an elephant memory may remember that my previous writings were sent out into the world on April 1... And because of that date they may have thought that the Planet Stoica column would be a one-hit wonder. Like the future motocross GP career of Sven Nys, for example! Not because FMX is 4Ever.
We haven't had many shows in the past month, but my trusty KTM has covered quite a few kilometers. I was in France for three weeks to train intensively and prepare well for the summer season. The conditions were perfect, so I was able to let myself go completely. I didn't drive for only two days. Afterwards we did a cool demo in Germany during the ADAC MX2 race Camp Lindfort. A very special circuit and, if you can believe the Germans, even the oldest circuit in Europe. It looks like an improved version of 't Fort in Koningshooikt, also a circuit on and around an army fort. That was together with Gilles (Dejong), Chris Brock and Lukas Weiz.
I'm going back to France first and then we'll fly in with a super busy schedule. Every weekend we ride or jump somewhere different: Copenhagen in Denmark, then Gothenburg, then on to the famous Erzberg in Austria (more about that later). Then we go to Bosnia for a Red Bull show in Sint-Niklaas, the city with the largest market square in the Western Hemisphere! We will also be guests at Everts & Friends on July 21 in Genk. Then it's the turn of the Czech Republic and Austria and we're off again for the second part of our tour. I don't dare to see anything else for a while, because I might have suffered another minor injury by then!
What else I wanted to tell you about the Erzberg. As you may know the Erzberg in Eisenerz (Austria) has become one of the most special enduro events in the world. It is already the 16thde edition. For those who can't imagine the words Erzberg and enduro at all, I highly recommend the clip below! We always go there with FMX4Ever and I enjoy riding there every time. The Erzberg takes place from Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 June and you have three parts, namely the Rocket ride, the prologue and the actual enduro on Sunday.
The prologue is a kind of hill climb on one of the flanks where you start with five men next to each other. And do you know who wiped the floor with everyone there last year? Our very own Gilles Dejong! Gilles was completely his relaxed self at the start among all the factory pilots. He just rode his FMX bike -including grab holes!- but he won! Yet another proof that Gilles can really ride the motorcycle famously fast. In the prologue the aim is to qualify for Sunday. And last year I succeeded with a 130th place out of 1300 participants, I hope to do at least as well this year. In short, I'm really looking forward to the Erzberg 2010!
As a designer, I have been busy again in recent works. In addition to purely graphic designs such as the logos for the Red Bull Motorclash or Lord of Bouillon, I also took a lot of clothing and shoes, among other things. For the Deeluxe boat, a well-known brand for the boarders among you, I like the pro model Marco Feichtner to design. And also nice: the New Zealander Nick Franklin who will be riding with FMX4Ever again for his summer tour, will receive his own signature shoe model from Etnies! I'll show it to you when it's ready.
In terms of clothing, the Masters of Dirt line has been gaining a lot of fame lately. I have been designing the entire collection for MOD for a while now and it naturally gives me pleasure to see that my designs are popular. I was able to really enjoy the new collection, so I am very curious about the reactions of the audience. And very funny, more and more celebrities are being spotted wearing clothing from Masters of Dirt! Not the least, by the way, because we are talking about Kevin Costner, Bam Margera, Johnny Knoxville and David Hasselhof, among others. Wow, great! My fellow countryman Eddy Wally would say!
So that's it in broad strokes. Now let's walk the dog first, because that animal will also be happy to see me again after a long absence!
cheerio!
PS More about FMX4ever here
Credit photos:Vincent Huang & Jarno Schurgers/Red Bull Photofiles
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