FreestyleXtreme Magazine Issue 13 | Page 12

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I

from the editor

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Chasing your dreams

T’S A FAIRLY COMMON
platitude that having a kid
changes your outlook on life.
With less than three months to
go until I’m no longer the most
immature person my wife has
to live with, I can’t help but echo the
sentiment. A much-needed week out of
the office, in the beautiful Santorini, has
given me time to ponder my personal
situation and - amongst other things
- the utter necessity and sometimes
danger of dreams and ambitions.
My personal ambitions took shape
when I realised I had neither the speed
nor talent to hack it as a pro racer. I
was not lacking, however, in a passion
for action sports and a fascination
with the growing capabilities of the
Internet. This led me to setting up
FreestyleXtreme.com and eventually
this magazine. The ambition was for
world domination, and although we
aren’t quite there yet, that dream has
helped us to keep forging ahead,
learning from mistakes and continuing
to improve.

where y ou learn, both about yourself
and the task at hand. Even if Matt had
succeeded, the most valuable things he
could have taken from the experience
would have been the time spent making
it happen – from practical knowledge
and skills to the relationships with his
team.
We very recently lost long term friend of
the company, Malachi Mitchell Thomas,
who was not only living his dream but
loving it. Did that mean he was world
champion? No – although he may have
been on the way to it. Malachi was
loved and respected the length of the
paddock - but for his character, not just
his speed on a bike.
We first met Mali 12 years ago as a
fearless eight-year-old racing 65’s at
the Arenacross. He was one of the
first riders we were able to support
and a pint-sized badass. One of my
fondest memories from the early days
of FreestyleXtreme is of him rocking a
full Skin Industries kit with a Mohawk,
leading the pack wearing number 666!

Since then Jeff (my business partner)
and Karen (his wife) have stayed in
touch and followed his career as he
learnt and grew not just as a racer but
as a person into the industry around
him. His ambition and passion made
him hard working and understanding,
a credit to his sport – he was on his
journey.
That journey was sadly cut short at the
age of 20 after a tragic crash at this
year’s North West 200. I was shocked
to hear the news and it is difficult to
put our emotions into words, or to find
a fitting tribute to offer in such sad
circumstances. Malachi lived his life
true to his passions and wouldn’t have
had it any other way.
This issue is dedicated to the memory
of Malachi, the inspiration he was and
the reminder that your dreams need to
be chased, but the pursuit itself is the
prize.

Dreams can be realistic - something
you pursue relentlessly until you
crest that hill – or they can be huge,
long-shot, possibly-fanciful ambitions
that give you the drive to keep on
keeping on. With such lofty plans you
quickly learn that it’s the journey that’s
important, every bump and twist in the
road, not the destination.

The journey – in Matt’s case the design
and construction of a giant loop – is

©ANTHONY SUTTON

For this issue we spoke to Matt Macduff
(page 40) about his world record bike
loop attempt. With the deadline looming
on a project driven by pure ambition,
Matt hit their newly constructed 40-foot
loop unprepared and promptly flew
out of the top of it. “I had too much
on my shoulders and paid the price”,
he told us. He was lucky to just buy
himself a few broken bones and a trip
to the hospital, but does that make him
wrong to dream big? No - those dreams
are what make Matt, Matt, and what
keep the wheels of his life turning. The
mistakes Matt and his team made were
being fixated on the end and loosing
sight of the means.

.

©ANTHONY SUTTON

But dreams can be dangerous. What
if you finally crest that hill and don’t
like the view? And what if your dreams
take you into actual, literal danger?
How could you – and should you - stop
someone from pursuing their dreams?