for a good ten years I never had
a break, and I actually got to
the stage where I wanted to quit
riding; I was burnt out, I’d been
screwed over with a couple of
deals and I had poor people
representing me. My career felt
a bit toxic, like I was putting in
120% and I wasn’t getting any
real structured help. I wanted to
grow a brand and to do that you
have to follow a structure.
Now I’m sponsored by IMG, who
are one of the biggest sports
management companies in the
world, and I’m really happy they
are on my side. They have really
helped me with what I’m doing
and having them on my side has
helped me have more free time.
As I’ve got older, I’ve learned I
can’t keep going flat-out. One
thing I’ve learned in life is you
have to have balance, because
when you don’t, you get knocked
down. Doing the dangerous stuff
I do, you need downtime to help
gain perspective. You can’t go
down one road because other
people want you to, then you
find yourself taking a risk that
isn’t authentic, or to your heart.
One thing I’ve always tried to
do is make sure the risks I take
are the ones my soul wants to
do - that I totally believe in it, that
are authentic and organic. All my
decisions in life are based off of
that – that heart feeling. If my
heart’s not in it, my head won’t
be in it so I can’t do it. It wouldn’t
make sense.
really slows down I like to play
golf - as boring as it sounds, it is
so hard to hit that ball accurately
and consistently (laughs) so I’ve
been focusing on trying to do that
a bit lately. My kid is into it too.
I want him to ride dirt bikes and
have fun, but I don’t want him to
think he has to make it his job and
survive by it, so I’m trying to let
him see some other things in life
which are slower paced. I want to
help guide him through life so he
doesn’t have to take crazy risks
to prove points. For a while there
was no end of the line to what
risk I would take, and now there’s
definitely a line and I’m trying not
to cross it. In essence I’m trying
to go up to the line and then bring
creativity with me. There’s always
room to grow when it comes to
putting all that together!
£ Maddo
gaps Greece’s
Corinth Canal
in 2010
Getting back to the question,
finding that balance has allowed
me to now set days aside to go
and do other things. I grew up
surfing, skating and riding dirt
bikes and BMX bikes, so I still try
and get back to that a bit. I’ve
been surfing quite a bit actually.
I was out in Hawaii last year
and found myself getting towed
into a 25ft wave out the back of
Pipeline, and although that was a
huge risk that I probably wasn’t
ready for, that’s just the stuff I
like doing, being in the water or
around action sports. When it
W
hat’s Robbie Maddison got
lined up for the rest of the
year?
For the rest of the year I have a
bunch of commitments lined up.
I’m trying to help bring awareness
to male teenage suicide. I do a fair
bit of charity work, and try to give
back, raise awareness and money
by donating my old jerseys etc.
So I’m always pretty busy working
on that.
Bike-wise I’m working with Red
Bull and some other partners.
The plan is to do some more big
network jumps! Something I’ve
always said is that Evel Knievel
was a massive inspiration for
me and I want to create events
that make a stir like the ones he
did. We have plans in play and
I’ve been storyboarding ideas
and concepts that have never
been done before, so hopefully
we’ll get that rolling soon. Then
there’s the Air.Craft 2 project as
well. Right now it’s not all about
jumping on a plane to ride a
bike at a show or event that’s
already established - it’s about
establishing my own events
that require different partners
and working relationships. It’s
exciting stuff! I definitely need
to put on the ‘business head’
from time to time and go into
these meetings and convince the
networking executives tha t this
stunt is going to be good for their
network. That’s difficult when it’s
someone jumping a motorbike off
of buildings or over highways, you
know – how is that safe? But I’m
trying to make them realise that…
I’m Robbie Maddison and that is
what I do! I work hard to be able
to pull it off and my track record
shows I can do it. Here we are
man, I have big dreams and I’m
pushing them forward to make
them happen. I’m happy to bring
a whole new side of excitement to
the sport, and bring motorcycles
and what we do as action sports
athletes to the masses – in a big
way!
Thanks so much man.
No worries brother, thanks for
having me on. T
60 | FreestyleXtreme.com
p. Predrag Vuckovic