Thabana’s ambition is to become a freestyle “king”. Some of Thabana’s moves include momentarily detaching yourself from the bike mid-air.
Freestyle motocross has taken the world’s generation-Xers by their adrenal gland.
“Bones heal, chicks dig scars and glory is forever”.
It is an old credo personified one Nkosana Thabana, and it describes perfectly a new breed of crazies who have literally taken the sport to greater heights.
Thabana’s raison d’être is a mind-boggling combination of twists, turns, flips and tricks that makes regular motocross look like kid’s stuff.
If you think getting airborne on a speeding bike is off the wall, then doing gymnastic tricks mid-air is downright insane.
Or at least that’s what looks like from the safe vantage of a grass verge nearby.
It sounds more like playing with death, but Thabana is rather philosophical, instead, he says “I am not afraid of dying, I am just afraid of not living”.
Thabana’s ambition is clear: he wants to be freestyle “king”.
For him to reach this historic milestone, he must participate in both provincial and national competitions, which comprise full-blown track with ramps, dongas, dirt, and dust.
“It’s my playground; and I do a lot of playing” says the mechanical engineer.
Thabana still has a lot of practice to undergo before graduating from the domestic freestyle stage.
In competitions, points are earned for innovation, style, variety; and tricks.
Thabana reckons he has mastered all the standard moves but says there is still room for improvement.
What drives him is the quest for perfection.
His bread and butter come from demonstration rides in arenas and stadia across Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.
Big crowds are common, attracted by the noise, the wild energy; and the spills of the sport’s generation-Xers.
As he prepares for a practice run in the outskirts of Seshego township and the peripheries of Polokwane, he talks of the dangers.
Out in the bush, the only thing between him and the stony ground beneath is some body armour.
It seems hardly fair.
“I don’t normally think about injuries. If it happens, just call the paramedics” he says.
Armed with an A rider’s license, he trains for three to four hours a day with a Honda i 25cc, Bajaj and Vuka scooter, his three sexy-looking machines that produce the perfect blend of speed and manoeuvrability.
It’s an important factor: timing is everything, particularly when some moves include momentarily detaching yourself from the bike mid-air.
He asks with a laugh before roaring off: “Do you want a lift”?