PERSONALITY: THE DAREDEVIL GRAVITY GUY BEB FAISAL

PERSONALITY:

THE DAREDEVIL

GRAVITY GUY BEB FAISAL

"The cycling community need to let the public know that there are Gravity riding (Downhill, Freeride and Extreme Urban riding) here besides cross country, trail and road cycling." Beb Faisal

Sometimes, on our way to Track 15 (T15), we would ride pass Gangsa Hill MTB Challenge Park (a named coined by the builders and those who diligently maintain that area). Many cyclists would no doubt want to have a short stop at that spot – not to catch their breath, but to see if there are opportunities to watch the homies in that area do their runs. If you cycle at a certain time of the weekend, you would very likely see these guys at play. There are many aspiring riders with great potential riding that area. One of the riders who has a certain daredevil flair riding style is Beb. A polite and unassuming guy when he is not on his bike, he turns into a daredevil once he sees his riding line. But Beb and his crew are responsible riders. They can be spotted at the trails or in the city during their night rides.

Besides his hardcore riding style, Beb and his crew had been feeding the cycling community with awesome video edits of their riding sessions. We think his video edits – besides being super fun to watch – help promote the local gravity riding scene. Read on as we tell you more about this outstanding rider.

WHO IS THIS DAREDEVIL DUDE?

Name: Faisal bin Sahrol

Nickname: Beb, Dirtrebel

Age: 38

Years cycling: 4 years

Current riding disciplines: Downhill/Freeride, Trail & Extreme Urban riding

Current bike: For trail purposes, I use my Trek Remedy, for Downhill and Freeride: I use my Specialized Demo 8

Sponsor(s): BGFT Racing (Bigfoot Industries)

Affiliated Cycle Group: BGFT Racing Team, Gangsa Crew, Wildbois & Lagau

Please share with us what are some of your cycling achievements:

I'm relatively new to mountain biking and only started to join competitions last year.. Competed in Redbull Downmall race at Velocity mall. Competed & won 1st place in Gravity Challenge series 2014 race 1 Masters category & Overall masters category champion for 2014 Gravity challenge series.

How often do you cycle?

Only twice a week. Usually Friday nights is for Urban or Trail riding. Sunday mornings are for Downhill and Freerides.

And where do you usually ride?

Bukit Timah MTB Trail, Butterfly Trail, Gangsa Hill MTB Challenge Park and urban night rides in the heart of town.

Of all those mentioned, which is your favourite?

Gangsa Hill. I like this spot for it's technicality, fast flowy course with wooden wall ride, tabletop and gap jumps. This place is also special to me for it's friendly riders and crews that frequents there. Definitely my no.1 place to ride. By the way, we are the ones who helps maintain that place too.

Your riding style is one with a daredevil attitude. What motivates you in going all out when you do a run?

I've always been into extreme sports. Started skateboarding when I was young and I've won a couple of competitions. Then I started surfing and motorcross in the late 90's. I moved on to mountain biking only in late 2011… I guess the the adrenaline rush is what motivates me in doing all these.

You and your riding group made many awesome video edits while riding. Please tell us more about it.

Well, I do videos of our rides just for the fun of it. I do not have any background knowledge of film making but I just feel like wanting to show the biking community and the public of our lesser known sport (Gravity Riding). We want to tell them that we don't need big mountains to enjoy this sport and I hope this discipline will turn into the next big thing here.

What equipment did you use?

iPhone 5s and a Gopro Hero 3+ Black edition. My iPhone will be attached to a Swiftcam M3 handheld gimbal. As for POV shots, i will use my Gopro. I occasionally use a DJI Phantom 2 Quadcopter with a Zenmuse H3-3D Gimbal mounted with my Gopro to shoot some aerial views.

Who did the final edit?
The final edits are done on my iPhone by myself.

In the edit, we see many short cuts and mood shots, do you have many takes of the same run to get that perfect angle of shot?

Most of the shots were taken at 1st try. I will take as many shots I can and will choose the best few during editing. I like to shoot with my iphone because it has a slo-mo function which I frequently use.

How did you get the inspiration with the cuts?

I've always love to watch sports and biking videos on the internet and it gives me the inspiration and ideas. My riding buddies will sometimes give me ideas as well.

Who are the usual "stars" in the video?

Well, to be honest, there are no stars in the videos that I made. It's all about having fun together. That's all. Quick intro about my group: We are a team, sponsored by Bigfoot Industries. Consist of 6 riders: Wann Hassan, Md Indra Zain, Firdous Nazarudin, Adam, Muhammad Rozaini & myself. Bigfoot Industries (BGFT) is a local brand by a bunch of extreme enthusiasts of many principles like Surfing, Skateboarding, Motocross, Music, Fishing and last but not least Mountain biking. The brand was established in 2005.

Is there any objective(s) to what you guys did?

Our objective is purely to have fun. Live life to the fullest, promoting healthy sports & most Importantly: Save the Gangsa Track! We are just a bunch of riders with zero politics in mind.

What do you think the Cycling Community need most currently:

The cycling community need to let the public know that there are Gravity riding (Downhill, Freeride and Extreme Urban riding) here besides cross country, trail and road cycling.

And how do you think you can help?

Me and a few friends are currently in talks with OCBC and the Singapore Sportshub in organizing an Extreme Urban Race somewhere in August during the OCBC Cycle event which will be held at the new Sportshub. Keeping our fingers crossed to make this possible.

Any adventures or funny stories to share – in video making, riding etc

Not sure if I can call it adventure, but it's probably a mis-adventure.. heh.. Some time in late 2012, I crashed on a downhill track in Batam. Initially I thought I had sprained my wrist but later that night, I found out it was a fracture. I was back on the bike with a cast after 2 weeks because I couldn't resist going for a ride. Then another mishap happened in late 2013, misjudged my jump at Gangsa and crashed on my side. Again thinking it was just a normal bruises and went for a shopping spree in Johore Bahru. I had to go to the hospital that night because the pain was getting worse and eventually was told by the doctor that I had 5 fractured ribs and a punctured lungs! I was warded 3 days for observation.. But hey!!! All that didn't stop me from Mountain biking!!! Hope that this will be some sort of inspiration to others.. Never give up! (Ed: this dude is a monster!)