\u201cEver since I got into bikes, I\u2019ve always looked for new tricks, inventing combos, or trying something no one\u2019s done before,\u201d says George Ntavoutian in Episode 1 of his new YouTube project. \u201cBMX makes me feel weightless in the air. Clears my mind, makes me feel free. But then I discovered full pipes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Full pipes demand commitment to riding completely upside down while gravity does its best to pull you off the bike. Ntavoutian learned the movement in his backyard, then pushed it far enough to set a world record for the biggest full pipe ever ridden.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this is just the beginning,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are spots around the world made for this and I\u2019m going to find them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Episode 1 takes him to Borjomi, Georgia.<\/p>\n
The Mobius mission<\/p>\n
At the heart of Borjomi Central Park stands what riders call the Mobius Bridge, a warped, oval-shaped loop that looks more sculpture than skate feature. The entrance is not smooth. The base of the circle is not a friendly transition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s way bigger than I expected,\u201d Ntavoutian says on arrival. \u201cIt\u2019s not a circle. It\u2019s like an oval. And the problem is that the entrance of it is like a corner, which it will make it hard for me to get the momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n
The roll-in feels wrong from the first attempt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really feels like I\u2019m landing on a wall or something. It\u2019s definitely a hard one. It\u2019s a very hard one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood, weather and one more chance<\/p>\n
Day two brings rain, sore legs and a small piece of plywood. Ntavoutian resists using assistance at first. The goal is always to ride a spot as it stands. But the bridge\u2019s rough transition forces a compromise.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven the small piece can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
With help from the Crowne Plaza Borjomi hotel staff, who unlock gates and eventually help rebuild a broken\u00a0 section, the feature becomes rideable.<\/p>\n
Then comes the run.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was on top of it, I got compressed in the beginning and I felt like this is not gonna happen,\u201d he says. \u201cBut then I rolled the whole thing. I was like, \u2018Yes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
He rides out clean.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the spots I\u2019ve always wanted to be here. I just had it on my phone and I said to myself that one day I\u2019ll come here. One day I\u2019ll do this full pipe.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Episode 1 is any indication, the world\u2019s architecture just became his next playground.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cEver since I got into bikes, I\u2019ve always looked for new tricks, inventing combos, or trying something no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,1700,82],"class_list":["post-468432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-mtb-features","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}