Bierton's Noah aiming for the X Games in extreme Freestyle Motorcross
It's an incredibly hard sport to get into in the UK but internationally it is a multi-million dollar industry that is dominated by American's, Australians and a select few from Europe.
16 year old Stowe School student, Noah Cosby, has his sights set on becoming the UK's first competitive FMX star to compete on the world stage.
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Hide AdNoah has been riding a dirt bike since he was 5 years old. Growing up on a small farm near Chesham, Noah would spent his time racing around fields and building jumps.
Speaking to the Bucks Herald, Noah said:
"Ever since dad had put me on a dirt bike at the age of 4 I had a true admiration for FMX, this also may have been because dad loved watching FMX and had been to the Redbull X fighters in Madrid; whatever dad loved must be cool!
"I had never really raced or even ridden at tracks – I loved the freeride aspect of it and just caining my little 50 and 65cc around the fields at home and making homemade jumps. Skateboarding then introduced into my life and almost became my religion for as long as I can remember.
"Until I dug out dads old KTM 250 EXC and asked to take it back to the farm to ride; and my love for motorbikes was found again instantly.
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Hide Ad"After riding for about a year I started to get bored of just going fast and doing a few whips so I started to take my body off and realised the amazing feeling it gave me."
When he wasn't on his bike he would be on his skateboard and when it was too wet to skate he would practice his other passion which is art.
In 2017 Noah was awarded an art scholarship to Stowe School.
Although school had now become a lot more serious, Noah still found time to nurture his passion for jumping his motorbike and just last year he told his parents he wanted a career in FMX.
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Hide AdHis parents agreed and promised to support him for as long as he wanted to chase his dream but with the one caveat being that he is to complete his A levels and learn a trade just in case things don't go to plan. Noah agreed wholeheartedly!
Noah said: "I love the feeling of floating through the air 40 ft up however its also the feeling of the adrenaline running through you before you have even hit the ramp.
"FMX being such a high risk sport also makes it a high reward sport too; riding up to the ramp is nerve racking sometimes but once you have rolled away 75ft ahead it is a feeling unimaginable, and a feeling I cant get enough of.
The sport features incredible, death defying jumps across huge ramps.
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Hide AdIt is highly dangerous, but Noah said he enjoyed doing it because of the adrenaline of jumping.
He said: "The first jump of the day is always the toughest but after that it all become muscle memory again and I only think about the trick and nothing else. Its super important to block
everything out of my head and just think about the one jump I’m riding up to, as a lot can go wrong just in the run up."
Being a fulltime boarder at Stowe, school was proving to be tricky as he needed time out to practise his craft.
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Hide AdThankfully the school has a very open-minded headmaster who could see that Noah had a natural talent, and he agreed to allow Noah time-out from school midweek and at the weekend. The next problem Noah is trying to overcome is that of a place to ride.
His grandparents farm is over an hour from his school and with time being short Noah is desperately looking for a patch of land anywhere closer to Buckingham than his current set-up near Chesham.
Noah would like to make an appeal to any farmers of landowners in Bucks who might possibly have some redundant land that he could move his jumps to so he can maximise his practise time and minimise his travel time which will ultimately give him the best chance at success and hopefully see him becoming the UK's first international FMX star!
If you think you can help, Noah's parents can be contacted on 07990030523
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Hide AdOnce he has a solid place to practice, Noah can begin to perfect the tricks that will allow him to take the next steps to 'go pro'.
On 'going pro', Noah said:
"Basically to turn pro I need to have all the biggest tricks nailed.
"This means years of practice, commitment, mental and physical strength and very importantly, being able to get back on the bike and try again after a crash no matter how much it has shaken me up.
"Having the right set up also contributes hugely to going pro as I need multiple different styles of ramps such as 8m ramps, 9m ramps, superkickers etc. and these all need to be built and welded together by myself – and having the space to have all this is very difficult in England.
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Hide Ad"Finally, social media is where brands and sponsors that can help me will notice me.
"So getting a large following, and posting my progression means everything."
Looking forward, Noah wants to make a life long career from FMX and to compete in the Moto X freestyle event, which is part of X games.
This is considered the Olympics for extreme sports.
"I want to push the boundaries as far as they will go", he concluded.
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