Speed Date

A biking prodigy,Pfeiffer’s love for bikes began when he was five when his father gifted him a Trial bike. At 40,the passion stills shows. “My father was a passionate biker and I would insist on sitting on his bike whenever he was riding it. Soon I took control of the bikes and started trial biking near our home,” says Pfeiffer,who hails from the tiny picturesque village of Halblech,near Munich in Germany. As a biker in the 80s,Pfeiffer soon became proficient in Trial biking but quickly turned his attention to freestyle biking,where improvisation is the key and creating variations of stunts distinguishes a performer. “I videotaped performances of French freestyler Jean Pierre Goy as a teenager and practiced his moves later. In the beginning it was difficult but after a few falls I learnt,” says Pfeifer,whose career was almost cut short by a severe injury in 1999,when he was attempting a Guinness World record,for the longest Bunny Hop with 33 people. Although he achieved the record,he was bed-ridden with a crushed right hand and knee cap. “An injury can break you or push you forward,” he adds. For him,thankfully,it was the latter and Pfeifer went on to win successive stunt riding championships.

Known for stunts like Jump to High Chair (where he jumps from the seat to the fuel tank while in motion) and the trademark No Hands Wheelie Circle,where he stands on the bike while riding on one wheel without touching the handle bars,Pfeifer swears by safety gears. “Standing on the bike without holding on to anything was super difficult. It took me a year to perfect,but I have seen too many injuries to ignore safety rules,” he explains. At most shows he performs his usual set of tricks with tweaks in the sequence. “I want to show my best tricks and try pushing myself to the limit to get the adrenaline pumping. I attempt improvisations even during shows and like ending with a full body flip over the handle bar (where he somersaults over the handle bars and the bike comes to a halt) to conclude the show,” he smiles.

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