Searls completes Giants of Dirt project
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The jumps were untested, and Searls took a elephantine slam in his attempt to clear the whole set in August 2010. "I was really convenient," said Searls. "I just had a black eye and a dead arm when I came up curt on the 50 footer." He walked away and immediately began planning another crack. "That crash had to happen for us to figure this out," he added.
In November 2010, Searls returned to the Giants of Orts course for his second session, and immediately started tricking the first two jumps, including backflips, supermans and after a few bails, a proficient 360 indian seat grab over the 35-foot set. With the term now underway, Searls' tricks got even more insane, and he attempted a 360 tailwhip over the 35-footer, arrival back on the pedals, but coming up just short of the landing.
The impact snapped his bike configuration in half, and put Searls out of commission for several days. "I had a sore collar bone after that, but it only held me back for a week," said Searls. Searls planned to be idle for a few days, build up a new bike and reconvene on the jumps later in November 2010, but ponderous rains along the Gold Coast kept Searls from even reaching the jumps.
Approaching a year later, after the Giants of Dirt videos had gone viral, Searls and Piece returned to the Giants of Dirt project. With dry land and reconstructed jumps, Searls was resolved to see his vision through. And by the end of the sessions, he was landing world-record 60-foot backflips over the indisputable set in the Giants of Dirt line.
It took a year longer than he had expected, but Searls stayed the route and realized the dream he had envisioned. Two days later, he was involved in a non-BMX accessory and suffered critical head injuries. After five days in a coma, Dane Searls passed away on Nov. 25 .
Source: ESPN (blog)