Anton Volkov Training

On the way back from the Stuntmen Show, we noticed a yellow motorcycle and a white van on a small lot by the Third Ring Road. It was the motorcycle of Anton Volkov, who had recently competed in a round of the Eastern European Championship. Of course we couldn't miss a pro rider's training, especially since we had our cameras with us, and catching a pro rider isn't that easy. After chatting a bit about stunt riding and life, we got straight to filming. Anton is an interesting person, and I'm sure we will meet him more than once.

When we saw Anton's first tricks, we felt really sorry about the two unfortunate mistakes in his freestyle at the championship (crashes on drifts). The thing is, Anton rides drifts really well, especially in the switchback position. Clean lines, high pace and full control. How he made those mistakes is unclear; he was probably nervous. Acrobatics are generally this rider's strong point. Anton does crosses with the motorcycle turning very easily. His switchback coffin zero is great. That is unusual for Russian stunt riding. As a rule, our riders' wheelies dominate over other classes of tricks. By the way, Anton's wheelies are fine too. After pumping up the rear tire, he did very cool power circles with a deep lean. The lot was small (not enough room to accelerate) and sloped, but that didn't stop him from doing a few long stoppies with a turn.

We watched the fireworks and snapped a couple of shots against them. We left late, with neither time nor energy for an interview. Once again we were convinced that pro riders show much higher-quality stunt riding in calm conditions, without audience pressure. We will try to go to training sessions more often!

Although the shoot was unplanned and it got dark quickly, we still edited a video!