Video: Blind Mountain Biker Sends Big Gaps
Xavier Hopkins only has 10% vision but that hasn't held him back from sending huge gaps on his ebike. Xavier suffers from albinism, which causes too much light to enter his eyes and nystagmus, a condition that causes his eyes to shake uncontrollably. As such, he is unable to focus on things more than a few metres away.
In a comment posted under the video he explains how he was able to build up to riding such big feature. He says:
 | I am able to ride with this, because unlike many I'm not stupid, Any big gaps I'll go and look at first rather than just disconnecting my brain and riding at them. I also try to remember where things are such as roots and rocks which I won't see when riding, however, I can't remember everything, so crashes happen. I feel I could've moved onto way bigger features in my 1.5 years of riding if i was an idiot and just did things way out of my comfort zone. Hitting stuff way out of your comfort and ability doesn't make you better, even if by some miracle you land it. I think my slow and steady approach works better generally if you don't want to spend 6 weeks at a time off the bike |
To top it all off, Xavier has only been riding for a year and a half and is already confident sending some sizable gaps. Hopefully we'll see plenty more of his shredding as his riding progresses even further in future.
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Thanks for all the comments though:
Also, I'm gonna take some notes on those stylish tables of yours???? Sick!
Pinkbike: Blind mountain biker sends huge gaps
Power to you Xavier, way to stick a big middle finger to the man who told you you couldn't do all these things..
Love your attitude..
I recently saw a completely blind individual riding. He was with a crew of other people guiding him on the trail. It was an inspiring thing
“Beliefs are limits to be transcended.”
John C. Lilly
On a side note; anyone else think he’s a spitting image of Beavis? Makes him even cooler in my book.
As a kenevo rider myself, would love a bikecheck.
That is not gonna end well ...for sure!
As you can see, i did ask you what you mean , instead of getting all worked up and jumping to conclusions. And, as you can see, maybe your sentence is not very clear; looking at how people is understanding it. English is not my mother tongue anyway, so take this with a pinch of salt.
This is a Rad history and that guy is a Badass rider blind or not, and I am glad we al agree in this ( for once) Peace and enjoy the trails. This sport is amazing.