My name is Chanel Fortier Jones and I am Miss XDL for 2010. As Miss XDL, I will be traveling around the country representing the XDL Championship Series. This is a perfect job for me because I love motorcycles, love to travel, and enjoy meeting new people. I enjoy riding my motorcycle and occasionally a dirt bike too. I have kept my bike on two wheels and have yet to attempt to do a wheelie. This year XDL started the Sartso Women’s Cup. Traditionally women were partners in tandem but at the end of the 2009 season there was so much interest from female riders XDL gave them their own competition. Watch out boys!
The XDL Championship Series started as a test event in 2005. The XDL series progressed in 2006 with three events. Expanding to four events in 2007, and in 2008 XDL became a six-event points championship. A typical XDL event consists of two event days: XDL School Night on Fridays, which is when all school kids get in free, and the XDL Main Event on Saturday. XDL events are a lot of fun, and the level of skill of the athletes will blow your mind. Each XDL event consists of seven competitions, starting with the FMF Cup, which is the national championship event. The rider with the most points in FMF Cup at the end of the season will be the XDL and National Champion, the undisputed king of the hill in sport bike freestyle.
Another event is the Speed & Strength Sickest Trick. This is one of my favorite events! XDL is all about innovation and progression of tricks, and there is no better place to see it than during the Speed & Strength Sickest Trick competition. Each rider has two attempts to execute a trick he or she announces to the audience ahead of time. There is no time limit. One of the best parts about this competition is that it's judged by fellow competitors who hold up scorecards from the pit wall. The Aprilia All Star Challenge is the ultimate combination of sportbike freestyle riding and racing. It is a spec competition in which each athlete rides an identically prepared bike. The course consists of eight cones spaced 20 feet apart, a scrape zone and a stoppie zone. The riders compete one at a time, and the objective is to complete the course the fastest. Time is started and stopped when the rider crosses the start/finish line. The top guys do all this in less than 25 seconds. Sound hard? It is.
The Freestyle Burnout competition usually takes place at the end of an event because the guys like to go a little crazy and sometimes destroy their bikes. Technically each rider is allowed one minute to put on any kind of burnout. This can be a drift, an acrobatic combo a medley of burnouts, stand still burnouts, fire spitting, you name it.
Another event is the Team Battle which, of the most spectacular feats of riding you will ever see, is well executed, and synchronized riding. Team Battle is a competition that allows riders to form groups of three to five guys and execute a choreographed, three-minute routine.
Lastly the K&N Circle Challenge! Circle wheelies require a high skill level to perform because they are so technical. And that is in a parking lot by yourself. Imagine having to do 10 rotations as quickly as possible against a fellow competitor in front of thousands of fans. That is the essence of the K&N Circle Challenge.
By Chanel Fortier Jones
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