15/07/2009 A Big Air Day for BP

After a day a few days of Weegee dance festival photography at the Botanical Gardens, Black Planet shifted up 10 gears last night with radical action that not even Michael Flatley could keep up with even on his best form. The Big Air Jam Freestyle motor-cross championship at Margam Park was where it was at. This extreme sport designed to thrill with a high-octane form of off-road riding, performing acrobatic stunts over ramps between a mind boggling 50 to 80 feet long it didn’t disappoint us and the massive capacity crowd that came to watch.

Big Air Jam is hoping to help two off road bike projects this year, with the aim of raising some money for Foreshore MXC and BTCV’s Fast 50 Learning Project both of which are community off road bike projects. The Fast 50 Learning Project is delivered in partnership with the Neath & Port Talbot Community Safety Team. This project brings the exciting fast action world of biking to the classroom, and allows interested members of the community to gain accredited skills and tackles the issues around off-road illegal riding

As the Riders cruised through the air between huge take off ramps at heights approaching a dizzy 40 feet plus, our telephoto lenses were tracking the tight action and the sound of competing Nikon versus Canon motor drives were music to the ears. The further the jump and the higher the altitude, the longer the period of “negative G-force” and the more ambitious the resultant antics and photographs were going to be. As the top riders pulled acrobatic stunts over ‘big air’ gaps approaching 100 feet, it was white knuckles all round for riders and photographers alike.

A big Thanks to the Organiser Mark Thomas for his assistance and hospitality at very short notice.