The Ride of My Life

by Mat Hoffman

I had seriously reached a point in my life where I wasn't scared of anything. Panic was replaced by awww, shit, how can I fix this before I hit the ground? Childhood for Mat Hoffman was packed with hazardous behavior and a constant searching for a new sliding down the laundry chute, blatantly misusing a trampoline, leaping off the roof holding an umbrella, executing a two-story bomb drop into a swimming pool on a bike, and more. After experimenting with his bike on a plywood ramp at age eleven, Mat found his true calling. He became addicted to aerials. By the time he was fourteen years old, Mat had earned national notoriety with his ramp skills and landed a factory sponsorship from Skyway Recreation. He was consumed by a love of bike riding, a passion that took him around the globe and beyond the limits of what people said was possible. Always pushing for more height or another way to turn air into art, he's shattered world records, conventional wisdom, and his own body in a quest to experience all that life has to offer. The price? More than a dozen major surgeries, fifty broken bones, countless concussions and knockouts -- Mat's sacrifices are evident in a medical file that's 400 pages thick. When the boom years of BMX freestyle bottomed out during a bike industry recession in the late 1980s, Mat's enthusiasm never wavered. To save his sport, he bought a semi truck when he was seventeen and became his own sponsor, spreading the word one demo at a time. He and his friends formed Hoffman Bikes and began running bike stunt contests. It was an era of progress for Mat as a rider, as he unveiled jawdropping tricks like the no-handed 540, backflip fakie, and flair, and became the first rider in action sports to pull a 900. In The Ride of My Life , Mat takes readers on his humorous, hardcore, harrowing journey to the top as a bike stunt pioneer, ten-time world champion, video game superstar, X Games ambassador, recreational ninja, and the most innovative rider to ever hit a ramp. He shares stories of the wild experiences he's had while touring with some of the best riders around -- Dennis McCoy, Dave Mirra, Rick Thorne, Kevin Robinson, Mike "Rooftop" Escamilla, and many others. Spanning two decades of action sports history, as Mat crosses paths with high-risk heroes like Tony Hawk, Johnny Knoxville, and Evel Knievel, The Ride of My Life is the insane, true story of Mat Hoffman, the greatest bike rider of all time.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2002

Reviews

[William Lotten · Rating 5 out of 5]

The man the myth the legend the condor what a great book telling the story of a great man

[Tyler Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

So interesting

I had a great time reading the behind the scenes of so many action sports events I watched growing up.

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational and amazingly written

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mat Hoffman, The Condor. This autobiography is a true inspiration. Mat Moffman tests the limits of what is and what is not possible on a bicycle. Cliff jumping on a bicycle and massive twenty foot ramps...

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't too sure what to expect from this book, but I've finished it with a respect for Hoffman and his contemporaries almost equal to my sense of increduality over how small the sense of self preservation must be to do these things!

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit long, but it was really cool getting to read about Mat Hoffman's life as a kid, and all the experiences that shaped him into the man he is today.

[Vezlandia Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had it for a while, but haven't sat down to finish reading it. I don't know why. I find Mat Hofman a fascinating and talented rider and businessman.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, Mat Hoffman has put his body, and himself through a lot! His determination and resilience was astounding. However, I'm still not sure exactly what most of the tricks entail.