Like a grasshopper jumping from one field to another.
From a distance, it first looks like when Niilo Stenvall jumps his trial bike over stone posts and concrete beams. Looking closer, it becomes clear that 18-year-old Stenvall is quite the acrobat.
Bouncing and jumping on the back wheel on the stone posts located every couple of meters seems to be like basic oats for him. Although there is hardly any speed, Stenvall swings between wheels at a height of more than two meters in a jungle of stone and concrete obstacles. However, he does not consider trial cycling to be a wild sport.
– It usually falls down quite controlled. The obstacles may seem high, but on the other hand, you can’t jump anywhere high if you don’t know how. There is always some kind of idea of what one does. If you somehow slip or falter, you can usually always get back on your feet somehow, says Stenvall.
– In addition to the helmet, I use back armor as protective equipment, some also use shin guards. My own bumps have mostly been ankle sprains. Once, though, I broke my thumb when I took a fall badly, Stenvall explains.
– When the feeling on the bike is good and the rider has self-confidence, then obstacles are not afraid. Correspondingly, if the feeling on the bike is not right, there is no point in even trying bigger obstacles. Then you have to pick up the package again through easier obstacles.
Over the weekend, Stenvall won the European Championship trial in the Junior 20″ class in Poprad, Slovakia. The goals of a promising athlete are next at the top level of adults.
Hard training in the gym
The Iso-Vilusen trial park in Tampere is Stenvall’s main training place. Perhaps the most telling of his extraordinary skill is that in June he briefly rose to seventh place in the adult world ranking.
In juniors, he achieved World Championship bronze both this year and last year. However, both medals left the ambitious driver a little disappointed. There would also have been chances for the brightest medal, which of course came at the EC level.
On a trial bike, you don’t often pedal at a high initial speed before obstacles. Of course, the importance of balance and bike control is immediately clear to a bystander, but physically the sport may even seem seemingly easy at times. However, the truth is different. It is confirmed by a physical trainer Toni Sallilawho has been cooperating with Stenvall for four years already.
– A lot of explosive power must be produced in order to pass large enough obstacles. Together with Niilo, we initially created the bases and now we are starting to take advantage of the powers as well. For example, in the leg squat, he has done sets of three repetitions with a maximum of 165 kg.
– In addition to strength training, we also train the supporting musculature and the muscles that are less stressed during strength training and in the sport itself. Of course, preventive training is also important, says Sallila.
In the gym, one of Stenvall’s exercises is an unhurried flat-footed jump onto the plate weights placed on top of a wooden box. The impressive performance is enhanced by the fact that he starts the movement squatting with his knees on the floor.
Professionalism can be an unattainable dream
The spark for trial cycling was ignited in elementary school. Stenvall got to know the sport through the Sporttikortti campaign.
– We went to the practice of the local bike club, where I was able to borrow someone’s trial bike. I don’t remember anything myself, but I have heard that after driving it for a few minutes, I had said that I had to get one like this.
Stenvall says that he does sport training four to five times a week for 2-3 hours at a time. Two or three times a week, the program also includes strength training in the gym. He also develops endurance by mountain biking. Even then, all the bigger stones and fallen trees along the way act as obstacles for him to overcome.
Stenvall aims as high as possible in his sport and dreams of becoming a professional. At the same time, however, he admits that the realization of the dream is not necessarily realistic.
– You can count on the fingers of one hand how many drivers make this their profession. Not all of them are the best drivers either, but they do a lot of shows and content on social media.
According to the Finnish athlete, climbing to the sharpest peak in the world would also require a change in one’s own training conditions. Ideally, he would be able to train regularly in the mother country of the sport, Spain.
– There are enough training terrains and tracks. It helps a lot in competitions if you are used to training in many different places. Of course, you can still find a longer jump here, but technical or precise places are harder to find.
It’s the mental side that counts
Stenvall says he especially enjoys competing and being able to prove to himself that he can challenge the best drivers in the world. The feeling of competition increases the higher the level of competition is.
– The mental side is the area that ultimately decides in the games. Even if you know that you can overcome all the obstacles, if the head fails in the final, that’s pretty much it.
– In competitions, you get to know the sections in advance by walking. In the most difficult places, you sometimes have to think about different options for a long time, how to get through them. Yes, there is usually always something to come up with. In races, of course, it also helps to watch how others drive and strive for similar performances if they seem to work.
In order to simulate a competitive situation, Stenvall decides in the middle of driving practice to see if he can jump onto a tower made of five well rings with the help of a 30-centimeter-high lump of sand. He says that he tried the same thing only once before, last summer. Then they say it worked.
After a little concentration and a pause, he pedals his bike to an accelerating speed and pushes off the sand dune steeply uphill. The front wheel rises just to the right of the top edge of the top Kaivonrekka, but that’s enough.
After balancing on the “ledge” for a while, he pushes himself again like a grasshopper and is at the top of the almost two and a half meter tower.
You can watch the performance in question in the video that is the main image of this article.
– The best thing about the sport is definitely challenging yourself. I might try a difficult line dozens of times, and when I finally get there, it gives me a “Yes!” feeling, the bike virtuoso describes.