Motocross
Blurring land and sea: Tyler Bereman takes freeride moto island to island
Renowned freeride motocross rider and Red Bull athlete Tyler Bereman continues to dream up and accomplish the impossible with his latest project, Island Hopper.
It was once said that for some people, to dare is to dream, meaning that what others see as certain impossibilities, there are people who walk this earth that only see possibilities. Red Bull athlete Tyler Bereman is one of those human beings. Bereman, a renowned motocross and supercross athlete has been defying the odds since the first time he twisted the throttle. From early in his career in AMA motocross races to more recently with his exploits in freeride motocross, Bereman is certainly lauded as one of the world’s best. But it’s not just his skillset that rises to the top of a roster of the world’s most elite motocross athletes. The differentiator in Bereman is his ability to dream—or, more appropriately, to dare.
Watch Tyler Bereman jump 6 islands:
In 2020, Bereman and his longtime friend and world-class builder Jason Baker had an idea. Stemming purely from creativity and the idea that progression pushes the moto culture forward, they concepted Red Bull Imagination. Think of it less as a course and more as an interactive modern art installment. Where freestyle moto opportunities are quite literally limitless. Together, they built a setup that doesn’t merely suggest creativity and expression, but rather, forces it. Red Bull Imagination became the preeminent proving grounds for freeride motocross evolution and became widely known by the community as the most forward-thinking photo and video shoot of the season, with over 120 different jump options, and ultimately, though the event ceased to continue—as the name would suggest—it served as a conduit of creativity in Bereman's imagination for how he could evolve in personal projects moving forward. And it’s a highly personal project that brings us to the present day.
Tyler Bereman jumping the impossible across Florida's islands
© Chris Tedesco
If Red Bull Straight Rhythm and Red Bull Imagination had a baby and gave birth in the water…boom, Island Hopper.
“This whole [Island Hopper] thing started at Formula One in Miami two years ago. Red Bull does a really cool thing where they get a bunch of athletes together from different disciplines and they put us through two days of schooling of what they call an ‘ideation session.’ They teach you how to think of an idea, pitch the idea, simplify the idea down to a sentence and sell it,” says Bereman. We were on lunch one day, and I'm sitting in the pool with Parks Bonifay and he showed me this body of water and said, ‘Hey, there's these six islands. Do you think you can jump them?’ I was like, ‘Well, I haven't seen it with my own two eyes, but yeah, I think I can jump them.’” And just like that, the seeds of Red Bull Island Hopper were planted. From there, Tyler and his entire crew just had to figure out how in the heck to make his dream a reality.
What is equally important to the ideation of something as grandiose and outlandish as Island Hopper is preparation. The math was mind-boggling. From start to finish, the course would be 2,316 feet to a T. According to Bereman, “There are six islands, but there [would have to be] 15 times where my wheels left the ground to safely get across. It was the biggest logistical nightmare, but the most fun and rewarding logistical nightmare I've ever been a part of. Red Bull Straight Rhythm is a supercross track in a straight line and it's a half mile long.”
Freeride motocross reimagined across water and islands
© Robert Snow
Enter Jason Baker. “But at end of the day I knew I was able [to do it]. When I knew it was going to be this big of a logistical nightmare, Jason's my guy and he can figure anything out. [I knew] he was going to be my lead builder and production manager for this whole thing, and it’s awesome to work with somebody that's one of my best friends and that I trust with my life.” The Island Hopper course would have to be a mix of manufactured takeoffs on standalone islands mixed with floating barges for Bereman to jump on and off of in order to successfully do something no one has ever done on a dirtbike before. So the two teamed up once again, knowing that the preparation of this shoot had to be precise, and an exact replica of the course needed to be constructed off-site in order for Bereman to fully wrap his head around the complexity of what he was about to embark upon.
If Jason Baker is Dr. Frankenstein, then Tyler Bereman is his monster. The two worked together to meticulously model the exact course that Bereman would be riding in Florida in order to eliminate margins of error and allow him ample time to understand the complexity of the course. According to Bereman, We went through and staked all of our points of the islands with flags and built them up [on land]. One island is two feet above the water, one island is four feet above the water, so all of it is so different. We had to lay out the islands first to then haul dirt to build them up in order to figure out how we could position the landings on the islands. So it was such a cool process. And for me, I was able to be in the tractors with them and doing these equations and walking around with the survey equipment to stake all the points so I knew literally exactly where everything was.”
Jason Baker and Tyler Bereman spent over 18 months meticulously planning
© Robert Snow
Says Baker, “The overall timeframe for this project was 18 months. We completed the feasibility study at the end of 2024 and began planning for our first test in early January. When you’re dealing with a project with the scale of Island Hopper, as well as such an unprecedented scenario, there is an intense amount of meticulous planning that goes into a project like this. With so many unknown variables, it is important to check off all of the known areas first and start building your plan from there. This allowed Bereman to train and get his timing down to perfection and also allowed us to not damage or ruin any bikes in the testing process.” From Bereman’s standpoint, he simply needed to get his reps in. “[In Elsinore], I was able to do it for three weeks every day, ten full pulls a day to get this thing so locked into my head. It was such a blessing to have that, but we needed it to put the puzzle pieces together.” All of this preparation and practice was essential to the world-first, and with hundreds of hours put into the prep in California, the homework was done, and it was time to pass in the paper.
There was one massive elephant in the room, though. Throughout the builds in both Elsinore and Florida, both Baker and Bereman knew that the one variable that could really mess up their goal was the water hazard. Fellow Red Bull athlete Parks Bonifay and longtime friend and freeride motocross legend Robbie Madison were along for the ride with Tyler, which was integral to his success in the water training. “It was super cool to have Parks there through the process because he is from a different sport that brings ideas that I wouldn't think of to the table.” With Parks’ knack for watersports and the breath hold training happening in Robbie’s pool, Tyler was ready for this great underwater undertaking. Says Bereman, “We prepared for the worst-case scenario, and the worst-case scenario is something happens and I go in the water. We're on a bike, we're in gear, boots are heavy. When boots fill with water, you want to sink. There's a lot of things that can happen. With the help of Red Bull, I trained with Sean Hayes who trains a lot out of the big wave surfers for underwater breath-holding classes. I did a scenario where I jumped in in my gear and then was able to figure out, ‘Okay, if I go underwater and I have to hold my breath, the bike snags me, pulls me down, what are the steps to take while I'm underwater while holding my breath and remaining calm? And that was goggles off, gloves off, boots off, get to the top.’” Every box was checked, the Florida course—after nearly 1,500 hours of build time—was complete, and it was officially time for the dream of Island Hopper to become a dare.
Tyler Bereman taking freeride moto to the next level
© Robert Snow
Jason Baker says, “Believe it or not when the countdown for Tyler began, I had a quiet peace about me. I knew we checked every element multiple times. I could sense that Tyler was completely locked in. I just enjoyed watching him put on a show which he does so well. There is nobody better at locking in than Tyler Bereman continues, “When it’s go time, I do my breathe up, fill my body with oxygen, lower my heart rate and take each jump at a time. Don't get ahead of yourself. But as soon as I do my breathe ups, I exhale that breath, I click my bike into gear and from that point forward hollow head, not thinking and just be very present with each jump as it comes.”
And so the day finally came when it was time for Bereman to tackle his long-held dream. The daunting course stretching nearly half-a-mile lay in front of him, separated by clear blue waters that represent the biggest hazard that Bereman would face in his quest. He clicks his bike into gear, throttles down, and the rest is history. One full run sees Bereman dancing the most delicate of dances as he balances on a razor thin line from island to island, landing perfectly and precisely on every single jump, until he sets his wheels down on the last ramp Never before done in the legend of freeride motocross, Bereman aggressively made his way up and over every island, across each floating barge, and with a final “BRAAAAAAAAP” of a throttle pull on the last jump, etched his name into the history books of FMX. For Bereman, it was the realization of a dream come true. A ridiculous idea that sprung to life with the help of his long-time sponsor. Bereman remembers, “When I did get it, I was halfway through the last jump and I pulled my clutch in and held my bike wide open. It was the mating call of dirt bikes. As soon as I knew I had the distance and I was good and I landed, I [yelled out], dropped my bike and just laid in the grass and just tried to take in that moment. A year-and-a-half of visualization becoming reality and that [was a] release of emotion.”
In one twist of the throttle, history was made and a dream was realized. Now, we wait and see what’s next from Tyler Bereman, but one thing is for certain, and that is whatever Tyler Bereman dares to dream up next will be one for the ages.
