China FMX: The Freerider – Codie Rooney

Following on from our recent article ‘The Other Side of FMX’, this third instalment of China FMX introduces you to the story of Victorian athlete, Codie Rooney.

Victorian rider Codie Rooney, hailing from Wodonga, has been making a name for himself in the Australian FMX scene. The silent achiever has been lurking in the shadows for a number of years, popping up occasionally to ride demos or enter competitions before returning to the hills he cut his teeth in.

With a background in motocross racing, at the age of 13 he got sick of the repetition of travel and club days week in week out so went looking for something more. That something more was freeriding in the hills, big jumps and technical lines got Roonies blood rushing, from that the next logical step was to take his talent to the people and try his hand at freestyle. Jump forward more than 10 years and Cody was packing his bags for the adventure of a lifetime and the job of his dreams joining the ARD FMX team for 6 months in Tianjin China, performing daily for the Chinese.

When asked about how he felt receiving the phone call and what went through his head Roonie said.
“Definitely the experience of a lifetime, and didn’t want to turn it down. But at the same time I was very nervous and obviously there can be a lot of self doubt with these kind of things because of the demands that would be there to ride day in day out, on top of that just the fact that we are in another country that is not home and the medical services may not be up to standard, so a lot of that kind of stuff goes through your mind”.

Safety is always a priority with the ARD team and was defiantly on Codie’s mind, with 6 months of shows to complete reckless riders taking unreasonable risk are not suited to this kind of gig and Codie made sure he was going to be here for the long haul.

“Here you stick to what you know on the bike, the concrete is a lot harder than dirt and we are always performing, so it’s silly to push or do something I’m not comfortable with in a show. At home its more self paced, if I’m not feeling it I’ll have a day off. Or sit out and have a rest, here we don’t have that option so we need to find other ways to adjust and cope with the pressure of staying safe. Staying motivated is exhausting sometimes, but you know you’re here for the long haul and just keeping that positive mindset going is the biggest thing. Days when you’re not feeling on, I’ll just wind back a little and play it safer because it’s important to keep balance, if I’m constantly pushing when my head isn’t in the game 100% then that’s when things go wrong, so I’ve really learnt to respect limitations in that aspect, it’s been good”.

Safety goes beyond the rider and their abilities though, having safe reliable equipment is a huge part of FMX. ARD is renowned for have some of the, if not the best and safest equipment in the world so Codie was in safe hands there. The other variable is the bikes which the riders literally have to trust with their lives so things like maintenance, environment and general setup can all have an effect on the riders safety and how they perform.

“I’m riding a Yamaha YZ 250 2 stroke, obviously because it’s a 2 stroke they are pretty easy to maintain, the biggest thing though we found here was because of the varying heat, smog, and humidity tuning the bikes has been a bit of a challenge with conditions sometimes varying greatly from day to day so its definitely kept us on our toes. It’s been great to have (Joel) Browny here as our mechanic, I think because he is riding the shows too I can really trust him. He is using the equipment also so that gives me a lot of peace of mind”.

Off the bike Codie took full advantage of living in a foreign country and experiencing what the culture had to offer, when his partner Ellie came to visit he crammed as much into his days off as possible.

“When Ellie came to visit we went to Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors in Xian, it was really good trying new and different foods, experiencing the culture and trying all the different beers, haha. The Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors are amazing, it’s one thing to see pictures of them but to actually go there and experience it first hand is amazing. The culture here is full on, so much history and finding out about everything that has happened here over the last 2000 years has blown my mind”.

Working full time as a rider has given Codie a new appreciation for everything at home and the opportunities motorcycles have given to him. Codie would like to thank.
“My girlfriend Ellie, she has been looking after things for me back home and is always there when I need some extra support. Fox Australia, Whithouse motorcycles, and ARD for hooking us up”. (since this interview Codie has proposed to Ellie and she said yes! So congratulations to them both).

Stay up to date with Codie by following him on Instagram @cjroon. If you enjoyed Codie’s story make sure you check out the other stories.
Part 1
Part 2 

Stay tuned over the coming weeks for more personal insights from the riders and management on their own experiences and methods to maintain motivation and stay focused during their time aboard.