Students at the Tempe campus stopped in their tracks Tuesday afternoon as world-class trial bike athlete Thomas Oehler performed an impromptu demo, jumping off brick walls and over sorority women.
Purposely trying to catch students off-guard, Oehler, 27, and his Red Bull team invaded ASU, armed only with a BMX bike and a Red Bull helmet.
Mountain bike trials aren’t as well known in the United States, where BMX riders are more prone to do freestyle or street riding, Oehler said. Trial riding involves riding over obstacles without touching the ground with your feet.
“It’s not about the trick, it’s about riding over different obstacles,” he said.
After only a few warm-up laps around the Fulton Center complex on University Drive and College Avenue, Oehler began jumping the red brick wall that surrounds the center to the surprise of students nearby.
Kinesiology senior Jonny Olen and communications senior Steve Wurm were on their way to go rock climbing when they saw Oehler vaulting off objects near the street.
“Seeing a guy doing an ollie over a brick ledge is a little bit different when you are walking home,” Olen said. “It was definitely a good sight.”
Wurm agreed.
“This is definitely something you don’t see every day,” Wurm said.
Students in the Alpha Chi Omega sorority walking home from the end of Bid Day activities — the final day of sorority recruitment — got up close and personal with Oehler as he invited them to help out with a wild stunt.
“I came to Bid Day really excited to meet the girls and then all of a sudden there is a guy and his bike over me,” journalism sophomore Kelsey Pfeffer said. “It is crazy that this even happened.”
Pfeffer and four other brave girls lined up on the lawn in front of Old Main and put their faith in Oehler as he launched his bike over them.
“It was a terrifying experience, but it was really fun,” Pfeffer said. “I’m glad we did it because it put the cherry on top of a wonderful Bid Day.”
Arizona is the last stop in a three-week nationwide Red Bull tour that took Oehler to more than 40 universities around the country.
“Red Bull has [taken] me to some pretty amazing places,” he said. “In a Dubai rock festival, I performed on a main stage in front of 15,000 people in between Incubus and Iron Maiden.”
Oehler stopped competing when he was 17 to join the Red Bull team exclusively. When he isn’t touring with Red Bull, he’s working on earning his degree in sports science in Austria.
“I definitely want to find a job in this someday and education is an important part,” he said. “Everything I learn [at school] I can use it for my sport and for myself as well.”
Students can keep their eyes open for Oehler and the Red Bull team throughout the rest of the week as they continue on their mission of bringing impromptu trial riding to ASU and Tempe. Oehler leaves to go home to Austria on Sunday.
Reach the reporter at amoswalt@asu.edu
