Editor's Note: We want to stress that the stunts discussed here, shown in the images and on the CV Boyz video can be VERY dangerous. Do NOT try them yourself, no matter how cool you think you are. We had a choice to ignore the "Extreme" direction ATVing and other offroad motorsports is going, but let's face it, it's not going away. And we admit it - even we think the videos are amazing.

(And if your 8 year old runs out there without his helmet and wheelies over his own head, please don't call or email us. As always, use common sense and govern yourselves and your kids. There are careless riders out there that manage to injure themselves every day, even without the influence of any extreme video.)

Over the past few years “street” freestyle, also referred to as “stunting”, has become increasingly popular among street bike enthusiasts and was even recently featured in the MTV series “True Life: Live To Ride”. In fact, stunting has grown so much in the past few years that this unique type of freestyle has even spread to the 4-wheel community.

Pro stunting team, The Champlain Valley Boyz (CVBoyz), named after the Champlain Valley region of Vermont, is at the top of the food chain when it comes to ATV Street Freestyle. The CVBoyz were recently featured in Ronin Racer Productions' extreme stunt video, “Redline 4 Life”. Now, once again, Ronin Racer Productions has called upon the CVBoyzs' talent to be featured in the upcoming national release, “Redline 4 Life 1.5”.

I recently had a chance to talk with CVBoyz's Josh Lanphear (aka: Phear) about stunting, the CVBoyz and the upcoming video. Here's what he had to say:

So, how old were you when you first started riding? When I first started riding? Well, I had a three-wheeler when I was about six or seven, and of course I couldn't ride that like I ride now. I had my first full-sized quad when I was 13. That was a Blaster .

How many team members are there in the CVBoyz?

There's four of us left around here (Vermont). There's myself, Ryan Jordan, Ryan Therriault, and Dan Singleton. There's also Andrew Campbell who moved to Colorado about 1 1/2 years ago, and Hazen Towne, who recently moved to Florida to attend school at the Motorcycle Mechanic's Institute.

What does everyone ride?

Ryan Therriault is a racer and he's got a 450R for racing and a stock 400EX for stunting. Ryan Jordan has a couple 400EX's, and a Honda Rincon 4x4 that he messes around on too. Dan rides a 400EX. Andrew has a 400EX that he rides, and Hazen rides a Honda CBR 954rr street bike.

And you ride a 400ex?

Yup!

Are you planning on adding anymore team members?

I don't know. We've got a bunch of guys that ride with us, but as far as adding more team members. It's not really something we're looking to do, but you never know.

When I had talked to you before, you said the CVBoyz had been together for about three years, right?

All of us that are together now have been together for about three years.

How did you guys get together?

Well, there's a history….

The team and name “CVBoyz” was actually started about 5 years ago by a couple guys on street bikes. That was Andrew Campbell that rides with us now, and a friend of his, Jay Scott who does filming for us. They came up with the name. They started getting into doing some tricks, you know, like wheelies and stuff on their motorcycles. They sold their bikes and the name continued on with Ryan Therriault, who was long time friends with them.

I'm trying to think how I got involved with it...I got Ryan's name from a friend and contacted him on the internet because I was interested in racing. I basically found out that what he enjoyed doing was what I enjoyed, as far as stunting and what not. We met up to ride one day and he asked me to be in the crew with him. We've also met a couple other guys along the way, and there you have it. That's pretty much how we came together.

So how have things changed for CVBoyz in the last three years?

Well, when we first started out, we pretty much were everything that people hate about ATV riders. Basically, the only stunting we did was on the road, because there was no where else to ride. Now we try to do everything we can to be legal. I think that was the biggest change! We found out if we kept doing that, well, it really wasn't the best thing to do and it really made a lot of people mad.

Is there anything specifically that inspired you to start doing freestyle, or anybody that inspired you?

Yeah, ever since I was little, I knew about wheelies and things like that. It was something that I always had fun doing. Even when I was on my three-wheeler when I was seven, I was pulling little wheelies. Then I happened to get a copy of a street bike video of a local group called the Green Mountain Outlaws, and I was just blown away by the stuff that they could do. It was just un-real, stuff that I never even thought of. It was pretty much all downhill after that. I started getting into stunting and would try to copy what they were doing first, and then as I got better I would make up my own things.

What do you like best about stunting?

I like the challenge of doing tricks, and the satisfaction you get when you pull something off that's pretty hard, or when you make up something new. Another thing that I really like is that for people like me, it's really easy to get into it. Basically all you need is something to ride - whether it's a 4-wheeler, a three-wheeler, dirt bike, or motorcycle, anything with a motor, basically. When you do something like MX, you need a lot of property to build a track or you have to drive two hours to get to one. As far as FMX, it's crazy - you have to build yourself a ramp, you have to get all the materials, and have someone skilled enough to put it all together. Street freestyle can be done anywhere, even in your back yard, just as long as you have a 4-wheeler.

Is there any special equipment or gear that you guys use?

No actually, not really. [Editor note - I'm sure Josh meant to add "...except for full safety gear."] My quad, for example, is pretty much stock. It's just got the normal mods that you would see, just a slip-on (pipe), jet kit, and nerf bars. I just have the pipe to add a little more torque to it, and give it a little more power. Basically it's all just personal preference. What you might see is some people running custom grab bars, called 12 bars.

12 Bars?

Yeah, you know, like 12'oclock because that's the way you're pointed when you're straight up and down (doing a wheelie). What they'll do with those is they'll put a plate on the back; weld a whole new bar assembly on there, so it's a little bit stronger and makes the plate a little bit wider, so if you want to do tricks and you're dragging the bar on the ground, it's a little bit easier.

I saw some of the videos on your web site and it doesn't look like a stock grab bar would hold up very well to what you do.

Yeah - mine's stock, but I just don't hit it very much. It's not anything that I've really looked into, but a lot of people use them. Especially on the 400EX because it's all sub-frame in the back, so if you break your grab bar, you break your sub-frame. Other than that you'll see people using aftermarket front bumpers, just because some of them are easier to grab onto if you're doing tricks where you have to grab on to it or put you feet on.

Kind of like when you do the superman wheelies?

Yeah!

You guys must go through a lot of tires.

Well, yeah, we pretty much all have a set of what started out as a pair of worn dirt tires. None of us, except for Jordan, run street tires. Jordan uses the Hoosier racing tires. Normally we just run stock tires, 20's that are just worn down. Of course we wear them down even more… Quad tires last pretty long - even after they're worn down, if you're just riding on pavement, you can burn them down quite a bit before you need to change them.

I thought you would go through a lot of tires, as much as I saw you guys burn out in the videos…with all the smoke and stuff…

Yeah, well people like watching that.

So how do you come up with new stunts? Is it kind of a competition between you guys as to who comes up with the craziest stuff?

I think that most of the stunts that get made up are mostly just spur of the moment. You know, you can be out riding and doing something that you've done a thousand times before, and you'll think of a way to put a new spin on it, or a different variation for it. Of course watching the other guys helps too, because you'll see them do something and you'll say, “Wait a minute, that gives me an idea!” and then you'll try something else. Or you'll see someone do something totally new that you've never seen and you just want to go out and do it.

For us as a team there's not really much competition between us to see who can come up with the sickest stunts or whatever. I think it's primarily because we've all got different riding styles, and stunting styles, and we just feed off each other, rather than compete.

Are there any new stunts you're working on?

For me, I'm always trying to think of something new. I never really stop thinking about stuff, and when I think of something new, I'll pretty much just stop what I'm doing and write it down so I don't forget the next time we ride. I always, always think about something new and then when I go out riding, I'll do the same old thing I always do and totally forget about it. Then it's like "oh, man, I forgot about it'…so I make a list and put it in my pocket. People laugh at me because I pull it out and start reading it.

So what's your best stunt?

I like a lot of them, but it's really hard to say what the best one is… I like all of them that kind of make people go “wow!” Probably the biggest crowd-pleaser is the superman-wheelie, even though it's not the hardest one.

Well, I thought it was pretty impressive.

It's one of the ones that look really cool, but it's only moderately difficult.

How long does it take before you have a stunt down?

Typically, for me, if I see something that someone else did, I can actually pull it in about one day. But to perfect it and do it with any sort of style, it can take like three weeks. If it's something totally new that I think up myself, it can take a few weeks just to get it one time. A lot of people think that what we do isn't that difficult, but there's a big difference between what we do and just popping a wheelie.

Ok, changing the subject a little… you bought a street bike (ZX6R Ninja) recently, how many times have you ridden it so far?

I've only ridden it three times so far and it's …going ok.

Are you planning to use it in a video anytime soon? Well, right now my skill level is at the point where I can just ride a regular wheelie, I guess after three times that's not so bad, considering I've never ridden a street bike before. My skill has to improve a lot before I'm going to be able to do anything worthy of putting on film.

So what all is involved with the video production? Does it take a long time to shoot a sequence or do you guys just go out and ride, and someone shoots video the whole time?

Right now we don't have the means to just go out and say, “We're going to go ride here”. We're basically just fighting to find a spot to ride anywhere. That's the hardest thing about it for us. We'll just go out and ride, and film while we're riding.

It's hard finding enough locations to film at. You want to have a variety of locations, otherwise you can do the coolest stuff in the world, and it's going to look boring if it's all done at the same place.

How many hours of footage do you have?

We've got about 15 hours of footage right now. It seems like a lot for just a 45-minute video, but it's not.

The CVBoyz were featured in the “Redline 4 Life” video and now in” Redline 4 Life 2”. Any idea when R4L2 is going to be released?

Technically, I guess it's called “Redline 4 Life 1.5”. It's supposed to be released in mid-September.

Where was the footage shot for R4L1.5?

For both of the Redline 4 Life videos we shot our own footage and submitted it. So all the footage is from this area, Vermont, or a show or some type of event that we performed at. It was kind of cool because we were able to control what footage was sent in.

Are there new stunts that we can expect in” Redline 4 Life 1.5” that weren't in the first Redline 4 Life video?

There are definitely new stunts. What happened with the first one was that we submitted our footage, and the production company didn't get all of our clips. When we sent in the clips it was all categorized for them, like “wheelies”, “jumps”, “crashes”, etc… For some reason none of our wheelie clips made it through. So for us it was not really what we were expecting to see.

We confirmed that for “Redline 4 Life 1.5”, that all the footage was received. All of the wheelie footage is there. I don't think anyone will be disappointed with it.

Are you planning on doing another video for the Redline 4 Life series?

I talked to Ronin Racer Productions and they have a lot of stuff in the works. They aren't sure if that's going to include a Redline 4 Life 3, but even if it doesn't you still might see us in another production that they do.

You had mentioned that the CVBoyz were featured in a couple other videos as well. Which ones?

There is “Redline 4 Life”, and “Redline 4 Life 1.5” of course.

A few of our guys can be seen in a video called “XMS: United We Stunt”. These are all released nationally and you can order them at www.xfactorvideo.com.

The CVBoyz have been doing a lot of shows lately. You just did two in the last week, and one of them was for a group of kids and, correct me if I'm wrong, but that was to promote proper safety?

Yeah, primarily it was for fun, for the kids - but with a message that said "Wear your helmet, wear the right safety gear no matter what you ride."

I would assume that with the amount of risk involved with what you do, that safety is a big concern.

Yes, definately!

So how do you guys get hooked up with all these shows?

We get a lot of other groups that invite us to do shows with them, and we watch for competitions that come up and we go to those.

What's the largest event that you've performed at so far?

The largest one for me personally was the last event I did. That was at the Seekonk Speedway. I rode with the Green Mountain Outlaws; I was told that the attendance for the event was about 8,000.

Since the Green Mountain Outlaws are the group that inspired you to start stunting, what's it like to now be able to ride with them and do shows together?

Riding with them was great. When I bought their video a few years ago, I was blown away. I thought that it would be cool just to get a chance to see them ride in person. I never could have imagined that I would be riding along side of them at one of their shows.

What has been your favorite event so far?

The event at Seekonk Speedway: just because of the energy that the audience was giving off. It was totally crazy. People were screaming. They were just going wild. It was definitely the most fun I've had there.

Are any of you planning on competing in the StuntRageous 2.0 competition?

So far it looks like three or four of us are going to be there. I would encourage anybody who lives in the area to come check it out.

(StuntRageous 2.0 is September 11 & 12 at Saratoga Springs, NY. Go to www.stuntrageous.com for details.)

Are you into any other kinds of riding or racing?

I'll do just about anything that gets your adrenaline going, whether it's riding a quad, motorcycle or snowmobiles, fast cars…anything like that.

So what's been your worst crash so far?

My worst stunt-related crash was when I was doing a very basic trick. I don't know what went on, but when I set the quad down, the front wheels were turned, and as soon as it landed, it caught traction and launched me off of it. I messed my wrist up pretty good.

The last crash that I had, I was riding a switch-back wheelie. I gave it a little too much gas and it came up to far, I tried to step off of it, and landed on the back of my head. Luckily, I was wearing a helmet. You can actually see that one on Redline 4 Life.

Do you get a lot of support from family and friends?

Definately. Everyone supports me 100%. I remember my parents almost disowning me the first time I showed them my stunting pictures but now they are totally into it, especially my dad. He and my girlfriend, Jenn, are my two biggest supporters I have. I can't forget about my sponsors either, they've all turned into good friends of mine.

What are some tips that you can give for someone that's trying to get into street freestyle?

Practice is the biggest thing. Practice is definitely the key. You should expect to take some falls. You can't go into it thinking you're not going to fall, because then your just not going to get anywhere.

What is the future plans of yourself and the team?

Honestly, all I hope for is that we can keep having fun with it and not make this any sort of job, and to just continue to put smiles on peoples faces, because that's why we do it.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I of course wanted to thank you for taking the time to talk to me…

It's been a pleasure!

I also want to let people know about our web site, www.cvboyz.com , and invite them to drop by and sign our guest book, check out some video clips, and message board. They can also check out the CVBoyz merchandise section. There's not a ton of stuff, but there are some cool things there.

I guess that's it. Thanks again for talking to us Josh.