Tomomi Nishikubo – Ride to Survive

YouTube star Tomomi Nishikubo is known for his creative way of riding bikes.

With a strong background in trials riding, the Japanese rider approaches obstacles in a unique way that never ceases to amaze. In “Ride to Survive”, his latest project, Tomomi finds himself stranded on a small, deserted island in Japan. Luckily, his trials bike got washed up there as well. For Tomomi, there isn’t a better tool to explore the island and to go on a trick-filled hunt through the woods, looking for food with lots of creative action along the way.

The beginning of the video shows Tomomi lying on the island shore, half covered by water, on a rocky beach, slowly regaining consciousness. After looking at his surroundings and a failed attempt to light a fire, Nishikubo finds the island’s only other “inhabitant”: his trials bike. With a few quick pedal strokes, Tomomi is back in his element. No matter if he’s lighting a fire, catching fish or picking fruits from a tree, the Japanese Bike-Ninja uses his bike in ways that would make MacGyver proud. With technical finesse, Tomomi shows top-notch trials riding in unfamiliar terrain and tricks like a tire tap to front flip on and off a slackline.

“The Front Flip off the slackline is the most difficult trick of the video. This is a world’s-first trick, so there is no guideline, no example... I had to imagine the body movements on the slackline system. It took all day to build up and test the slackline. And I landed the trick the next day!” – Tomomi Nishikubo 

By the end of the 7:51 minute-long clip, Tomomi climbs the highest ridge of the island and spots a ferry not too far away. Having proven his survival bike skills to the fullest, it is time for him to return to civilization on an improvised raft. Tomomi gives it the final push by jumping on it with a back flip and sails away into the sunset.

Building most of the obstacles all by himself, the Japanese dedicated the entire summer to bring his new project to life. Accompanied by two filmmakers, Daisuke Yamasaki & Jidai Malakar as well as photographer Naoki Morita, Tomomi had a brilliant time filming for this video and even managed to catch a fish with the help of his improvised fishing rod, which in his words was “the most delicious fish I ever had”.

If you want to find out more about the process behind the work for Ride to Survive, keep your eyes peeled on Tomomi´s YouTube channel to not miss out on the deep dive Behind-The-Scenes video, which will be going live in the upcoming weeks.