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Vicki Golden And Her Fire-Eating Indian Scout FTR 1200 S

“Evel Live 2” rested on the shoulders of the motocross freestyle rider

Updated: January 17, 2020

Vicki Golden breaking a 12-year record.Casey Schneider

All eyes were on Vicki Golden as she prepared to crash her way through 13 walls of wood and fire on an Indian Scout FTR 1200 S. Days before the broadcast of “Evel Live 2,” Golden became the sole stunt performer after Axel Hodges crashed while practicing for a world-record-setting distance-jump attempt. Now the entire program rested on the shoulders of the talented motocross freestyle rider.

“When they lit them up, I thought, Man, that’s a lot of fire. I just turned off the part of my brain that thinks of everything that could go wrong.”

Video can fail to convey the enormity and danger of a situation, leaving the layperson to ask, “What could be so hard about riding in a straight line on a 450-pound motorcycle?” Freezing the action, this photograph brings the peril into focus. The heat. The impact. The concentration and willpower to smash a record that stood for 12 years. But that’s what Golden does—she smashes anything in her way.