Rider Profile: Ernie Vigil

Ernie "EDUB" Vigil has a simple philosophy to stunting. "I think the future of the sport for us is to bring speed and danger into everything. If you're the guy who looks like you're going to crash at any second, that's who people watch," he says.

Vigil, who sports a LeoVince system on his 2004 Kawasaki 636, may not be doing a lot of crashing, but people are definitely watching. The 32-year-old from Albuquerque, New Mexico, has a busy year ahead. He'll be competing at every XDL round and is one of the stars of the ICON Limiter show.

In addition to that, Vigil says he'll be stunting "anywhere I can get work! I hate just sitting at home doing nothing." (When asked how someone can book him for a show, Vigil points to www.ernievigil.com. Although he didn't specify, we suspect he's most interested in being booked for bachelorette parties.)

Getting to shows is often more adventurous than the show itself. Vigil, along with five or six other riders, crams into a converted box van that serves as a home away from home.

"We've adapted ourselves as gypsies. We're like circus carnies," Vigil says, who adds that they find ways to keep from getting bored. "At every stop we bean each other with a heavy ball we carry around. It's like a sick version of hackey sack, and we call it Murder Ball. We play pranks on each other, too."

Some of the crazier things Vigil has done weren't pranks. His most memorable moment to date came while stunt riding for the movie "Yes Man," in which he had to wear a hospital gown. "I was basically naked under my hospital gown. That was a little creepy: being butt-naked under a hospital gown, and having to ride barefooted," Vigil recalls.

Nearly naked stunting aside, Vigil has found his calling. Ultimately, he says, "I just like to go fast on bikes. My whole thing is I like to be on the gas."