Kevin and the crew at Personal Watercraft Illustrated have been kind enough to give up a little of their bandwidth every month so that I can have a venue to talk all about my life and travels as a professional Freerider. But don't think for a second that this will be a column for the Freeride crowd only. This space will have something for everyone regardless of what or where you ride. My goal is to give you all a little insight in to my life, and talk with you about some of the people and issues that I feel are important to our community. 

Many of you are probably thinking, “Who is this guy?” Well, that would be a fair enough question. I'll give it a shot: My name is Ross Champion, and I'm a professional Freerider. Basically, that means I have the incredible good fortune to travel around the world and ride my Yamaha SuperJet and other watercraft in some of the most amazing locations and waves on the planet. I am the 2008 International Freeride Watercraft Association (www.IFWA.com.br) World Champion, and I finished runner up in 2007.

Much of my year is spent traveling for contests, shows, or photo and video shoots. When I'm home, I spend most of my time training and doing what I can to help promote the amazing companies that help me continue to live out my dreams. Some of the other work I do is as a contract motorcycle tester, and a friend and I run a small company that makes the BareSkin changing towel. My interests and hobbies run the gamut from sailing and surfing to motorcycle racing and rotor craft aviation.

This month, you can look forward to seeing some inside informantion on my trip to France for the first stop of the IFWA World Tour as well as a short profile of a friend of mine who has turned his passion for riding into a great outlet for giving back to our men and women in uniform. 

The coolest thing about doing an online column is the ability to hear your feedback. I don't want this to be a one way street, so please let me know what you think about the column and how it can be improved. 

Keep an eye on this section for the next update. In the mean time, you can learn a little more about me on Ross-Champion.com and keep track of what I am up to on Twitter.com/RossChampion.

Thanks,

Ross