Aurora X-Gamer takes message of perseverance to Palatine kids

Bicycle tricks with names like Whiplash, the Boomerang and the Time Machine are old hat for Matt Wilhelm, 30, of Aurora, an X Games medalist. He has six broken bones in his body to prove it.

Just back from a New Orleans competition in which he won a voodoo doll as his reward, Wilhelm stopped by the Palatine Park District Wednesday to show off his X Games bike tricks to more than 250 kids and preach his message of having a "never give up" attitude. He talked of perseverance, bike safety and setting goals.

Ranked No. 1 in the nation for his flatland fastest spinner bike trick maneuver, Wilhelm counseled that these tricks should not be tried at home. He practices at least four hours a day and has been doing these tricks since the eighth grade.

"I crash all the time," he says, still nursing a bruise on his back from a stunt gone awry on Feb. 16.

Diane Ramsden, watching Wilhelm's jaw-dropping, eye-popping tricks, says to her friends standing by also watching, "I don't want to brag, but I can do that." Yea, right!