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Extreme Exposure: Fanning and Moore take WSL lead, BMX's new era, more

Welcome to another edition of Extreme Exposure, a weekly column bringing you the best photography and news from the world of action and outdoor sports. This week Mick Fanning and Carissa Moore capture yellow jerseys in the WSL race for surfing supremacy, seven-year-old Dylan Lawrence goes big on a BMX bike and more.

Welcome to another edition of Extreme Exposure, a weekly column bringing you the best photography and news from the world of action and outdoor sports. This week Mick Fanning and Carissa Moore capture yellow jerseys in the WSL race for surfing supremacy, seven-year-old Dylan Lawrence goes big on a BMX bike and more.

Fall Colors

Change was in the air this weekend in Southern California as the yellow leader’s jersey found a new home on both the men’s and women’s side of surfing’s World Championship Tour. Mick Fanning was able to overtake Adriano De Souza for the overall points lead, defeating the Brazilian during the final of the Hurley Pro while Carissa Moore took over the lead on the women’s side after Courtney Conlogue faltered earlier in the competition.

After his now-infamous tangle with a shark during the final of the J-Bay Open in July, it goes without saying that Fanning has had the biggest obstacles to overcome this season, mentally. “It’s been pretty crazy but I just had to put my head down and focus on me,” Fanning told SI.com. “My prep for Trestles was some of my best all year so to come away with the win and the yellow jersey is a great feeling.”

Fanning can put a stranglehold on the world title chase as the Tour heads to Europe where he’s won in France four times during his career, and took out the Rip Curl Pro Portugal at Supertubos last year (the next two events on tour). “I feel confident but there’s lots of surfing to be done (before the end of the year),” Fanning says.

The women kick off the Cascais Pro Portugal on September 22 while the men head to Landes, Aquitaine for the Quiksilver Pro France on October 6.

Run Helen Run

They don’t come much more inspiring than Helen Neville, who recently finished her unsupported run around the perimeter of the United States, which she completed in stages over a five-year period. The 55-year-old grandmother and registered nurse from Las Vegas was diagnosed, and overcame, Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the 1990’s and began the run to inspire nurses like herself to champion healthy lifestyles, making visits to cancer patients along the way.

According to Outside magazine, she began the 9,715-mile run in 2010. Unfortunately, during this last stage—New Brunswick Canada to Ocean Shores, Washington—she learned her cancer had returned. "I think that if you stop or slow down, then you might as well sit down or fall down," she said. "I just want to lead by example and show that, no matter what you have going on, there’s always someone worse off and you’re still in a position to inspire."

Young Dog, Old Tricks

Fifty-foot gap jumps on a BMX bike? Not typical fare for most seven-year-olds. But that’s where legend-in-the-making Ryder Lawrence is at with his riding lately, and last week an edit dropped of Ryder taking on a MegaRamp while working with X-Games gold medalist Colton Satterfield. Lawrence has been riding BMX for several years and is the son of Randy Lawrence, a motocross stalwart who’s crossed over to both downhill mountain biking and freestyle BMX during his own career. His son Ryder’s most impressive feat isn’t jumping the 50-footer, it’s the kid's cool head as he keeps control of his bike after coming up a bit short on the landing.

Snow Dance

Winter is still a ways off but the terrain park crew at Big Bear Mountain Resort in Southern California, two hours east of Los Angeles, always likes to insipre the snowboarding community as early as possible with the Hot Dawgz and Hand Rails competition. The resort’s staff uses a mix of man-made snow and terrain park features to create a pre-season competition—more of a judged expression session—that can get downright intense at times. Zak Hale captured the men’s overall title and Madison Blackley nabbed the women’s trophy in this, the 12th year of preseason hot dogging at Big Bear.