STUNT BIKERS CYCLE THROUGH SCHOOLS.

Byline: John Sanders Staff Writer

LANCASTER - They hold routine jobs - working for Coca-Cola, a home-improvement center and as apartment maintenance workers.

But put any of them on a BMX bike and they turn into Superman.

At least, the ``Superman'' is one of the tricks performed by the Extreme Bike Show, a group of four Antelope Valley men whose eye-popping antics are entertaining crowds throughout California.

``They're great. They're great. I love their tricks,'' fifth-grader Angelica Ayvar said recently after watching the group perform at El Dorado Elementary School. ``I don't ride my bike like that. I just ride it like normal people. I might fall on my head and break it.''

The Extreme Bikers - Brian Frederick, 29, Shawn Jones, 23, John Francey, 20, and David Bexley, 17 - practice about two hours a day, perfecting their back flips, spins, jumps and the Superman, in which bikers launch off a ramp and extend their body as if they're flying.

``I love doing this stuff. I ride for the kids,'' said Francey, a Coca-Cola employee who has been riding for eight years. ``I go to contests just to please all the people. That feels awesome.''

Jones and Frederick, both apartment maintenance workers, hooked up with Francey and Bexley after the four met at a local bike shop.

Frederick said that, during their shows, the bikers purposely make mistakes to get the crowd more involved and anxious to see if the men can really do that particular trick.

``The really cool thing about the show is that the kids really get into it,'' Frederick said.

The group's performances consist of more than just tricks, as the bikers also talk about the dangers of drugs and of riding a bike without safety equipment..

``When you get to junior high and high school, they're pretty much set in their ways,'' Frederick said. ``So when you catch them in an elementary age, then they listen more. They're more attentive.

``With the bicycle demonstration it brings in respect. You have to know tricks because then they're like 'wow' and then the message goes across way better,'' he said.

For more information on the Extreme Bike Show, call [phone] or [phone].

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo: (1 -- 3 - color) Right, Extreme Biker David Bexley soars over, from left, teacher Nancy Kennepohl, El Dorado student John Cunningham, 9, and teacher Debbe Du Buehre during the Extreme Bike Show performed Friday at El Dorado School in Lancaster. At bottom right, Extreme Biker Shawn Jones stands on the handlebars of his bike and bounces the rear wheel. Extreme Biker Jonathan Francey, below, performs a jump. The team's performances consist of more than stunts - the bikers also talk to schoolchildren about the dangers of drugs and riding a bike without safety equipment.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer