Jay Gousse always wears his helmet while riding. He wears gloves and pads, too.

That’s because Gousse, who lives in Portland, is part of a group called the Vertical Outlaws. These are the guys you see riding while standing on their seats. You see them riding on their back wheels and, occasionally, on their front wheels. They lie back on their bikes while riding at insane speeds. They drape themselves in various directions.

Stunt riders do tricks with ominous names, such as “Leap of Faith,” “Leap of Death” and “The Coffin.” For every stunt they know, professional riders usually have a scar, gash or broken bone to go with it.

“Inherently, it’s a very dangerous sport,” Gousse said. “Things can go awry very easily.”

Gousse has crashed many times. Recently, he was run over by his own bike and suffered a broken collarbone and foot.

He knows the risks. He performs only on closed tracks, and he wears all the safety equipment available. He wishes others would do the same.

Gousse said the place for stunt riding is on the track or in specially designated areas. The stunts should be done by those who have been trained to perform them, he said, not by anyone with a sport bike out on the streets.

“We can’t justify doing that kind of thing on the road,” Gousse said. “We are not these thugs out on the highway.”

He complains that the sport of stunt riding gets portrayed negatively because of the few people who misbehave on city streets and back roads. The Vertical Outlaws condemn those who ride recklessly where it’s inappropriate. They are adamant about safety gear because riding – on the track or on the street – is by nature unpredictable.

“We always preach: Wear your gear.” Gousse said. “You never know what’s going to happen. You really need to be prepared.”

Gousse was also a friend of Corey Sturgis’, the man killed on Foss Road in Lewiston in early July. He insists the fallen rider normally wore a helmet. The night he crashed, Sturgis got careless and tried to perform without it, Gousse and police said.

“God rest his soul, I don’t want to criticize because he’s a lost brother. He’s a fallen rider,” Gousse said. “But you’ve got to chalk it up to inexperience.”

On the streets, he said he will go after a motorcycle rider he sees goofing off or driving recklessly. He tries to persuade people to wear their helmets.

“As much as I’d like to baby-sit everyone,” Gousse said, ” I just can’t.”