A FRENCH daredevil mastered a mountain road featuring 99 hairpin turns on a custom-made roller suit with 31 wheels. Jean-Yves Blondeau, 42, who calls himself Rollerman, completed the stunt on Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie, in south China's Hunan province.
The suit, which he designed, features rollerblade-like wheels on the torso, back, and most of the major joints, allowing him to ride in a number of positions at speeds of up to 70mph. Mr Blondeau sped down the 10.77 kilometre road in just 19 mins 34 sec - giving him an average speed of about 20mph, reports the Daily Mail. Rolling part-way down the steep, tortuous mountain road, and part way down a specially installed metal track, he used his body to steer as he hurtled dangerously towards the finish. He even felt confident enough to catch a little air from a jump set up near the bottom of the track, before crossing the finish line to exploding fireworks. Mr Blondeau originally designed his roller suit as his graduation project at an industrial design school in Paris. Since then, he has created 20 generations of the superhero-type outfit, ranging from basic kneepads with rollers to sophisticated full body armour like the one worn in the Tianmen Mountain stunt.       –WO