Going for gold
By TMX Archives on 14th Aug 03
for the X-Games is proving to be more difficult than I'd ever expected. With a new foam pit in my back yard - courtesy of Alpinestars and Puma - the risk of injury is almost non-existent. GETTING PREPARED for the X-Games is proving to be more difficult than I'd ever expected. With a new foam pit in my back yard - courtesy of Alpinestars and Puma - the risk of injury is almost non-existent. With this in mind I assumed that new tricks would be learned on a daily basis. Unfortunately, things couldn't be further from the truth.In the beginning, amazing tricks and crazy variations seemed to come quickly. The problem I'm having at the moment lies in consistency. The slightest difference in body positioning turns a back-flip 360 into a corkscrew 720, or a barrel roll into a forward-flip 180. Three-sixties are randomly off-axis and front-end low, while missing the fender on a back-flip superman seat-grab is a dime-a-dozen. All of these tricks can be done and when they work out properly they really aren't that difficult. I'm sure with time all the glitches will be worked out, especially considering how far the back-flip has evolved. Last year it was considered the unicorn of freestyle motocross, a trick for the most elite in the sport. Now the majority of the kids in my neighbourhood are flipping easily and consistently.Mad Mike Jones came over last week to use the pit and became the first person to do an 80-foot back-flip off a regular ramp. He was even convinced, at the time, that he could land a barrel roll...But then something always changes. Somewhere while riding between the foam pit and a dirt gap, reality starts to set in and you realise how many times you were stuck directly upside-down in the foam. I keep thinking about how many times the bicycle stunt riders always seem to be bailing off. Time and time again they get up unscathed and ready for another go. In motocross, we don't have the luxury to 'run-out' a trick.It will be very interesting to see this year's X-Games, now that most of the top contenders have foam pits to practice in - all knowing that they have pulled off a perfect (insert their trick here) into the foam pit and could easily take home the gold if they were to risk low odds and successfully land it in the final. This year's games might just be one for the history books.As for what I'm doing now, I'll probably be taking a step back from the racing side of our sport for a little while in an attempt to get healthy and strong enough to make a return that will last for an entire season. I do plan on racing a few supercross events - just to keep in the swing of things - but my main focus will be on getting healthy.Next week I will have the opportunity to do a rally car test with Kenny Bartram and Bucky Lasek. I have always thought highly of racing cars, specifically rally cars. In addition to being amazingly fun, racing helps keep me in check and kills the urge to drive fast in places other than where it belongs...Alpinestars gave me the opportunity to drive an F1 car last month and a WRC Subaru two years back. The F1 was possibly the most advanced piece of machinery in the world and a great experience - but nothing compares to the dirt. I have been aching to give rallying another shot ever since that rainy day's mud-fest in Wales. I believe that I can do well and if all goes to plan I will race the US rally series next year. You never hear of a car driver blowing out his knees and after talking to Formula 1 driver Juan Montoya who hit a wall dead-on at over 170mph without breaking a single bone, it seems cars might be something I can do in the future.On a closing note, Kodak Courage, the crash video I have been filming and editing with producer Greg Godfrey (maker of Global Addiction), is getting really close to being finished and is surprisingly better than I would have expected. With most of the top freestyle guys coming over to my house to learn new tricks, we were able to capture some of the most outrageous footage ever put in a video! Stay tuned for a release date and a full-on premiere.Travis Pastrana, courtesy RacerX