Even though it’s been 20 years since he last won a professional motocross race, Travis Pastrana is still living a great big life and is still, arguably, the most popular rider on the planet

WORDS: DAVEY COOMBS

Few would describe a 37-year-old man as “middle aged,” but in the case of Travis Pastrana, it’s a fair classification. His first 37 years on this planet have been hard ones on Pastrana, still the most famous motorcycle racer on the planet, despite the fact that his racing days were pretty much over while he was still a teenager. But racing was a very small part of Pastrana’s great big life, which has included freestyle motocross, skydiving, distance jumping, Supermoto, rally car racing, NASCAR, and now powerboat racing. Along the way he’s survived massive crashes, double and even triple backflips, jumping into San Francisco Bay and the Grand Canyon, and countless tricks and dares and $1 bets and assorted outrageousness. Pastrana is also a very astute businessman and promoter, a modern-day Evel Knievel, only with incredible skills to go along with his massive huevos and all those broken bones. He’s managed to package and share his life via reality shows, documentaries, a massive social media presence, and even a live thrill show with a bunch of similarly brave friends, known as the Nitro Circus.