Travis Pastrana and his life behind the handlebars started at the tender age of 4, and today he has a legendary reputation in the world of motocross.
Famous? You betcha! Even if you aren’t yet riding your own dirt bike, chances are that you’ve heard of Travis. His name is certainly well known across North America, Canada, Australia, Europe and the UK.
Yet what makes him so respected on 2 wheels? How did he reach such status? In this guide, we’ll provide you with some insights.
Travis Pastrana Early Life
Travis was born to ride. He was ripping around on his parent’s ranch before he even picked up a pencil. At school, he simply dreamed of riding and as you’d expect, this is where he spent much of his weekends.
His dad is Robert Pastrana and formerly served with the US Marine Corp. As you’d expect, a tough man but also very supportive of his son’s dreams. Robert and his wife (the mum of Travis Pastrana) previously rode motorcycles. His mum actually broke her back on one of such jumps.
By the age of 14, Travis Pastrana was considered to be the best freestyle motocross rider globally. Imagine…he wasn’t even old enough to get a car licence yet could throw a MX bike around and overtake guys twice his age.
Motocross Career
Travis is well known for his antics on a 2-stroke. The man was born for the competitive world of motocross and supercross. He’s absolutely pushed himself behind the limits of physics and has been influential in growing the sport internationally. From this, he earned his ‘199’ lives tag, taken from the ‘a cat has 9 lives’ saying.
Now, we might think that a man of this stature is academically poor. You’d be far from the truth here! He graduated from Maryland University with a 4.0 GPA and he’s created his own TV Show called Nitro Circus. Take that!
What Travis Pastrana is known for is his energy. No matter what happens out there, he’s just going ot smile. He has a heart of gold and is super friendly on and off the race track. He just wants to have fun and show others what is truly capable.
Travis Pastrana: List of Accidents
On boy! He’s certainly been admitted to hospital more times than most people will in 10 lifetimes. Travis probably earned himself a membership card there!
Oddly enough, he always bounces back bigger than ever before. These temporary setbacks and just setups for a comback.
Travis Pastrana has been involved in the following accidents:
- 9x surgeries in the left knee bone
- 1x broken tibia
- 10x on-track concussions
- 1x Broken collarbone
- 1x broken thumb
- 2x surgeries on his back
- 1x broken fibula
- 1x torn ACL in the left knee
- 8x surgeries in the right knee bone
- 1x broken wrist
That’s a lot of pain, but as they say ‘no pain…no gain’!
Even at the age of 16, he won titles while riding with broken body parts, including a wrist and ankle. Ouch!
Life Today
Ever wondered what happened to Travis Pastrana? Well, today he’s alive and well and looks after his kids and wife, while still out there racing. He’s swapped the dangerous nature of the dirt bike for a relatively safer form of racing – rally cars.
This seems typical of the guys who retire from the competitive and bone-breaking world of motocross. Much like the world of dirt bikes, he’s certainly won some titles out there while ripping along at a million miles per hour.
For a man who has lived his life on the edge, he’s certainly inspired a generation to get out there and push the limits. While his lifestyle has changed, his attitude hasn’t. Life is best lived when going for more.
Yesterday is done and tomorrow may never come. You’re here for a good time. Jump on the bike and start rippin’. Braaaap!
