The Tao of Travis Pastrana
Travis Pastrana, the most celebrated freestyle motocross rider in the world, knows no bounds. In 1999 he celebrated his first X Games gold by launching his bike into San Francisco Bay. Three years later, he rode straight into the Grand Canyon. On purpose.
In The Big Jump: The Tao of Travis Pastrana, he makes his biggest leap yet, revealing for the first time the methods (and madness) that fuel his amazing feats. At 14 Pastrana was the youngest World Freestyle Motocross champion. At 17 he was the youngest racer ever to represent Team USA in the Motocross des Nations. Each of The Big Jump’s chapters builds toward another breathtaking accomplishment, ending with the “impossible” double backflip during X Games 12 that brought Pastrana not just gold but certified legend status.
With a foreword by Mat Hoffman, the godfather of BMX, The Big Jump is a fuel-injected ride into the mind and heart of Travis Pastrana.
Travis Pastrana has been at the forefront of his sport for 10 years, even as he has explored (and dominated) new ones. Within the past year he has become the only rider ever to perform a double backflip on a dirt bike and, at 23,the youngest American rally car champion in that sport’s long history. He lives in Davidsonville, Maryland.
Alyssa Roenigk is an editor at ESPN The Magazine. Her work covering action sports, both in print and for EXPN.com, has led her into countless acts of recklessness, including jumping a go-kart into Travis Pastrana’s foam pit. A Floridian at heart and a Pennsylvanian by birth, she lives in New York City but doesn’t spend much time at home.