X-Games Pastrana

Highlights. They're the lifeblood of TV sports, cell phone/iPod downloads and time capsules eventually discovered by alien invaders destined to conquer our planet. Okay, maybe not that last part (as far as we know), but there's no doubt that X Games highlights are a little zippier than darts or soapbox derby reels. "You come to expect it now," says uber-X vet Andy Macdonald. "People literally save stuff up for the X Games." And how. Four days of competition have delivered champions new (Scotty Cranmer, BMX Park) and old (Bucky Lasek, Skateboard Best Trick). We've witnessed event debuts (BMX Big Air), twisted metal (Colin McRae's last second roll in Rally Car) and twisted bodies (Dave Mirra, Kenny Bartrum, Nate Adams, et al.). But what big moment was summer X 12's hugest? To find out, we asked those responsible for creating them — the athletes. When they look back on the past four days years from now, what will they remember? Here's a hint: That Pastrana guy will occupy plenty of collective X athlete gray matter.
Jeremy McGrath (MTX) — "I've been watching everything and then I watched Travis' double backflip Friday night on TV. The best moment for me has got to be that double. It was amazing, really amazing. I was a little bummed for him that he didn't get a perfect 10. I thought he deserved one. I don't know how that happened. What do you want? I don't even want to do a single backflip. I'm a racer, not a freestyler. I saw bike park today, which was also really sweet."
Jeremy Stenberg (MTX) — "Definitely Pastrana doing the double flip. And Blake Williams doing a cliffhanger flip knee with a 360 nac nac to a one-handed landing. They're tricks you don't really think of, then you seen them happen and you're like, 'Damn, that's gnarly!' Now I have my work cut out for me when I get back on my bike. I've got to be practicing my butt off."
Tommy Clowers (MTX) — "Oh man, there's been a lot down there at Staples Center, but it has to be the double backflip by Pastrana. I don't even know what to call what Kevin Robinson did. A double tailwhip 540 or something. I don't know exactly how they call that out. (ed. note: we think it's a double flair.) But if I had to pick one, I'd say the double back by Travis. I was driving up here and we had it going in the motor home. I didn't think he was going to try it, but I didn't know how much he's been practicing. Obviously he had it down. He couldn't have landed it any better. Insane."
Brian Deegan (MTX) — "The best moment is obviously Travis doing a double backflip. I was sweating for him, I was really sweatin' because I didn't want to see him hurt. I knew he was gonna do it but I wasn't sure he was going to land it. It was like fifty-fifty, a dice roll, and it made me nervous. I don't want to see anyone get hurt who rides a dirt bike."
Mike Escamilla (BMX) — "For me, my best pick was Friday night in general. I don't know if I could pick just one thing. I'm gonna pick best night for action sports would be Friday night, inside the Staples Center. With Travis' double back, Kagy's double-whip flair, Robinson's double flip, Keith's front flip flair. Pretty much, if Shaun would have locked down that 1080, you could have quit the X Games right there. That would have been it."
Morgan Wade (BMX) — "The coolest thing I saw out of all this was Travis' double flip. Because I thought he was dead, and every time I see the footage I think he's dead again. He was within four feet of casing his front wheel."
Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins (SKT) — "So far, it's been pretty fun just to watch the mega ramp. I haven't ridden the mega ramp in almost a year now, so it's been pretty fun to watch. In BMX, it was Kagy, Kevin Robinson and Bestwick's tricks — those three. I like those guys. And the stuff Bob Burnquist hangs onto. He's just a different breed, man."
Jen O'Brien (SKT) — "Well, of course, Travis' double backflip. And Kevin Robinson's double flair, that was really gnarly. And I was proud of Bob Bunrquist (ed. note: he's her baby daddy.) with his switch ollie-360 over the gap. And he made his other trick, too. To me, he won Big Air, in my book, anyway. It was awesome to watch." Pierre-Luc Gagnon (SKT) — "Of course, Travis Pastrana's double backflip. I was pretty blown away by that, for sure. And here in the mega ramp contest, Danny Way's rocket backflip. He learned that trick a couple months ago when he had a mega ramp in Mexico City. Bob Burnquist did a switch backside 180 Ollie without grabbing over the 50-foot gap. That was pretty outstanding, too. And Jake Brown pulled a 20-foot high McTwist on the quarter pipe. He'd never even tried that, before. He'd only done that off the small jump. Then he did one off the 70-footer, first try. I'm so happy for Jake."
Rob Loriface (SKT) — "Travis' double back was pretty crazy. I've seen it about a million times on TV and I never get enough of that thing. It was pretty gnarly. I think Danny's rocket back flip was pretty crazy, too. And Jake's 20-foot 540 was pretty insane, too."
Jake Brown (SKT) — "I was really stoked on the BMX best trick contest. There were five tricks that went down that were just insane. I think Chad Kagy did a double tailwhip flat spin or something. Kevin Robinson's double flair was great. And of course, Pastrana's backflip."
Sandro Dias (SKT) — "I was so impressed to see the double backflip from Travis Pastrana. That was amazing. Before he tried it I was like, 'Oh my Gosh! What's going to happen?' But everything was perfect. I think it was the best moment of X Games 2006. I think a double bac flip on a skateboard is possible, especially here on the mega ramp. Maybe someone can try it. I don't want to try it right now. No way I'll be the first guy."
Andy Macdonald (SKT) — "I didn't get a chance to hang out that much and see the other events like I usually do. For me, it was all about making my third run in the vert finals. Other than that, it's always nice seeing other people do well. A teammate of mine, Sandro Dias, obviously did well in vert, so that was great."