Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128629
2000 ESPN X G a rne s S TORY AND PHOT OS BY M A RK K A RIYA SAN FRANCISCO, CA, AUG. 20 P Travis Pastrana's attempted backfllp In his se cond run of the prelims came up short, as he lacked the rotat ion to pu ll It off . Nonetheless, the defending Freestyle Moto X champion of t he X Games won the hearts of the crowd and points f ro m the judge s and walked away the undisputed king of the con test again. 42 S EPTEMBER 6 , 2000' cue I e n e vv s o o r T ra v is Pa s t ra n a . He ca n 't d ecid e whi ch h e e njoys more : raci ng with - a nd beating - some of the best motocrossers in the wo rld o r indulg ing his express ive , eq ua lly exub e r a n t s ide in t h e co n q ue ri n g of fre e style MX jum p ing contes ts . Who else but Pa stran a wo uld e ve n t hi n k o f pu lling off so m e t h ing lik e winnin g both moto s of a ro ug h -a nd tumble Nation a l at Millville , Minn es o ta , on his Te a m Suzu ki RM125 , then exactly seven days la ter , p u tting together a ro utine in me t ro politan San Francisco showcasi ng h is c re at ive flair for freestyle? Oh , well. The 16-year -o ld from Annapolis, Ma ryland , doesn't have to make up his mind yet, whic h is just as well because h is talent permits him to accom plish more in a week than most riders do in a ca reer. It's hard to ga uge which he pr efers - proba bly be caus e he doesn't reall y, t ru ly know, h ims e lf. It see m s to depen d on where h e is a t the moment, a nd at Piers 30 a nd 3 2 a t t he ed ge o f S an Fr an ci s c o Ba y , he was t he to t a l fr e e s ty le r a nd totall y dom inated . Th is ye ar's Fr eestyle Moto X, as it w a s calle d ( ke e pi n g w ith th e X Gam e s th em e ) , fe a tured a two - ru n preli mi na ry round whic h whitt led th e 16 -rid er fie ld to the eig ht who' d com p e te in a o ne- ru n final. With jus t a minute for e a c h run within the fa irly tight confines, competitors ne eded to pack a s ma ny trick s into th ei r ro u tines as possible. "T his is ac tually al most twice [the ar ea] what we had [to work with] last year , " course co-de s ig ner Mic k y Dymond re vea led. More room wou ld seem to be better, and for the second -ever X Gam e s Freestyle Moto X, the riders res pon ded with bigger, better tricks than las t year. Injuries kept a few contenders from showcas ing their tricks. Carey Hart watched from the sidelines, re portedly bothered by a sore back since his hist ory -making backfl ip at last month 's Grav ity Games . Mike Met zg er was anot her absen tee after c rashing in . practice a couple d a y s before. Bu t t hose who did ride put o n a s how that th e sta n d ing -ro om -on ly crowd seem ed to appreciate . Clifford Adoptante a nd Mike J on es ga rn ered su bstantia l ap plause a fte r th e ir pr e lim inary runs , but Brian Deegan and To m m y C lo we rs ea rne d th e mo s t po ints - a t least until Pa stran a rod e . The Suzu k i ra c e r put toge ther a sol id an d ent er ta in in g first ru n , putting a lock on the pre lims with his 92.33-point score. Pastrana wa s the last rider in the prog ram a nd , s ince • no ne of the othe r riders cou ld beat h is firs t run with the ir s econd a ttem pts , h e s ho rt e ned h is sec o n d run t o a ttem pt a full ba c kfJip off th e Step-Up com petition lip. It s urprised pr a ctica lly everyone , ev en Pastra na . "Right befor e I took off, I go , 'What the hell am I do ing?' " he ad mi tted . "I tol d m ys e lf, 'He y, I'm go ing to do it. ' I t o ld myse lf [t h a t ] la s t n ig ht : ' I' m go ing to do it!' so I didn 't even think a bout it un t il I went out th er e , and I rol le d over th e jump a nd [s a id ], 'Shoot , I'm goi ng to do it! What a m I do ing?' May be wit ho ut th e do ubt , I wo uld've pu lled it off better." Though he aborted the attem pt at its apex , Pastra na la nde d unhurt a nd j umpe d t o his fee t as t h e cro wd roa red its a pp roval. "I ha d it down on the bicycl e , so I tho ught I could do it on m y RM, but it's no t th e sa me. Th e lip wasn 't perfect , but I shaped it up with a sh ov e l the da y be fo re . It was pr ett y good. Th e y had inte nd e d [th e jum p to be us ed] for the high jum p. I do n 't know; I gave it a s hot - it was goo d ." Pa str a na 's first run cemente d hi m a s th e p re lim s le a d e r w it h 92 .33 po ints , follo wed by Clowers (90 .6 7) , Deeg an (89 .3 3 ), J o nes (8 9 .0 0) a nd Adopta nt e (88 .33 ). J o in ing th em in th e fin al w ou ld b e Tr e v or Vin e s (8 7 .67) , J eff T ilton (8 7. 00) a nd Mike Cinqma rs (8 5 .6 7) . They rolled im m edia te ly into th e fina l, th ough in inve rte d or der (with lea de r Pa st ran a ri d ing la st , o nc e a gain) . Jones threw a solid ses sio n in , an d was incensed to lea rn it dr ew a lowe r score th an he 'd gotten in th e pre lim s , earni ng him fifth on his Re d Bu ll Kawa saki. "Fi rst t he G ra v it y Ga m es , now the X Ga m e s ," he tol d ES PN. "I'm always getting screwed ." Hawaii' s Adoptan te im proved to 89.33 with his run in the final , earn ing fourth on his RM250 . The Me tal Mulisha 's Deegan set the bar at 90 .33 with his routine on his CR2 50R, but Red Bu ll Honda rider Clow ers one- up ped him with a 91.33 . Now it wa s u p t o Past ran a , an d everyone wondered how he 'd top his p re limi na ry rides. Unfo rtun ately, a n une xp ecte d sit ua t ion forced hi m to c h a nge his rou tine a t th e la st m inute . "I kne w exactly wha t I was go ing to do in the fina l, bu t I brok e m y s hift lev e r - it cracke d on the ba ck , e vidently," Pastrana re ve al ed. "I s h ifte d