Video: Travis Pastrana backflips river barges

Mad man, sorry, err, professional mad man, Travis Pastrana, who was the first competitor at the X Games to land a double backflip, has now become the first rider to land a backflip while jumping between two floating barges.

Because doing a backflip between two fixed ramps isn’t risky enough, is it? The two ramps were 75ft apart, and untethered, completely at the mercy of the River Thames’ tide. Travis only had limited run up and landing, with 150ft to get up to speed and just 36ft to come to a complete stop once landing.

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Fellow freestyle motocross rider Mike Metzeger attempted a similar jump in Long Beach harbour in 2006, fracturing his L4 vertebra. Nobody else had attempted the stunt until Travis.

The stunt was to promote the Nitro Circus: You Got This tour, which will visit 10 cities in six countries across Europe, starting with Birmingham on November 20. And this tour sounds like the maddest to date: “Nitro Circus is turning me loose! With You Got This, I’m putting all of my best – and worst – ideas into one huge show. Everything I’ve ever wanted to see live, we’re taking on the road,” Pastrana said. “Expect bigger, brand-new ramps and even more ridiculous stunts. It’s going to be unreal. Look out, though. There might be a few rough landings.”  

The tour will also visit Glasgow, Manchester and London while in the UK.

20, November 2018, Birmingham, GBR Arena Birmingham
21, November 2018, Glasgow, GBR The SSE Hydro
22, November 2018, Manchester, GBR Manchester Arena
23, November 2018, London, GBR O2 Arena
27, November 2018, Stockholm, SWE Tele2 Arena
30, November 2018, Paris, FRA AccorHotels Arena
4, December 2018, Munich, DEU Olympiahalle
7, December 2018, Zurich, CHE The Hallenstadion
8, December 2018, Mannheim, DEU SAP Arena
9, December 2018, Antwerp, BEL Antwerp Sportpalais

More info: www.nitrocircus.com/tour

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