Travis Pastrana

Travis Pastrana or “The Contender” has been my hero for most of my dirt-biking life. He became the youngest World Freestyle Motorcross Champion at 14 years old. He received gold medals at the X-Games and the Gravity Games when he was only 15 years old and to this day has an undefeated record in freestyle motorcross competitions. I am hoping that I can be that good someday. He's also a hero because he's smart. He completed high school 3 years early and started at the University of Maryland when he was just 15 years old. He currently has a 4.0 grade point average in the study of communications. Some day he hopes to work in public relations or broadcasting.

Travis was born on October 8, 1983 in Annapolis, Maryland but currently lives in Davidson, Maryland. He's 6'2" and 170 pounds. He owns a Ford F-250, 1944 International Fire truck, a 2003 Chevrolet Corvette, and a Suzuki VL1500 Intruder LC.

With this type of sport you can imagine that you get hurt quite a bit. He's ridden a motorcycle since he's been 4 years old and has since had approximately 20 broken bones, and had many surgeries. His father reportedly thought Travis died after watching one high-flying stunt go wrong in Arizona in 1998. He lost consciousness after landing and his spine separated from his pelvic bone and he was in a wheelchair for more than a month.

Travis has done many crazy things. He gained national attention at the 1999 X-Games is San Francisco after riding his bike off a pier into the San Francisco Bay to celebrate his win in a freestyle competition. He has jumped into the Grand Canyon while doing a back flip for a video.

His success at such a young age has made him a legend. When it comes right down to it, he’s just like a normal teen boy, though. His hobbies are golf, jet skiing, boating, mountain biking, skydiving, BMX, and wakeboarding.