After becoming the first Australian
to win an X-Fighters championship
and the hazy after-party that
followed, Josh jetted back to
Sydney business class (courtesy
of Red Bull) for a full day of media,
then flew six hours back to Perth
for another day of media.
After just one night in his own
bed, Josh was back on a plane to
France for the Finist’ Air Show. It
was then, he says, that the reality
of his achievement sunk in.
“Flying back to France kind of
shoved me back in my place,” he
laughs. “I might’ve won the world’s
most prestigious FMX comp, but
I was back flying economy a few
days later. That definitely kept
me modest, but it also motivated
me. It’s amazing to take the
championship, but I still look up to
all the other riders and know I still
have a lot to learn and I still have
people to beat.”
Not long after returning home from
France, Josh’s phone rang again,
but this time it was Travis Pastrana
inviting him to Pastranaland to
session his insane new ramp
set-up for his new movie ‘Action
Figures’.
The Aussie didn’t need to be
asked twice and was soon flying to
Maryland to be another of Travis’
guinea pigs.
“When I met Travis in 2011 during
the Nitro Live tour it was a dream
come true. That year I was trying to
learn a lot and he liked the fact that
I was motivated. He’s helped me
master the Double Flip and after
that he thought I’d fall for the rest
of his sh*t,” Josh laughs. “I guess
not many people want to push the
envelope too far, but Travis will
always push you further than you
want to. He’s doing these crazy
tricks off these massive ramps and
while he’s operating at that level,
he’ll pull someone else in, even
though they’re nowhere near his
skill level. It’s hard to turn Travis
down when he’s got so much
energy and excitement and you
feed off that energy.”
What Josh, Travis and Tom Pagès
got up to for ‘Action Figures’ is
almost incomprehensible. The
ramp set-up saw the biggest moto
ramp ever constructed shoot the
riders into the stratosphere, before
plummeting onto a giant airbag.
The ultimate goal is for Travis to
land the Triple Backflip, but they’re
setting all sorts of records along
the way.
Josh came close to a catastrophic
crash at the Maryland compound
though: “On the last day there,
I pulled too hard off the ramp
and almost missed the airbag
altogether. I hit my chest hard on
the bars and ended up coughing
up some blood. I was in a lot of
pain for a week or so and it’s still
sore now, two weeks later.”
2015 is shaping up to be a hectic
year for the new X-Fighters champ,
with Nitro Circus Live tours locked
in for New Zealand, Australia, the
US, Canada, Europe and Japan.
However, the manic scheduling has
thrown up a big question mark as
to whether Sheehan will be able to
defend his X-Fighters crown.
“We’re talking to the Nitro
promoters at the moment to see
if we can work something out.
Nitro is great but I really want to
be able to compete at X-Fighters.
It’s what’s given me my profile and
what motivates me to learn and
progress. When you do the same
tricks and runs every night in a
show, it’s easier to m