will always heal . “ You have to think about what you ’ re putting into your talent .” But what about the risk of injury , or even worse , is that something that Pastrana considers ?
“ I think I do better with calculating risk ,” he explains . “ That ’ s my real talent . But things are a lot safer now . No one in Nascar is afraid of hitting the wall . Take Formula 1 , they ’ d have 20 drivers on the grid in the 1970s and end the season with 18 so they ’ d lose like two a year . That ’ s gone .”
Safety is a major factor in all of Pastrana ’ s ventures , yet everything must also have a level of risk , something where consequences punish you so that lessons can be learned .
“ You have to have something where you can mess up a jump or hit a jump with big consequences so that really plays into what you ’ re willing to do . “ I love when someone says it can ’ t be done then figuring out how it can be done ,” he gesticulates with a level of excitement . “ Take the backflip Superman , people said it wasn ’ t possible with gravity so we welded brackets on the clutch levers so the arms would hit those levers and pull you down . That was a pretty cool little niknak , so there ’ s a lot of stuff like that which makes stunts seem easy nowadays .”
This drive and love of the competition runs deep in the Pastrana family , his wife Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins is a champion in her own right being a world class skateboarder and leading X-Games competitor . Pastrana softens his tone when speaking of his wife and family , there ’ s a deep respect for the achievements but is clear that he ’ s thankful that the two don ’ t cross in their endeavours .
Pic : Garth Milan
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