Pastrana's Double Backflip, a defining moment in X Games history. Jared Souney © Lat34
Top Ten Moments from the 2006 Summer X Games
Aug 10 2006 / Los Angeles, CALat34 can count all the way to ten, so here we go, these are the top ten moments of X Games 12:
10. Rebellion Ensues at Men's Skate Street
Men's Skate Street wast relatively unexciting in the beginning. That was until the skaters found that they could gap out of the course and into the Velodrome race track which surrounded the street course if they used the pyramid as a launch ramp. They seemed to not notice the announcer's voice booming out of the loudspeakers, "Please guys, we're not supposed to be on the track, we're being told it's made out of a special kind of wood," because the rebellion continued on and the gap saw backside & frontside flips, boneless variations, a gorgeous no comply and was arguably the highlight of the competition.
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9. Morgan Wade Finds His Own Line
When Morgan Wade dropped in at the BMX Park Final there was no one in the world who could have guessed where he was going. Wade charged across the course and up a small quarterpipe, veering left at the last second and flying far too high & turned to be going anywhere safe. The crowd gasped (they probably had time to gasp twice) as Wade floated out over nothing and across a whole empty part of the course, bike turned horizontal, heading toward the banked quarterpipe practically on the other side of the course. He came down and landed it at a perfect angle with no real impact. The crowd was blown away - Morgan Wade overcame the impossible. He learned how to fly (or soar at least).
8. BMX Mega-Jumps to a Whole New Arena
BMX Big Air was one huge step forward for BMX. The only rider who'd ever gotten to really hit something like this was Chad Kagy, so for Robinson, Wade, and Cooke to step up to it took some major courage and some real faith in progression. In the end they put on a good show and pushed BMX to somewhere it had never thought of going before.
7. Robinson & Kagy Battle for BMX Vert Best Trick
Kevin Robinson captured something he'd been hunting for a long time - the double flair - in BMX Vert Best Trick. But Chad Kagy wasn't going to let him run off with the gold without having to fight for it, so Chad threw down a double tailwhip flatspin, forcing the judges to deliberate for almost an hour before announcing that Robinson was the winner.
6. Nate Adam's Present to FMX
Double backflips probably won't be the norm in FMX competition for a long, long time, so Nate Adam's no handed backflip, no handed lander is probably a more generous gift to FMX than Travis' double back. It is something that could definitely be thrown in the middle of an action packed run, and something that all riders can realistically strive for. While Nate may not have won best trick, his offering will probably prove to be more influential in FMX than Travis', at least for the immediate future.
5. Ward & Burkhart Race One-on-one to the Finish Line
45 year old Supercross racer Jeff Ward was not about to loose to somebody nearly 20 years younger, but Mark Burkhart was giving him a run for his money, whether he liked it or not. By the 33rd lap (out of 35) Burkhart was only 1.27 seconds behind Ward and had been holding near there for almost half of the race. In the end Ward overcame, and he beat Burkhart by a heart stopping .67 seconds. Not bad for an old man.
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4. Pastrana's Double Backflip
This one was a long time in the making and there was word that Travis had attempted it but would never do it again. When they moved the ramp back from the landing in practice, everyone knew they might as well just give the gold to Travis before the competition. Travis did attempt the double-backflip and landed it perfectly, stomping his place into FMX history (or more accurately FMX future).
3. Danny Way Three-peats
No one had much doubt that Danny Way was capable of, and probably would, win Skate Big Air. But it was the run he won it with that everyone got so much joy out of. Danny executed a gorgeous rocket-grab-back-flip (dubbed the "El Camino") over the jump, before continuing into the quarterpipe and pulling a massive 26 foot Christ Air. Danny took from the best of both worlds as he meshed new school ramps & risks with old school tricks.
2. Shake, Rattle & Roll
"Colin McRae, that guy is crazy!" Those were Travis Pastrana's words after seeing McRae completely roll his car after landing on one of the last jumps of the course, keep his speed, continue through the turn and blow through the finish line just in time to settle comfortably into second place, right behind Pastrana.
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1. X Games 12 Nick-named "Pastrana Games 12"
Travis Pastrana is a true renaissance man. Not only does he win medals in multiple events, but he takes all of them to new levels. The double-backflip to win the FMX Best Trick and his amazing run to win the FMX Final (including a huge backflip kiss of death) are the obvious picks for major leaps in progression - but don't overlook the gold he earned in the Rally Car event. Travis made himself the first gold in X Games Rally Car history. He set the standard that everyone will have to strive to out do, and he made X Games history in more than one way.
-Cody Allen
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