By Hannah Elliot
Travis Pastrana is the closest thing we have today to the iconic daredevils of 1960s and ’70s Americana.
The 34-year-old from Maryland has won multiple world championships and gold medals in supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing but has gained even more fame for his stunts. His Nitro Circus commands 2.1 million fans on Instagram alone, while his personal account pulls in 2.8 million followers. They devour such exploits as his jumping out of planes with only a few friends — but no parachute — and combining backflips on motorcycles, sending him into the sky for what must feel like eons, letting him hover in mid-air, like a bird on a gale wind. They also witness his injuries, including hundreds of broken bones over the years.
“Pastrami,” as his fans call him, possesses the steely nerve of an assassin, if on such an elite level that one comes around once every hundred years. (Those who know say he far exceeds Evel Knievel in talent and daring.)
