Travis Pastrana

Action sports icon and Nitro Circus ringleader Travis Pastrana is poised to add yet another huge world’s first to his CV: the first motorcycle backflip while floating on water.

Pastrana will attempt to backflip a 75-foot wide gap between two barges floating in the Thames River. Both will be 120-feet out from the embankment without any mooring lines tied to the shore or each other. Without either an open ended run-in or landing – not even solid ground – Pastrana will only have 150 feet to accelerate to takeoff speed. Then after hitting the lander he will only have 36 feet to come to a stop before sliding into the river. Pastrana must also contend with the choppy water of the Thames that will make his landing ramp a moving target, not to mention high winds that will buffet him in midair, threatening to send him flying off course and miss the 27 foot wide landing barge altogether.

The stakes are high: Mike Metzger crashed hard during a 2006 attempt in Long Beach harbor, fracturing his L-4 vertebra. While fortunately Metzeger made a full recovery, no one has braved this trick since.

Pastrana’s attempt will celebrate the announcement of the all-new 2018 Nitro Circus Live European tour, the action sports phenomenon’s first arena trek on the continent in two years. More tour details to be announced soon.