Nut Up or Shut Up

It seems that Travis Pastrana had a lasting impact on some of the students at Colorado Mountain College. After the extreme sports enthusiast left town he inspired one student, Vince to make the ultimate jump. Amazed by his feat I asked him for an interview and he agreed. Here’s what he had to say:
Name: Vince
Major: Associates of Arts
Hometown: Sonora, CA
Age: 21

How long have you been mountain biking?
I started around seventh grade with a really crappy Wal-Mart bike. I kept breaking bikes and returning them and realized it wasn’t what I needed. Eventually I made a trip to the bike shop and got one that stood up to what I needed. From there I began doing stair gaps and jumps with my friends. I also rode with the local bike shop crew taking really long night rides and weekend trips.

What is your favorite part about the sport?
I think one of the coolest things about any action sport is riding with people better than yourself because you can learn so much from them.

How did you come up with the idea of gapping 25 feet of stairs?
When you do an action sport for a certain period of time you start to see the world differently. You look at something and think wow that looks like something I can do on my bike, where ordinary people would think nothing of it. We were training for ski racing on the soccer field when I first saw the gap. It got into my head and I began contemplating it every day.

Did you have any reservations?
I told a few people about it and they thought it was a really cool idea but there was a huge fear factor involved. I got really scared because I knew I could seriously hurt myself.

What inspired you to finally make the jump?
When Rally America came to town I got a chance to interview Travis Pastrana. One of the coolest things he said was, “Everybody has pain, everybody has fear. But it’s how we deal with fear that sets us apart”. As soon as I heard him say that I knew I needed to do the jump.

What kind of planning was involved?
It’s about being a calculated person. Day after day I would sit at the jump and think about how fast and how big I’d have to go. I checked out the landing to make sure it was safe-- which it really wasn’t-- and built a ramp for the take off.

There were a lot of kids watching you. Did you feel any pressure?
There was a skate comp at the school and I was practicing the run up to see how much speed I’d need. People started gathering around and I didn’t really have a choice. I either needed to do it or stop talking like I was going to. As the movie Zombie Land put it, “nut up or shut up.”

What were the very last thoughts running through your head before you did it?
“God, I hope this works…”

Do you have any regrets?
I guess if I had one regret it would be that I didn’t pursue mountain biking harder when I was younger.

What’s next?
Ski racing is something I love and have a really big passion for. I’d like to pursue it for a few years assuming I can stay injury free. I’d also like to continue to pursue mountain biking. The fact that I successfully made the jump made me realize some things are not as hard as they seem. If I see something bigger I’d like to do it. The future is very unpredictable. Hell, I’m in Colorado now!