Nitro Circus survivor
B.C. rider paralyzed in bike-flip accident continues to make his mark in freestyle motocross
What: Nitro Circus When: Saturday, 6 p.m. (doors at 5) Where: Royal Athletic Park, 1014 Caledonia Ave. Tickets: $59-$99 at ticketrocket.co
Bruce Cook’s double front-flip would have been the first trick of its kind in the history of action sports, had he completed it. But Cook was slow off the ramp at the Nitro Circus event on Jan. 3, 2014. His Kawasaki dirt bike — sent 12 metres in the air, so it could clear the 23-metre gap — came up short on the landing, and Cook crashed hard, breaking one of his vertebrae. He was splayed out on the ramp in Hamilton, Ont., while cameras rolled. The scene, footage of which is available on YouTube, was graphic and grim. Cook immediately lost the use of his legs, due to a damaged spinal cord, and it seemed his short career in action sports was effectively over.
Yet, even when he realized, seconds after the accident, that he would never walk again, the Kelowna-based rider refused to consider retirement.
“Nope,” the 29-year-old Cook said during a recent tour stop. “Didn’t even cross my mind.”
He returned to the Nitro Circus tour just 10 months later, and on Oct. 14, 2015, became the first paraplegic athlete to successfully backflip a motorbike.
“Friends and family and the Nitro crew alike were hesitant,” Cook said with a laugh. “But I think everyone knew in the back of their minds it was going to happen. They knew if I got back onto a bike, I was going to flip it.”
Cook continues to explore new realms in the sport of freestyle motocross; currently, he’s working out new tricks on his Polaris Rzr, a side-by-side quad. His determination and press-forward personality have made him a legend in the action-sports world, and a hero to others who refuse to let a lack of mobility stand in the way of their dreams. Cook now lives what he jokingly calls “the brokeback life,” albeit one that sees him sail through the air with his legs strapped to a whirring dirtbike.
He takes precautionary steps nowadays, including a back brace and kidney belt for stabilization, but he hasn’t lost his will to explore the extreme. “You’ve got to know your limit at some point, and not push too hard,” he said. “But there’s always some goal in mind and project on the go.”
Nitro Circus is on the road in Canada, and coming to Royal Athletic Park today for the first time. Cook is driving to all the Western Canadian dates on the tour, including Victoria.
“I’m so sick of planes and airports, and people in airports,” he said with a laugh. “I’d much rather drive. You get to see some cool spots you don’t see when you’re flying.”
Cook will be joined at Nitro Circus today by 22-year-old Ryan (R Willy) Williams, who has been called the best action-sports athlete on the planet, and tour founder Travis Pastrana, an X-Games legend. Riders using inline skates, scooters, bikes and motorbikes will jump great distances during the two-and-a-halfhour outdoor event.
Practice for Cook takes place at the sprawling Kelowna property he calls “his playground.” It was built to mimic the style of his family homestead, also in the Kelowna area, a massive dirt track that planted the seed for his professional career, Cook said.
“My parents had 60 acres growing up, so it was me and my best friend constantly building wooden jumps, dirt jumps. We started with pedal bikes, which were the most affordable, but we naturally transitioned into motorbikes — which meant bigger jumps.”
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk was at his peak in 1999, the year he landed the first 900-degree rotation in competition. Cook was in Grade 7 when Hawk nailed the trick, and knew then that he wanted to pursue a career in extreme sports, specifically freestyle motocross.
“I was 12 years old when I knew it was a possibility. I remember when it made that transition; freestyle became a thing in my lifetime.”
He went from doing jumps on his family farm to doing back flips on dirtbikes before thousands of fans. Due to his partial paralysis, there’s a ceiling to what he will be able to accomplish. But he’s looking forward to new adventures, and setting more records.
“There’s not too much more I could do on a dirtbike.”