PAUL BASAGOITIA: AFTER THE RAMPAGE
“I was the kid that turned up to Crankworx without a sponsor on a borrowed bike and won, all that’s disappeared and now I’m known for one big mistake in my life; it’s crazy and it sucks”
How did it feel watching yourself in
Any one of Us, your own documentary about the Rampage crash in 2015?
To be honest it was embarrassing. I get awkward when I see that stuff but it’s important to me to showcase what goes into a spinal cord injury. I could have pulled all those scenes out but it would have been a lie, it would have been a fake documentary and I didn’t want to do that.
We’ve all seen the footage of your crash, but can you tell us that day from your perspective?
Out of all the Rampages I’d competed in, it was the one I felt most confident about, and the best chance I had to win. I was like, “man, this is the year.”
I’d won all the big slopestyle events but Rampage was the one where I’d never stood on the podium. And then afterwards I was going to hang it up.
Dropping in, one of the things I was most stressed about was backflipping the canyon at the top, it was the biggest act I’ve ever done, over a canyon, and it was the first thing I had to do on my run. And it ran perfect, the biggest hurdle in my whole line and I just did it. I remember I talked to myself, saying, “this is going exactly how I want it.”
Then the big step down, I hadn’t had the chance to really ride it, but I was like, it’s fine, I’ve done drops like this and bigger. Then I overshot and got off course by maybe two feet. I was in the brush, trying to get back on course and my pedal caught a branch, flipped me over the handlebars and I landed straight on my back.
Did you know something was wrong right away?
I was so pissed, I had the winning run at Rampage, and now I would have to go up and do my second run. I got my breath back and tried to move and I couldn’t move anything from my waist down and then I knew I was in big trouble. I’ve taken many big slams on the bike and I’d never experienced anything like this. I was like: there’s no way this should happen to me. No. Fucking. Way.
I started freaking out and I couldn’t move or feel anything and I knew right there that my life was going to change forever and I closed my eyes. That helicopter ride was one of the scariest things too – all the debris and dust, my eyelids started bleeding. On the helicopter they said “everyone’s cheering for you, let them know you’re OK.” And I’m like, I can’t do that because I’m not OK. I just remember crying, and thinking this was the longest helicopter ride of my life – it was only about 10 miles though.
Did the documentary do what you hoped it would?
It’s coming up on five years, and here I am doing an interview about something
local trails here in Reno, I’m able to jump a few things. I don’t ever push myself to be in the danger factor, everything I do is super-calculated and low risk and you’re never going to see me do anything crazy.
How did it feel the first time you rode a bike again?
I was pedalling a stationary bike inside for six months, but I really didn’t have the balance to ride outside. Then summer comes up and I get a bike, build it up, then the first time I rode it was for the documentary. They didn’t show it, but I actually rode to Cameron Zink’s house, he lives down the street. He freaked out, he had no idea it was me, he was shocked.
Does riding feel normal to you now? More normal than walking?
I still can’t feel my feet, so I can’t feel the grip on the pedals, the pins, the sensation, all of that isn’t there. That was a really awkward feeling, but then I started going downhill, felt the wind on my face and it was amazing and it felt like that never went away. But I don’t have any calf strength, and you need that to bunny hop. So I compensate with the muscles that are working, like my upper chest. I had to relearn how to ride a bike.
Riding was relatively easy, it’s walking that’s so much harder. You need more muscle groups. I practise walking every day, I practise my gait, practise my patterns. I wish I could ride a bike everywhere, I wish I could go shopping, go to the grocery store by bike, wish I could go to the mall and ride a bike around. I wish I could cruise around the airport, go to my gate by bike.
How do you feel now?
I’m very happy with my position in mountain biking right now, to be able to promote e-bikes and show the technology, and be in charge of global athletes for Ride Concepts shoes. There’s only eight of us in the brand but we all ride and it’s a great company to work for.
I roll for Scott, promoting e-bikes, whether you hate them or love them they’re blowing up, no question about that. And for me personally e-bikes were the best thing that ever happened for mountain biking, without them I would not be riding. Literally the year I got hurt was the year e-bikes started coming out, the timing could not have been better.
If you could rewind your life, would you do it all the same again?
Today, I don’t think I would change anything. But if you’d asked me this while I was in the hospital or a year after, I would say I would change it all. Now where I’m at today, I think I’m happy! To be able to ride a bike again, to be able to pee on my own, to be able to get around, man I’m lucky to get all that back.
Red Bull Media House is donating the proceeds of ‘Any One Of Us’ to Wings for Life, a not-for-profit spinal cord research foundation. For more information, visit wingsforlife.com