Today woke like a ton of bricks for the action sports community after BMX icon Dave Mirra was found dead in his truck in Greenville, North Carolina yesterday of what appeared to be suicide. I personally new Mirra only by reputation. But I was taken by the sense of heartbreak worldwide. His death has had a serious affect on those who new him, and those that just watched his career. He was an inspiration athletically, and by all accounts, a pretty damn good guy.
The emails and phone calls started early this morning in my world as Mirra’s friends and contemporaries weighed in. There was praise for his career. Reverance for his accomplishments. But more than anything, there was just a sense that a really good friend had been lost. And most people were still asking why?
The following are a few memories of one of action sport’s greatest heroes:
“The “miracle boy” was the first icon/legend of BMX. Following in the Condor’s footsteps (Mat Hoffman), Dave Mirra not only progressed the sport of BMX by innovating amazing tricks and winning more gold medals then anyone in his time, in any sport at the X Games…. But he was able to grow the action sports industry as a whole by re-investing most of his millions into his passion of riding. Like Hoffman, but on a bigger scale, Dave started a bike company that was able to increase the strength while cutting the weight of BMX bikes in half.
Also like Hoffman, Dave built the most modern and exciting BMX park known to man and opened his doors to any motivated and passionate up and comer.
More then half of the Nitro Circus BMX riders (most of them from Australia) were given a key by Dave to his facility, rented apartments nearby and developed their skills at Dave’s park. American rider James Foster, who moved from California to North Carolina so he could improve his skills, rented an apartment next to Dave’s wear house/skatepark and lived there for four years.
After BMX, Dave continued to impress the world by taking up rally cross and making it to the top level. But Dave wasn’t content with four wheels: he loved to push himself on a physical level, way more then anything else. He teamed up with ex-motocross rider, Mickey Diamond, a superbike racer, Ben Bostrom, and a another professional cyclist and won the toughest event in the world that is “open” to everyone “RAAM” or Race Across America
He was an amazing athlete, a fighter, a car driver, a cyclist. But above all he was a father. “Be a dad, not a fad” was more the motto for Dave: he included his daughters in everything he did.
Dave was an amazing friend, a wonderful father and someone who helped anyone in need and gave way more then he ever took. I’m as heart broken as I am baffled by his passing. Dave wasn’t a quitter and I can’t imagine how or why he did what he did with everything he cared about still growing up in front of his eyes.” –Travis Pastrana, Nitro Circus
Photo: ESPN
“I moved to Greenville in 2008, after having visited once. I rented a cheap apartment, and Dave let me and the rest of the 50-plu pro BMXers that had migrated to Greenville because of him ride his warehouse/training facility whenever we wanted to. I idolized him as a kid, and have always looked up to him as a professional. He was the biggest inspiration for me and every other BMXer of my generation. I’m still unable to comprehend that he’s gone, all I can say is that I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten the privilege of being friends with him and to have competed against him, and thank him for everything he gave me and the rest of the BMX world.” –James Foster, Nitro Circus BMX rider and part of a team that attempted the first ever quadruple backflip
“I’ve known Dave since 1995. Every time I ever had with dude was a good time. I looked up to him as a mentor, a friend, an idol. I wanted to be a better person because of the man he was. He had an incredible business sense, he was a fantastic rider and a super hero. Nothing he could do could take that away from that. But he’s been dealing with bouts of depression for some time and some of us can’t come back from that. There were people trying to help him. I’m so heartbroken for his friends and family.
One of my favorite memories with Dave, I got this bowl corner (ramp) thing going and I put a different spin on it. It was the first time I’d built something personally for him. I’m working underneath the ramp and the saw exploded in my hand, I don’t know if it was a power surge or what but it burned my hand and blew up the saw. The thing exploded. It made such huge explosion (it scared Dave) and he runs back and forth three different times screaming. I ran and grabbed the saw and hucked it out the side of a door while it was flaming. I almost burned down his skatepark the first time I worked for him.
Some type of positivity will come from all this. So many people look up to Dave and he’s been such a positive influence. He was battling some demons we may never know about and was probably at his weakest point. That’s not him. Maybe some light will be shed on all this so that it can help somebody else.” – Nate Wessel, BMX rider and ramp builder for the X Games, Camp Woodward and hundreds of projects throughout the action sports industry
