A year after Dew Tour crash, local BMX rider TJ Lavin discusses life back on the bike

By Sarah Feldberg

Monday, Oct. 17, 2011 | 2 a.m.

It’s been a year since the Dew Tour Championships crash that sent local BMX rider TJ Lavin to the hospital with a smashed wrist, fractured orbital bone and brain bleed that necessitated a medically induced coma. With the competition back at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino this past weekend—with Lavin designing the BMX dirt course—the veteran athlete reflects on the long road to recovery, his new take on the sport and getting back on the bike.

It’s been a year since your accident during the Dew Tour Championships, how do you feel on a day-to-day basis?

Day-to-day, I’m pretty good. I’m getting better everyday, hopefully. My agility and my balance haven’t come back yet, so my equilibrium is still off, but other than that I’m feeling pretty good. I go workout every day. I do Las Vegas Athletic Club or Vegas Hot, which is a hot pilates place. I’ve done physical therapy with Tim Soder. Right now, I’m riding my BMX bike around the block, so if you hear me winded, it’s because of that.

When did you first get back on your bike?

Actually, this is one of the first times. I’ve probably been on my bike 10 times since I crashed. I’m riding around the block just trying to get used to it again. It’s hard to explain, but it seems like I’m in a fog still. When I’m riding my bike it seems like it’s going way too fast for me and everything feels really weird. I really don’t know how to put it into words, but I’m hoping that it becomes natural again.

It sounds like you’re having to relearn some of the stuff that used to be second-nature for you?

Yeah, pretty much everything. I had to learn how to count money. I had to learn how to walk. Everything. It all came back pretty fast. If you told me one time how to do something—like a dime is 10 cents kind of thing—I would remember it right away. It was kind of like a refresher course on life.

How much do you remember about last year’s Dew Tour? Do you have that memory?

No, I don’t have anything at all. A week before it I kind of have blotches, because I was helping to build the course then too. I remember not being able to go in the restaurant across the street cause we were too dirty, but that’s about it.

So, you don’t remember (local BMX rider) Ty Pinney crashing while riding at your house?

Yeah actually, I remember Ty crashing the day before me. I remember thinking, I can’t believe that happened. That was the hardest crash I’ve ever seen. I went to see him that night. I remember seeing him in the bed and his face being banged up, and then 24 hours later I was laying right next to him.

What was the reaction from the BMX community to your crash?

It was pretty overwhelming. Not just from the BMX community but from the Vegas community itself. Vegas really stepped up. To have Dana White and the Fertitas, people like that in my corner, they really stepped up and helped me out. I didn’t have to pay any doctor bills or anything. They helped out totally.

Have you seen video of your crash?

Yeah, there’s lots of video of it. I didn’t really have a choice. I came home from rehab and it was on the news for me. ... Now I know it had to be because I wasn’t thinking straight. I wasn’t even doing anything. Front tire grab, nac-nac to can-can, it’s just something I do everyday in the backyard. It’s not a big deal at all. For me to crash that trick, I had to be on cloud seven or 10. I couldn’t have been thinking about BMX, that’s for sure.

Do you think Ty was in your head a little bit?

Yeah, he was for sure. Everyone who talks to me and tells me about it is like, “Dude, you weren’t even close to worrying about the contest. You were worrying about him.” I was saying, “I’m not really feeling this. I shouldn’t do this.” I had some premonition or something. I was just nervous about it. I wasn’t feeling good about it. I should’ve just hung it up right there, but, you know … stupid idiot.

Has this injury changed the way you think about BMX?

Totally. I never thought this could happen to me. I always thought I have way too much agility; I’m way too quick and I think way too quick on my feet. I’ll jump off. … I did actually put an arm out and jumped off the bike perfect, no problem, but there was a little bit too much momentum. I broke my arm, and broke my arm through, and broke my orbital on my face through my arm. If I hadn’t put my arm out, I would’ve died easy. What was I thinking? I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t know how capable of a fatal injury BMX really is.

Is there way to make the sport safer?

If we wore full face helmets, I honestly don’t think there is any way I would’ve been in a coma. I would’ve gotten knocked out for a minute maybe, or maybe I wouldn’t have been knocked out at all. But the fact that I had an open faced skate helmet on, might as well wear nothing, you know?

Why don’t people wear full face helmets?

The No. 1 reason is probably to be cool. Cause it’s not trendy yet. The reason I took mine off is because of traveling. It’s a pain in the ass to bring a full face helmet, rather than bring a skateboard helmet. You have a skateboard helmet on it’s like a hat. But if you have a moto helmet on, it’s a pain the butt. It’s hotter, the breathing isn’t quite as good, the sight isn’t quite as good, but it’s all in your head, you know. It’s a rule in my yard to wear a full face now. I just changed the law. I told the Dew Tour, “You guys should really make this a rule.” Because the guys are not going to wear it if it’s not a rule. ... Some guys say, “Oh I wouldn’t ride.” Well that’s probably good then. We’re just helping you.

I read an interview you did with ESPN where you said, “The guy who hit his head died. He’s dead and gone, and it is what it is.” Do you still feel that way?

I try to go back to the old guy (I was), for sure. I try to ride and I try to do that. But I can’t ride BMX yet. It’s just too gnarly. Our sport is way too dangerous, and it’s just way, way too gnarly for me still. I’m trying to deal with it. It sucks. It’s a hard pill to swallow, for sure. When you were good at everything athletically—you’ve just really got great agility and you can just learn and catch on real quick—to do things and be last in line is a real humbling experience.

Have there been important benchmarks during your recovery process?

My vision is a big one. I’d say its 98 percent there. It’s not 100 because when I lay on my left side all the way my vision becomes double. But forever it was like that when I was perfectly straight. ... Your eyes are like laser beams, so eyesight is a really amazing thing. If your eyes are like laser beams, for them to line things up and make them one item, it’s a different level. You completely take it for granted.

We still don’t know a lot about the brain and how it works. Is that something you’ve thought about during this process?

Definitely. The feeling of riding my bike is so strange. I’ve been riding bikes for 20 years, but I can’t explain why I can’t ride my bike right now. It’s just this feeling as if you took a wrench and tightened up my headset so my steering was gone and you tightened up by cranks so my pedaling was gone and then you got me really, really drunk or something and tried to send me down the driveway. That’s how it feels. It feels that foreign.

As you get more comfortable on the bike, do you think you’ll start riding BMX again in your yard?

That is such a big goal of mine. Ultimately, I would love to do that. It’s such a waste of space. I would love to do that, but I’m just chilling right now. I’m so happy to not be hurt. To be going through this sucks, but I’m not hurting all the time. I’m cool right now. I don’t need to be taking any more slams right now.

What advice would you give the young guys coming up right now?

Lose the cool. The cool fades, it goes away. Just do you. If you run a full face, or if you run your seat a certain way, or if you run certain pants and wear pads, you only have one body. BMX is my life for sure, but not anymore. It was forever; I really lived it and loved it. I still do, but at the end of the day, you have a really long, long life to live. If I were 20 years old again, I would never ride my bike without my pads and my helmet. I would definitely protect myself the best I could forever.

A version of this story first appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.