RIP Dave Mirra
 

Sad. Condolences to his family.
A real bike guy. BMX, RAAM, triathlons.

Saw this on Bicycling yesterday. I'm not a BMX person but its always sad to lose a fellow cyclist of any persuasion.

Yeah...wow...what's up with that? What a tragic thing to happen. RIP.

All I can add is that it would be very important to find out what drove him to that end. Would be helpful to help others in his plight

Yup, it could be useful to learn whether he experienced chronic traumatic encephalopathy as a consequence of head knocks in competition, or the meningitis that sidelined him for awhile. Most publicity about CTE now is centered on football, but there's a risk in any sport that involves impacts.

What skills Mirra had and go to YouTube if you don't believe me. The Tony Hawk of BMX.

Maybe he couldn't take it getting old and not being the star he had been in the past. That's really rough, especially since he left a wife and children to fend for themselves.

Bumping this thread because the risk applies to any cyclist, not just BMXers...

Mirra's autopsy revealed he did suffer from CTE - chronic traumatic encephalopathy - from repeated head blows.

He was confirmed to have been battling issues with concussion related head trauma. CTE. A very big deal for the sport. BMX legend Dave Mirra diagnosed CTE

Even with helmets. Repeated crashes over the course of time can really have some negative consequences. This applies to any sport where contact with the head is repeated.

I was not aware of BMXers being at risk for CTE. Boxers, especially, and also football players, sure; maybe even freestyle. Does BMX have that many crashes?

Most sports involve risks of head injury and death. Most of those occur in training and self-directed experiments to improve techniques. Same with military service. The greatest risk to military personnel is training, not combat. To be an effective athlete, soldier, Marine, sailor or airman, you have to take risks in training to prepare for the real thing.

Spectators rarely see the sacrifices athletes make behind the scenes to be the best. If you watched a typical season of supervised training, and the unsupervised experimental sessions youngsters indulge in (because they're bulletproof, y'know), it would look like an episode of Jackass, Viva La Bam or Wildboyz: youthful exuberance combined with strong bodies and reckless behaviors to achieve seemingly minor accomplishments.

Besides the publicized accidents and injuries documented about Mirra, he probably suffered dozens, maybe hundreds, of minor head knocks and concussions from body impacts that didn't involve direct head impact. Same as every athlete.

It's only a wonder that more athletes (and military personnel) don't experience the same symptoms that lead to self-destructive behaviors. That's why it's still difficult to convey to non-participants, and even to other participants, why this is a real thing.

Really sad about Dave Mirra. At least he lived a life he had a passion for.