..By PAUL MOSER Special to AllAroundPhilly.com

Though the Moto-X freestyle star was not conscious of all the trouble he had gotten himself into -- literally.

You see, a mere two weeks after saying "I do" with wife Tina, the Oregon native nearly lost his life. Though the scene is a familiar one for those in the daredevil sport of Moto-X, it will be a nightmare for the young couple as long as they live. It is an ordeal Wyatt, who recently became the first rider to successfully land and ride out a backflip, still cringes while speaking of.

As Tina watched Wyatt practice during the early hours of the morning at Las Vegas International Speedway for a freestyle demo, he attempted a double-can (a trick which requires moving two legs over the gas tank to the other side of the bike and back). Though it was a trick Wyatt had completed numerous times before, this time was different. Wyatt’s toe clipped the seat and he plummeted over 40-feet to the concrete.

The spill resulted in a two-week stint in an intensive care unit, three-month recuperation period and one very concerned wife.

"I was two weeks deep into my new marriage," Wyatt recalled. "My wife was there. It wasn’t the best of times.

"I had memory loss and would forget my left from my right every once in awhile. It wasn’t like I was drooling or anything but I just had to get my reflexes back. It put a little fright into you."

Times have gotten significantly better of late for the Wyatt family.

Professionally, Wyatt made the record books with his much-publicized backflip earlier this summer. Personally, Wyatt is the proud parent of his 11-month-old son Ethan. Financially, Wyatt appears on the brink of superstardom as the 2002 Summer X Games start this week in Philadelphia.

At least he hopes that is the case after becoming the first to complete the feared backflip — a move that may bring the young rider notoriety, an essential aspect of Moto-X competition.

"It does shed a little light on me," Wyatt explained. "To tell you the truth, everybody is congratulating me. But you get a good "atta boy" and that’s what I’ve gotten out of it. Of course it would be nice to pay the bills but I have a world record and will be in the history books no matter what. That’s coolest to me."

And, despite the fact that riders such as Travis Pastrana and Mike Metzger are rumored to be preparing backflips of their own, nobody will be able to rip the pioneer label off the personable Oregonian.

"There are not many things that even the top riders did first," Wyatt said. "I will always be the first one to do it and it is something nobody can take away."

A bigger paycheck to take would be nice too.

With a part-time construction job on the side, Wyatt is not among the biggest income earners on the circuit. It is not unusual to see the 26-year-old sleeping in his 1984 baby blue Dodge van while on the road. He yearns for the day he can make health insurance and rent on time.

"The hope is to make a career out of riding," Wyatt said. "I would probably do it for nothing but as long as you can make money at it you might as well. Some of the bigger riders own two or three houses and I’m still renting. It’s like, man, I need to get where they’re at but I have to do something different."

One would hope the backflip is a start.

As many of today’s professionals will tell you, image is everything in Moto-X. Just ask millionaires Brian Deegan, Tommy Clowers and Travis Pastrana. Some time in the near future, possibly through his backflip, Wyatt wants to become one of those bigger names.

It all started innocently for the youngster who did not hop on his first dirt bike until age 14. Infatuated with BMX riding in his youth, but even more so by Moto-X, Wyatt worked summer jobs until he could afford his own bike. With parents who were supportive, Wyatt raced, began performing tricks and the rest has been history.

In 1999 Wyatt married Tina, a registered nurse, and plans to celebrate son Ethan’s first birthday very soon. Both events have given the daredevil in Wyatt pause. Though the very nature of Moto-X is to have no fear, one cannot help but think of the ramifications of a faulty stunt.

"(Tina’s) a little overprotective sometimes but it helps when I get banged up that she’s a nurse. For sure, that’s nice," Wyatt said with a smile. "She gets real nervous but she encourages me to do it. I try not to do anything stupid and do what I can do. I try not to get under pressure to try new tricks I’m not comfortable with.

"Sometimes I felt I had to do things to win and it would backfire. She’s the brains behind the operation. She coaches me to keep calm and do what I can do with my basic stuff."

Still, Wyatt has an interesting outlook on his career as it pertains to family. While many would tone things down for family, the youngster actually concentrates his energy into bigger and better things – safely, of course – to provide for his family.

"I don’t think I take less chances, I go about chances a lot smarter," Wyatt said. "I pick and choose. I don’t just wing it and hope to land on two wheels. But, with my son, it pushes me much more. There isn’t much money in construction and if I can make money now it is pushing me better to do more. A lot of people use it as excuse not to get hurt, but I look it at the other way — I have to do it."

So far, Wyatt has.

With his breakthrough move, one that has captured the imaginations of many and caused even more bumps and bruises – the most famous being Carey Hart’s failed attempt last year in Philly – Wyatt is ready for the next step. It will most likely have to come in Philadelphia.

This week Wyatt will compete in two events. The first, Big Air, is an event where riders have three attempts to perform their best trick while jumping over an approximate 80-foot gap. The second, Step Up, where a rider takes his bike up a 15-foot-plus vertical dirt face in a high jump-like competition. In both he is considered a favorite.

"For big air and step up I’m going to go for it," Wyatt affirmed.

Doing so would be profitable, more than prize money could attest. Though collecting fame from his backflip will undoubtedly change Wyatt’s life, an X Games gold could go even further to financially stabilizing the Wyatt home.

"I feel a backflip will be a nice step toward a mortgage payment instead of a rent payment," said Wyatt, who added he is thinking of moving to California. "It makes me way easier to market, I would imagine. It’s something I wanted to do. Being the first guy to do it, being that guy, is definitely what I’m most stoked about. Then, hopefully, I’ll get more work and sponsors from it."

That’s not to say Wyatt doesn’t expect to get plenty of competition to pull off the best backflip this week.

"I don’t think a lot (of riders) will try it," Wyatt said. "But I definitely think Pastrana, Metzger and I will be the three that will do it (at the X Games)."

Even if that is so, as Wyatt mentioned earlier, nobody can take away the fact that the little-known rider from the west coast was the first.
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