It’s Travis Pastrana, what did you expect? The all-action American hero wanted to explain his absence from this week’s Olympus Rally. What came was never going to be normal. There’s nothing normal about #199.

The guy is the closest thing to a living, breathing Superman I’ve ever seen. Which made seeing him on the first two rounds of this year’s ARA just that bit harder.

Pastrana is one of the untouchables. He doesn’t so much walk on water, as turn somersaults while levitating just above the surface. It’s who he is. Or maybe, in his words, it’s who he was before ‘Father Time’ caught up with him. Following the finish of Sno*Drift in February, midnight was closing in in Michigan and the temperature was tumbling. But still Travis stood, signed, smiled and cranked out another selfie. Eventually, however, he had to take a seat. But still the folk, the fans, they just kept on coming. And coming.

The Maryland man had a word for them all. Without fail. Finally, with the line done, TP took a final sip of beer and began the process of getting up. The cold had done its work, infiltrating a too-new knee, damaged hip, still-healing back; his was and is a body broken. Typically, there was a big grin and a joke about too many heavy landings.

But the pain was as obvious as it was deep-rooted. It hurt to watch. But he wasn’t through. He had a job to do. And that job was to find a way to match team-mate Brandon Semenuk’s speed as the series moved south to Missouri for round two.

It didn’t happen. Instead, he took another beating, with the returning Barry McKenna joining the Canadian in showing him the way between the trees too. Maybe that was enough. Certainly his comments after round two gave rise to the consideration that he was ready to call time.