Cycling Legend Dave "Miracle Boy" Mirra dies at 41.

[combustiblefuel]

I don't know how many people outside of cycling knows who Dave was but he put Greenville N.C. on the Map setting records after records and push BMX to the world stage.

He is to BMX to what Tony Hawk is to Skateboarding.

Dave had retired from bmx to compete as a triathlon competitor and race rally cars for the Subaru Factory team.

He was a big reason I got into cycling in the 90s.

He was found in his truck and seems to have suffered from a self inflicted gun shot.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b08069c7a6b57c

Mirra made Greenville a hub for BMX riders. "We mourn the loss today of a great friend and wonderful human being who touched the lives of so many around the world with his gift. He called Greenville, North Carolina, home and was as humble a guy talking with kids on a street corner about bikes as he was in his element on the world stage,” Greenville Mayor Allen Thomas said in the police statement.

Mirra is survived by his wife and two children

R.I.P. Miracle Boy.

[habernac]

Incredible athlete. I think he had major concussion issues. I'm an old BMXer from back in the day, this is very sad news.

[Fuzz]

Well that sucks...

[GGG]

I would suspect that if they look it will be another concussion related suicide. It's crazy how many of these there are across all sport.

[Badgers Nose]

Oh no! This is terrible.

So sad he did not get some help. Such an awesome entertainer and a pioneer of BMX.

[cracher]

McGarry last week and now Mirra. This is horrible. Absolute beast of a park rider, freestyle genius.

If the speculation on this being concussion related proves correct, I hope the media brings some attention to it. He rides sans helmet in many of his videos. Anecdotally, if you go to a park around here, you only see the little little kids wear helmets. There are many early teens and older who don't protect their heads.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by cracher

McGarry last week and now Mirra. This is horrible. Absolute beast of a park rider, freestyle genius.

If the speculation on this being concussion related proves correct, I hope the media brings some attention to it. He rides sans helmet in many of his videos. Anecdotally, if you go to a park around here, you only see the little little kids wear helmets. There are many early teens and older who don't protect their heads.

He was also in a horrific car accident, wondering how much of the trauma might have been from that.

I always worry about Mat Hoffman, he's scrambled his brains I don't know how many times.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by cracher

McGarry last week and now Mirra. This is horrible. Absolute beast of a park rider, freestyle genius.

If the speculation on this being concussion related proves correct, I hope the media brings some attention to it. He rides sans helmet in many of his videos. Anecdotally, if you go to a park around here, you only see the little little kids wear helmets. There are many early teens and older who don't protect their heads.

Well he has a few videos and photo with no helmet but not very many.

90% of the time he wore his iconic bell fullface.

This is what he wore everytime he scrambled his brain.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by habernac

He was also in a horrific car accident, wondering how much of the trauma might have been from that.

I always worry about Mat Hoffman, he's scrambled his brains I don't know how many times.

He retired from bmx after he lacerated his liver at the xgames practice. It was a grade 4 laceration.


In 93 he was struck by a drunk driver while on the street . Yhe car was travelling 45MPH.

http://www.notablebiographies.com/ne...irra-Dave.html

Life changed drastically in December 1993, when Mirra was hit by a drunk driver while crossing the street. The accident left the athlete with a fractured skull and torn shoulder. A blod clot formed in his brain, and no one was sure if Mirra would live. Recovery was maddeningly slow; it took six months of medication and time off from riding for Mirra to even begin to get his groove back. He told Willoughby, "It was a setback, but something I overcame. It doesn't even mess with me at all. In life there are obstacles you have to go through. Whatever it is, youover-come it eventually." But even then, there was so little happening in BMX around the country that he found it difficult to get motivated

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by GGG

I would suspect that if they look it will be another concussion related suicide. It's crazy how many of these there are across all sport.

Officials are now saying he was most likely suffering from CTE.

UPDATED STORY LINK.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...t-suicide.html

[PeteMoss]

Wearing a helmet isn't going to prevent all concussions. Its better than no helmet, but if you smash your head you're still likely getting a concussion.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Wearing a helmet isn't going to prevent all concussions. Its better than no helmet, but if you smash your head you're still likely getting a concussion.

Ya, helmets are great skull protectors, but many concussions are caused by the brain slamming into the inside of the skull wall due to a rapid acceleration or deceleration of the head, and a helmet won't prevent that.

[vanisleflamesfan]

Wow. Shame. The much younger me thought this guy was a god. The things he did were amazing. R.I.P.

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Wearing a helmet isn't going to prevent all concussions. Its better than no helmet, but if you smash your head you're still likely getting a concussion.

New helmet designs are needed in a lot of sports. Most are designed to stop fractures, which they do. As a brain protection instrument most are all but useless, I wonder how many of us here fell right on our helmets and spent the next week trying to clear the stars.

[FLAME ENVY]

Truly a legend, very sad. Tough 12 months for BMX with the loss of Scot Breithaupt and now Dave Mirra.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by AcGold

New helmet designs are needed in a lot of sports. Most are designed to stop fractures, which they do. As a brain protection instrument most are all but useless, I wonder how many of us here fell right on our helmets and spent the next week trying to clear the stars.

I'm ignorant to the exact mechanisms involved, but is there a helmet that can stop a brain injury that's the result of a head coming to an abrupt stop? If many concussions are just the result of the brain essentially moving around within the skull more violently than it should, how does a helmet stop that?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Russic

I'm ignorant to the exact mechanisms involved, but is there a helmet that can stop a brain injury that's the result of a head coming to an abrupt stop? If many concussions are just the result of the brain essentially moving around within the skull more violently than it should, how does a helmet stop that?

Make your head stop slower, and in a more linear fashion. Think of crumple zones in a car.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Make your head stop slower, and in a more linear fashion. Think of crumple zones in a car.

They all ready have helmets that do this. They don't work much better.

[Frequitude]

The only way to lower deceleration from a given speed to zero is with distance. So in theory really really big helmets with lots of flex in the padding.

[Hevishot]

Alot of the guys I ride and race with who are prone to concussions run a 6D helmet. They are supposed to be the cats rear when it comes to concussion prevention. Unfortunately they are not cheap but whats your head worth to you?