The one freestyle motocross athlete in the world to consistently give Travis Pastrana fits — even back when Travis was on his A Game — is indeed multifold X Games Gold Medalist and Monster Energy-backed rider Nate Adams. Adams is simply a master climbing on a five-speed, single-cylinder, 45-horsepower, 215-pound Yamaha YZ250 motocross bike and performing acts of magic on it; be it his silk-smooth approach to each and every run he performs or going for broke and performing a prism of backflip tricks over a 120-gap.

Adams has it all — remarkable courage. As he matures as a rider and as a person, the rider from Phoenix, Arizona just plain keeps excelling, recently dominating last spring’s high profile 2008 Navy Moto X World Championships at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego and winning FMX Gold Medal, the inaugural Speed & Style Gold Medal, and the Evel Knievel Most Outstanding Rider award.