High impact: It's all about the bike

If you grew up idolising the likes of Travis Pastrana, then the idea of being upside down, 20m in the air, with 100kg of metal resting on your crotch, has appealed as much to you as it does to Nick de Wit.

This Muldersdrift native is one of the few South Africans making it big in the world of freestyle motocross and will add a South African flavour to the Nitro Circus Live Show in Johannesburg this weekend.

Featuring 40 of the world's best action sports athletes, including the legendary Pastrana, Nitro Circus is an extreme sports show in which riders perform the kind of stunts that would terrify Evel Knievel. This year's pièce de résistance will undoubtedly be the hole-in-one in which riders launch more than 15m into the air and attempt to land inside an inflatable Zorb ball.

The growth of events like the X Games and Nitro Circus is turning extreme sports into an industry worth hundreds of millions of rands.

De Wit, who does yoga to stay fit, has performed death-defying stunts for crowds across the world, but once off his bike he is as mild mannered as Clark Kent.

His mother, Michele, said: "Nick was a quiet child who never let me know how much he loved motorbikes. Only when he became a teenager did his passion begin to show. And then all he wanted to do was ride."

De Wit said of his career: "I never really planned any of it. I always just loved riding. I used to do a lot of racing and jumped, and it grew from there."

After a short stint racing, De Wit moved into freestyle motocross when he was 17 and was soon travelling the world, having become the first South African to consistently do a backflip.

"I just went for it [the backflip]. Unlike the guys overseas we didn't have foam pits [to practise with]. We had to make do with bales of hay. They were actually pretty hard but I guess it's better than landing on the ground," he said.

Danger is the nature of De Wit's job, something that does not always sit easily with his loved ones.

Said Michele: "I worry all the time that he will get hurt but have realised that he will try to perform in the safest way he can as he hates being injured and off his bike."

De Wit said: "I've had a few crashes. After the big one you always think that maybe you should stop, but after a while you come to your senses. Riding is like a drug. It's in my blood so I'll keep going as long as I can."

Despite her initial reservations, Michele could not be happier with how her son's hobby has turned out.

"I did hope he would grow out of his obsession with bikes and thought that he would just ride for fun, but his fun became his lifestyle.

"I am immensely proud of him and his achievements and that he hasn't let his success change him," she said.

• Nitro Circus will be at the FNB Stadium tomorrow at 7pm. Tickets available at Computicket