(After a few weeks of computer snafus, the blog is back!)

For those of you who read this blog regularly, I don’t need to explain who Travis Pastrana is, or what goes on at a Nitro Circus. Well, two weeks ago, Pastrana and his crew brought their live show to the U.S., in a one-time performance at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

(Practice time.) The Nitro Circus in a nutshell.

The Saturday before the show, I drove down to Pala Raceway to watch practice and I immediately knew this show was going to be something special. Some of the best BMX, skateboard and motocross stars in the world were attempting tricks he or she had never done before into the foam pit. Some were attempting tricks no one had ever landed. No wonder athletes who performed on last year’s NC tour cleaned up at the X Games. I predict this year will be no different. You can read a little more about that practice session in my weekly ESPN.com column here.

If there was one thing Pastrana and the other members of the Nitro Circus were worried about, it was whether they would be able to please a very tough American crowd. (They were!) A few highlights: Pastrana and Cam Sinclair’s side-by-side double backflips, Andy Buckworth’s BMX Superman double front flip and Pastrana’s marriage proposal to his girlfriend and skateboard star Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins. (She said yes!)

It was neat to sit in the stands and listen to people’s conversations. The next day, I wrote this ESPN.com column about what I learned at the circus. I think everyone could stand to have a little of the Nitro Circus spirit in their lives.