Tyler’s turnaround

The interior of the campervan is filled with the soft hum of a portable compression kit pumping iced water around Tyler Bereman’s injured ankle. Seemingly oblivious to the pain, the 28-year-old is focused on preparing a peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich, meticulously laying out perfect slices of the fruit to finish it off.

For someone who seemingly thrives on chaos and wild times, the attention to detail, even on something as nondescript as a sandwich, shows a different side to the Californian. Despite his fun-loving, laid-back and cavalier persona, Bereman is something of a perfectionist.

Regardless of whether it’s his riding and whip technique 15m off the ground, or the way he makes his lunch, he looks at everything through a microscope. Maybe that’s why he was able to win or podium at every event he attended last year after returning from a 10-month injury layoff. Maybe that’s how he’s been able to reinvent himself from struggling pro racer to one of the most respected riders in the world, with style second-to-none.

Riding dirtbikes is in Bereman’s blood. Inspired by his father, Randy, who raced in the early 2000s, Tyler began riding at four. As an amateur, he battled with the likes