“With all the leathers and the gloves and the helmet that you can barely see out of, it’s kind of shooting yourself in the foot!” Pastrana said with a laugh. “But it’s what Evel would have done.”

Evel, as you might expect, was a determinant force for young Pastrana, who said his entire life was based around the guy. “This is us trying to go as big as we possibly can on machinery as close to Evel’s as possible, giving thanks to him for starting the industry and the culture.”

More crucially for Indian Motorcycles, which is footing the bill for the three-hour TV special, the stunt is a way to incite younger people to get out and ride. Where the industry at large has suffered declining sales for years, due most prominently to an aging consumer base, pockets of passionate riders are growing like weeds around flat-track races, hooligan gatherings, and café-racer rallies.

The whole point about recreating the jumps is to show the next generation “that how all this started was from a salesman who had the brass to back it up,” Pastrana said. (Knievel famously started doing stunts to prove the worth of the motorcycles he was selling out a backwoods shop in Washington in the early ’60s.)

Pastrana said he has seen a massive change in popularity since growing up as a kid obsessed with skateboards and BMX bikes. They provide an outlet to millennials who grew up loving speed, height, jumping, and sliding.

“This old style of bike has a huge appeal for people who want to go out and want to challenge themselves and work on things themselves,” he said. “So many vehicles are impossible to work on. But these bikes are workable. You can change and modify and do everything yourself—they let you get down in the dirt, and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

Sands was rather more succinct.

“It’s as real as it gets,” he said. “There’s nothing more real than putting your ass on the line and riding a motorcycle fast.”

As for those preliminary tests, Pastrana will prepare by taking a few test runs in the dirt next week in California. And not much else. No special running or weight-lifting or even stretching, for that matter.

“It’ll be July in Vegas—I’ll already be pretty warm,” said Pastrana, who admittedly is already in exceptional shape due to a lifestyle of constant riding, racing and jumping. As for breakfast the day of, it might be some cereal or eggs. In the end, it doesn’t really matter, he said. The main thing will be not to forget to eat it.