Kelly McGarry Like You Never Knew Him Before 5

Boundless joie de vivre. It's a common theme that emerges in recollections of New Zealand mountain bike legend Kelly McGarry, who died of cardiac arrest on February 1. With his sun-soaked curly mane, his endlessly beaming smile, his universally good-natured disposition and his joyous riding style, McGarry embodied a “Life Is Good” attitude.Which is what makes watching “Peaking: Rampage — 72 Hours With Kelly McGarry,” the new documentary following his performance at Red Bull Rampage 2015, all the more bittersweet, knowing that his life would end just a few short months later. And, frankly, all the more revealing. See what we mean in the trailer above, then head on over to Red Bull to catch the full documentary:

It's evident that this is a different, more introspective, even pensive Kelly McGarry. This McGarry is coming off a devastating crash at the prior year’s Rampage when, upon landing a jump over a 70-foot canyon gap, both his wheels experienced terminal failure, crumpling beneath the 6-foot-5-inch Kiwi, a sight seldom seen in modern mountain biking. Miraculously, the larger-than-life figure arose with only minor physical injuries — but a seriously scarred psyche.

This McGarry is more hesitant, less devil-may-care, more appreciative of the limitations of his body, less willing to squander it. And while it’s tempting to reinterpret this McGarry through the lens of his subsequent passing and to imbue in him some sort of prescience about that heavy, horrible, looming fact, it is perhaps better not to.For McGarry simply could not know his fate, but he did know his limits. He grapples with them, but he is also at peace with them. And in the end, witnessing that poignant self-realization is more compelling than any backflip or suicide no-hander.