Head over heels

The Sea Otter Classic is a bike festival held every year at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey. Every type of bike competition you can imagine is staged at the event. Myself and a bunch of mates race the mountain bike cross country every year, (well, they race I attempt to finish.) It's 18 miles of fun with a liberal dash of hell thrown in for good measure, particularly the unending climb at the end of the race.
There are also complete lunatics like the fella in the picture above, (from the 2004 event), who attempt some insane stunts on mountain bikes. My question is, if everyone fails the first time they try something new, how the hell do these guys actually survive to be able to complete a 360 degree head over heels rotation on a mountain bike ?!!