No Jumper - The Dakota Roche Interview: Being a Pro BMX Rider for Almost 20 Years, Spot Searching & More

Episode Date: January 13, 2022

BMX legend Dakota Roche chop it up with Adam about the glory days of BMX, the longevity of his career, still doing tricks now and more!! https://www.instagram.com/dakroche/ ----- NO JUMPER PATREON http://www.patreon.com/nojumper CHECK OUT OUR NEW SPOTIFY PLAYLIST https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5te... FOLLOW US ON SNAPCHAT FOR THE LATEST NEWS & UPDATES https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_... CHECK OUT OUR ONLINE STORE!!! http://www.nojumper.com/ SUBSCRIBE for new interviews (and more) weekly: http://bit.ly/nastymondayz  Follow us on SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ENxb4B... iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/n... Follow us on Social Media: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_... http://www.twitter.com/nojumper http://www.instagram.com/nojumper https://www.facebook.com/NOJUMPEROFFI... http://www.reddit.com/r/nojumper JOIN THE DISCORD: https://discord.gg/Q3XPfBm Follow Adam22: https://www.tiktok.com/@adam22 http://www.twitter.com/adam22 http://www.instagram.com/adam22 adam22hoe on Snapchat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No Jumper, coolest podcast on the world. And today I have one of my all-time favorite BMX riders, one of the most, just the most, the longest career full of so many savage moves, somebody that I've just like eternally impressed by Dakota Roaches in the building. Thanks, Adam. Appreciate that. Not bad, right? Hey, guys.

Decent introduction. That was a, I mean, kind of hype me up a lot. But yeah, hopefully I live up to it. You're just somebody because I've been watching you for so long. I'm just always blown away. Like, I cannot believe that he's still riding at this level. Yeah, I don't know. I just feel like you find something that you're passionate about and that you value and you just keep pushing.

You know what I mean? Building on it, doing whatever. 100%. Yeah. I think the first time I ever saw you in a video or anything was the Portland low-tech trip back in the day. Vancouver. Vancouver, right. Northwest, generally speaking.

Wrong country, but pretty close. Close enough. Yeah. Yeah. When you think back to that time period, where were you at in terms of how you viewed being on that trip with all these legends and everything? That's a legendary video in and of itself. Yeah. So even being a part of that trip, like, when I think about it, I still get butterflies kind of, because that was like, like you said, it was like I was on a trip with like Mike Aiken, Jason N's, Eddie, Dee Hart, all these dudes that I always looked up to in BMX. And I was like the young kids. And even a month prior, I wasn't even on low tech at that point. Rich reached out to me on like aim or something like that. Literally it was aim.

Yeah. And he was like, hey, dude, I didn't even know, I didn't know his screen name or anything. I was like, who's this dude? He's like messing with me for sure. Right. Come to find out it's Rich. He's like, hey, dude, we want to put you on flow for low tech and get you on this trip. And I was like, dude, so mind blown.

And even so, like on the trip, I probably, I probably, I probably, probably looked either shy or confused because I was. You know what I mean? I was terrified. I was around these dudes that I looked up to so much. But yeah, I'm eternally grateful for that opportunity too. Right. Because I remember hearing that from people that that was kind of like your first time being around a bunch of pros like that, your first time really like, you know, making a video or whatever and that it was kind of overwhelming for you at the time. I forget who told me that. But they basically told me that that was totally like the first time you had really been exposed to what it might be like to be a pro rider yeah 100% and like even so like driving from portland in the van with

everybody on the way up i just remember sitting there and like you know i'm i'm generally like a pretty talkative person and like i probably said like three words the whole time because i was just like starstruck you know like it's just like dude i'm with i'm with the legends right now you know so 100% and i mean how did rich even find out about you at that time so i grew up in huntington beach but I was up in Portland, or I was up in, I lived in Washington for like a year when I was 17, which I didn't really like that much. But I would go down to Portland all the time, and I was riding with like Chet Blacksmith and Chad Johnson, who owns like Good BMX and all that.

And I think I started riding with Rich a little bit during that time too. And yeah, it just kind of worked out in that way. That was a cool time period where you could actually, somebody could kind of come out of nowhere and all of a sudden be on a company. Now it's like you're going to see them do some cool tricks on Instagram a bunch of times probably before anybody even thinks about sponsoring them. Yeah, I mean, because like even like the web video thing was like very, very new at that time, 2007, you know, 06,07.

It was like I'd seen a couple things, but it wasn't like taking over yet at that point. Yeah. Yeah. Did you have a bunch of notable web videos? Because I as the guy who was blogging all these videos, I probably had seen you in videos, but I hadn't really like put the pieces together yet. No, I didn't have any web videos until like I had like actual video parts to be honest. Right.

Yeah. Like, or around the same time, you know. I think my first like real part was for the ride video insight. Right. And that was 2007 or eight that that came out. Right. And web videos were still like in that weird zone where it was like they were there for a few years where it was like people didn't really want to film them. They're like, oh, I want to save my footage for a.

real part, whatever, and I was, I'm guilty of that, you know, like I didn't, I didn't realize the magnitude of the impact that web videos would have at that time. So I was like, oh, I'm going to stay classic, you know, yeah. All the complaints about web videos at that time, though, don't really seem like they make a lot of sense in retrospect, like, oh, it's bad quality was one of the main things of like, oh, like, you know, it's shitty quality. I don't want my video, like, downgraded to this, like, crappy format on Vimeo or whatever, because it was kind of true that a lot of videos in the transition to the internet didn't really look as good as they looked on your TV or whatever.

Yeah. Definitely a valid complaint at the time. But there was also just this idea that, like, they were just going to go away, which I guess there is a lot of truth to that because, you know, all those DVD parts still do stand out in our mind a lot more. It's a lot harder to get your web video part to stand out. But to be honest, I think, like, the Instagram clip age

really kind of like made web videos all of a sudden feel special because we're just so used to seeing new footage from people going straight to Instagram. I mean, I don't think, I think when you decide to hang up your hat riding-wise, that you'll probably look at all these recent video parts you put over the last few years as basically exactly the same thing as your DVD parts. Yeah, 100%. And I think about that too. I'm like, oh, so every time something new comes along,

the last thing becomes like the staple. So it's like social media came along and Instagram clips and, you know, posting whatever on Facebook and all that stuff. And then web videos kind of took that space that video parts like DVDs did. And not to say that you can't still have a video part on a DVD, but seeing it on the web has become equivalent to getting the DVD at this point because there's more things that have happened since then. What about like a Native Land box set or something at some point,

like just something that could kind of like be a physical moment, And so to all the work that you put in online? Yeah, I've thought about doing like even like a USB of like, you know, the four parts that I did. And the thing is it's like they already live somewhere and they're already pretty accessible. So it's like unless there's like a serious collector, which, you know, BMX has some, but it's not like huge yet. It's like I don't really see the need for it. I still like a physical DVD personally, but I might not even have a DVD player at this point. life i'm not even sure scott marceau gave me his new video and uh he gave it to me a DVD form and i

hit him up immediately like please give me a video link he's like i don't have one yeah i had to wait until he eventually got a vimeo link in order to check it out because i i couldn't find a DVD player anywhere i guess maybe i could have it here but like you know i want to watch it at my house i have either my computer i thought for sure my computer was going to have a cd drive and it did not i know what the fuck yeah i know it's so crazy and uh i don't know it's so crazy and uh i don't know, I think there's a certain level of, like, I guess, like, nostalgia we have with, like, these DVDs and these physical things, but it's like, there's, there's a limit to how strong you can stay in that. You have to just, like, at some point, you have to evolve. You have to be

like, you know what? Like, yeah, that's cool. And that's still something that could be cool to put on a DVD, but, like, get with the times a little bit. You know what I'm saying? It's like, what are you going to do? You're going to just, like, let the world, you know, continue on and you're just going to stay back. You have to go with it sometimes. Definitely. What do you think it is, and I'm jumping a little place here, but what do you think it is that really, like one thing that we've kind of always said about pro BMX riders is that a lot

of people will go super hard, kill it, film crazy shit to get sponsored. And then once they get sponsored, that desire to keep that going kind of fizzles out at a certain point because they sort of realize, like, oh, if I do 100 crazy tricks this month or three crazy tricks this month, I'm getting paid the same amount. You're somebody who I've never really seen you dial it back much. It feels like you've always found a way to keep doing shit that was really challenging to you. And from following you on Instagram, I know that it's not like you just go in here and there. No, it's like this is really what you do day to day is search for spots, film shit. Yeah, I think like I totally agree with you. It's like, you know, it's pretty sad when you

see people that have so much potential and it pushed it so far to get to a certain point. And they didn't follow through they didn't follow up it's like dude you're wasting talent you know what i mean but then again it's like you could you could leave uh lead the horse to water but you can't make them drink you know so it's like you can get somebody to that place and help them but if they don't want to keep pushing it that's not on you anymore you know so it's like i think it comes down to passion and drive and work ethic you know what i mean like for me it's like i i'm so thankful for what I have and what I've been able to build, uh, build with the people that have, you know, helped me get here that I just feel like I owe it to myself and I owe it to them to just keep

pushing, um, until the passion's gone or until I can't do it anymore, you know? I think it's like within reason that is. Like I don't want to be like, you know, I don't want to be like an old man, like worried about falling constantly or anything like that. But like I still feel like I have something to provide myself and others and I still have love and passion and drive for it so I'm just going to keep doing it. Has there ever been a moment where you felt like the passion was potentially maybe dwindling like anytime we're like you know maybe maybe this just isn't what I want to keep doing with my life. Like it's got to be kind of tempting to take a step back because of the fact that you really got to sort of brutalize your body at times. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, it comes into mind a

lot but it always has, you know, and it's like I think at that point you have to look at it like you got to look at it like what do I value in this particular situation and it's like I always value riding more than I value walking away up to this point you know so it's like I don't know I think the the mental side of everything is what ends up being a lot of people's demise you know what I mean it's like this like you know either self-limiting beliefs or like this like thought that I don't need to keep doing this or I don't want to keep doing it and it's like you know I have all those thoughts all the time and I just you know I try my best to like analyze them in a way that's helpful for me and use it for motivation you know it's interesting thing about it this way too

you you're probably many many years away from retiring from being a pro but there's probably parts of riding that you've retired over the years right like at some point you just do the biggest ice pick grind down a rail that you're probably ever going to do and you're just kind of like all right after this 25 stair, I'm just probably not going to find a 40 stair. You know, like, there's got to be a bunch of tricks that are like that, right? Oh, absolutely. I think everybody has that too where it's like you get really comfortable and progressive with like a certain trick or a certain type of trick and you do it as far as you can.

And then it's like you're content with that and then you move on. You know, that's a cool thing about riding is like you can you can evolve into any direction you want. You know, it's like even with the way your bike set up, you could change your ride. riding with that or you know you might be really into doing grinds for six months and then that's when you do the long ice pick but then it's like hey I want to you know I want to go high on a wall ride or jump a big set or whatever it is it's like kind of limitless which is what always keeps me in it I feel like right and like do you go out of your way to spice it up because I've always also been impressed by seeing you just do tricks that I know are not like your

your easiest tricks like seeing you get better and better at bar spins over the years or doing the backward manual stuff that I like, you know, at a certain point, I was like, damn, that's dope that he's actually like pushing himself in that direction because I don't remember him doing a ton of that a few years ago. Does that stand out to you as like even though you know you're not going to be the best bar spin dude that you're still going to just find a way to make sure that you're at least competent in that department? Yeah, I think so. I think it all comes down to the things that like you want to progress with or you want to be doing because I mean, sometimes I get caught up trying to learn.

tricks because I saw someone else do it and I'm like I feel like I might need to learn this now. You know, it's like this feeling of like I need to keep up with what's current in BMX. And it's like, you know, sometimes I have to dial that back because I'm like, no, like I got to do this for me and for, I guess, the people that look for my riding for what it is instead of looking to me to learn the newest tech trick, you know? So it's like, yeah, if a backwards manual starts making sense to me and I could apply it to tricks that I already like to do and I feel like it could fit into my, I guess, my trick bag, then I'm going to do it, you know? But if I see something and I feel like I'm learning it just for the sake of trying to keep up with the masses of BMX, then I need to like really like sit with myself for a second, be like, do I need to do this? Yeah. I mean, it must be a crazy thing just because like every, there's a lot of young riders who we just look at and they're just godly talented. Like somebody like Matt Nordstrom, I just see on Instagram all the time.

And I'm just like, how the fuck does this kid actually exist and ride like this? And how has he been doing this for many years? And he just hasn't got sick of it. And he's still just pushing himself so hard. That just blows me away. No, I know. And that's a thing. It's like you have these dudes and like obviously use Matt as an example.

And it's like he's obviously passionate about what he's doing because he's pushing it and he's still doing it. And you could tell he loves it. You know? So it's like people like that can take, take BMX as far as they want, really. I remember talking to like a film or a team manager at one point. And he was almost kind of bitching about Matt, which for some reason, we're using an example. Because he's like, bro, we'll go to the skate park and he'll just try a trick for four hours. And he'll be so sweaty and disgusting.

And then I have to sit next to him in the van. And I remember thinking like, oh, that makes sense because like that's actually good to know that he doesn't just go to the skate park and do that kind of trick in 20 minutes. For sure. It is a battle. Like it's not just a one and done type of thing. Yeah. Yeah. And it's cool.

I feel like even the people that are the most dialed, like I look at like a dude like Garrett Reynolds who's like up here, you know? And it's like. And does a lot of those tricks in weirdly quick amounts of time. But I'm sure his best footage is not like that necessarily. Yeah. I mean, I've seen him try things for, you know, like a decent amount of time. And, like, he always stays in it, though, and he pushes until he gets it, you know? So it's like that separates somebody from that separate.

He said, his style of riding and what he does and how progressive he is and how long he's able to stay in it is what's going to, I guess, like, stand the test of time versus other riders who they don't want to do something that's too hard. and then they walk away, you know what I mean? So, yeah. What do you think is the thing that, like, physically or like, what do you need to do to be able to still ride at the level that you're at? And I would imagine, you know, when I think about somebody like Garrett, it's like, fuck, I remember him when he was 15, 16 years old and he was one of the best riders. And the fact that he's managed to still keep his body working on this level is just mind-borne.

Yeah. No, I think there's a lot of, like, you know, physical things you need to adapt. into your daily routine like he stretches a lot he's always using the theragon and like rolling it out and eating well I think those are all things that like when you're younger when you're 19 20 you don't think about those things because you don't need them but in order to keep it going you need to start tuning up your body more often so you really see it like when you're eating really clean and everything you see it in the way that you can recover from injuries or the way you feel when you're out riding or what yeah 100% um I think that

the times that I feel the best on my bike is when like I know I'm eating well. Right. And it might be a placebo thing. It might be like, okay, I'm going to ride better because I'm eating well or whatever. But even if it is, it helps. So it is what it is, you know? But it's like, yeah, doing that and like, you know, going and getting injuries worked on with a physical therapist or a chiropractor or whatever, when you have them instead of having them linger, that's super helpful. Like those types of things are like what, again, are going to allow you to take it as far as you want.

I remember when we used to go to a simple session that we'd be looking at the people who went to bed early, like, they're just the biggest losers. Has that, like, have you had to scale back? I mean, you were never like a huge drinker, right? Yeah, no, especially, like, you know, early on in riding, I wasn't really partying or drinking at all. It just wasn't really my thing. And even so now, like, it's just, I don't know. I like waking up and feeling good. So I've kind of always been the. go-to-bed early kind of guy.

So at least I haven't had to adapt too much to that. Right. Yeah. That is kind of great. I was listening to this fucking three-hour Jamie Bestwork interview that I listened to the other day. And he was talking about being an Olympic coach and how like the first Olympic event that they went to. I'm not sure the exact timeline, but basically the team went out and like partied all night and then performed horribly the next day, rode really bad. And how he kind of like had to put his foot down and be like, no, like we're going to have.

have to really, if we're going to be in the Olympics, we've got to really treat this like the Olympics. So that just made me like, that took me back to Simple Session back in the day and just how many dudes I knew who were just outraging all night, probably not sleeping or getting like an hour of sleep, and then just going and just killing themselves on the course. And sometimes it would work out. Sometimes it would absolutely not work out.

And I mean, it's kind of weird to think about how many BMX riders really push themselves on both sides of that spectrum. Yeah. I mean, and it works really well for some people. It really does. They could party all night and then ride really good the next day. And it's like, it's all what works best for you. You know, there's no formula written out.

It's like, I mean, I look at a dude like Dustin Dolan and skateboarding. And it's like he parties really hard all the time and he skates really hard all the time. And he's been doing it for a long time. So it's like, I'm not saying everybody could be that way, but the people that can and they want to be, that's up to them. Right. It's kind of crazy because there's such a, there's such a, there's such a shock. health life on living that lifestyle, like where even, I'm not even going to name names, but there's a lot of people in BMX who made drinking and partying seem very, very cool to me at a young age. And at some point, because of like, you know, health conditions or whatever, they just had to pretty much completely stop partying. And it's like, it sucks that young kids can't really like see that that to them down the line if they keep living like that.

Yeah, I agree. I think with things like that, though, you've got to learn the hard way sometimes. It's like someone could tell you a million times, but until you actually feel it, you don't know what it is. You know, it's like until you feel what a hangover's like multiple days in a row or whatever it is, it's like, oh yeah, I'm just imagining how bad it could be. But now I actually know how bad it could be. So what are the things that you see when because I know you're kind of involved with cult on probably like the business end and stuff. I'm sure you're talking to Robbie about what riders are going to get sponsored or whatever. Like what's the stuff that really makes you look at somebody and feel like they're worth investing in these days? That's a really good question actually because we're trying to figure it out constantly because things change so so much these days.

and yeah, honestly, I think the people that stand out to us right now, the riders, are people who have that drive and that work ethic and can get along with everybody in the van. You know what I mean? It's like, yeah, you can be yourself, but you also need to accept everybody else for who they are and be able to coexist with them, you know? So it's like if you're out riding with somebody and the vibes off, then the riding's off. know so it's like you need to make sure that they fit in with the crew as well work hard fit in with the crew don't you know i guess the other thing is you have to like you have to learn from i guess the people that want to help raise you up in bmx you know like i i've known robbie for over 20 years you know and like he he helped me

with some things early on that if no one ever told me i'd probably be cooking it to this day you know what I mean. So it's like when like I guess someone who's been in it for a while gives you advice, like granted, as long as they're not like some salty old dude, it's like listen to that and be like, hey, maybe that is something I could work on or whatever, you know? Because there's been a lot of times over the years where I heard about, you know, he doesn't ride for him anymore. So I'll just use his name of the example. Like Mark Burnett when he went on his first Sunday trip and he's just, you know, like 15, he's super good at riding, but he's just talking and talking and talking and like you know and and I'm picturing in my head and the pro team is like

whoever like Aaron Ross and all these guys at the time who probably you know they've been on a million trips they know how they want this trip to go they they don't if you're annoying it's just going to really stand out and that is such a crazy dynamic for me to imagine it's funny because we in this interview we've already described you being on both ends of it where you're the OG in the van on these cult trips these days and you were the brand new kid on that low tech trip back in the day. So I actually think that your strategy, whether it was just because you were anxious or whatever, of just kind of not talking, probably a pretty good strategy because over-talking is very risky. Maybe these dudes are going to like you, but there's like a really good

chance that maybe you want to start off slow with letting them know what you're all about. Yeah, absolutely. And it's like you are the new kid. You have something to prove. Like I hate to say it like that, but in so many ways you have to, I guess, be mindful that you, you know, you have the generals of the team with you and you need to show them that you can fit in with them, you know? So I don't know if that sounds tribal or corny or whatever, but I mean, to a certain extent, it's like that. It's true.

Just because like going out riding is like that it's such an emotional thing. If you're a person who's actually trying to get footage, it's like, you know, you're doing something that's very, very sacred and important to you and just having one person whose vibe is off there for the average pro. it's just really going to have like an outsized effect on what they're trying to do that day. Isn't it crazy how that happens? It's like something as little as somebody's vibe being a little bit off could throw off the whole day of filming. You know what I mean?

It could go from a good day of like people getting tricks, having a good time celebrating to like, whatever, dude, let's just go home. Yeah, it's like it could derail it really quick. Yeah. It's really gnarly how that can happen. Yeah, like the energy and the intensity of a BMX trip kind of just determines. so much because, you know, I've known people, or I've been on the road with teams who, you know, they're up at 9 in the morning and they're out riding until 1 or 2 in the morning and they just are just on it because there's either the team manager or the filmmaker or whoever's really

like controlling the flow of the trip is basically saying, we're going to ride this much. And then there's other trips where you can almost tell that like the team manager doesn't really give a fuck and they're perfectly happy to go back to the hotel room and party as soon as it hits five or six p.m. or whenever it starts to get dark. And it's like, you know, those are just two completely different styles of doing a trip and both can happen. And it's based on like the energy of the people as a collective. A hundred percent. Yeah. I think I think when people realize that they're like accountable for how things can go and how a trip could go and how a video could turn out, that's when you start making decisions based on that. Like, hey, you know, our purpose right

now is like obviously to have a good time and be with everybody, but we also need to make sure that we get this video done and it's it's what we want it to be, you know? So it's like just being accountable for your actions and being like, yeah, I'll get a couple tricks and feel good. And then I could party and that's okay. You know what I'm saying? Because it's like I've, I've kind of fulfilled the need that's asked of me, you know? So what's your preferred style of those? Like are you the type of person who's down to stay out with the generator and the lights until two in the morning? Or do you prefer to like, if we're going to get out at 11, maybe let's do like eight hours and we'll be back by seven? Because there's something to be said for being extreme and there's something to be said for keeping a routine that you can maintain.

Yeah. I'd say the majority of the time, I like the early start, ride till dark or whatever. And then have like the night to relax and like recover a little bit, get a good night. sleep and then do it again. The generator stuff starts, I think, in some ways, like, becomes like, it starts, like, messing up the trip because it throws the schedule off sometimes, you know, because if you're not back from filming until three in the morning, you're going to sleep most of the next day, you're going to be shot. And then you almost have to get on, like, you have to make the decision. It's like, we're going to get on, like, a night schedule

and keep, keep this going or stay on the day schedule, you know? So, because if you do both, you're, you're going to be shot in like two days, three days tops. Yeah, so. Definitely. But I mean, I always think about like when you have that one young kid, the like 16, 17, 17, 18 year old kid who's got like crazy energy and is down to ride all night that a lot of times I've seen that basically like motivate a bunch of older dudes to just keep up with that. But you're right that like if you're getting back from riding three or four in the morning,

then your odds of like being up and ready to go at 10 are just like much, much less. at some point that sleep or whatever that people need to catch up on is going to catch up to you. Yeah, you're going to feel like shit if you do that. Yeah, definitely. What about the spot searching part of it? Like, was that always a thing to you, or was there a time that you could identify where looking for spots really started to matter to you? Yeah, I think it really, it's kind of always been a part of my riding, but like I think in the last like 10 years it's gotten to, it's more so like a I look at it now as like it's almost meditation for me it's almost like like a

like a good thing for my mental health you know it's like I get up you know have some coffee listen to music or a podcast drive around find spots and it's like it's like I don't know it's almost like ceremonial at this point you know like I I really enjoy that and I realize how beneficial it is for like my mental health and um just my well-being so um and I get to to, you know, do things that I care about. I'm like, I'm finding spots and then I get to go back on the weekend and go film at those spots that I found, you know, it's like, it works out really well. How organized with it are you? Because that was one thing. I always liked looking for spots, but my brain was never organized enough to be like, okay, today we're going to go look at this area.

And I've known riders who were like that over the years, though, where like they would pick a city or pick a part of town and just like really comb through it and really feel comfortable by the end that they had seen everything that was to see. Like, how meticulous with it are you? I'm more on that side these days. Like, I'm pretty meticulous about it. I have an app that tracks your route. So, like, I'll, like, go, all right, I'm going to go to this industrial pocket. Wow. And I'm going to go down every street, you know? So it's like a, I don't cover as much ground, but at least I combed through it really well, you know? So, but then other times, I'm just like, dude, I'm just going to go, I'm going to go with it. Like, I'm going to go turn right here, left here, right? Like, I just kind of, like,

just wing it, you know? But both formulas work. Right, definitely. But are you like super confident that there's almost nothing for you to find in your general area? Like, do you have to travel a pretty decent amount at this point? Since I'm sure you've combed through your area over and over. I always think that.

But then I get humbled, dude. Sometimes I'll see something that's like within five minutes in my house and I'm like, or maybe not that close. That's pretty damn close. Yeah. You know, 15, 20 minutes where I'm like, oh my goodness. like how on earth did I not find this, you know? So it's like, you know, it's, you get humbled by it sometimes.

But I do generally, I'm like, I have to drive an hour to get to or further to get, because even the hour zone, you know, whether it's like San Bernardadino or like even up here, Burbank, Glendale, like it's like there's still stuff to be found, but I feel like I've been to those zones so many times that I'm over searching in them right now. Yeah. So. Yeah, man. You have experiences where there's like something that was,

weirdly close to your house that you just ignored and just never looked down that one street over and over? Yeah. Yeah, I have stuff like that. Interesting. Yeah, it's super strange. I think, too, there's just like, even like, think about like a medical complex or a business complex. It's like you can drive by it a million times and be around it a million times, but until you actually go in the corridor and there's like, oh, there's these perfect ledges in here, you know? you might not know until you go in there. How motivated are you to work on spots?

Like I've seen you bondoing stuff and like fixing ledges and shit. Like how often do you do that and how motivated would you say? Are you down to do that to just get one clip or do you usually want it to feel like it's a spot that's like worth sessioning in order to put some work in on it? Both. Yeah, for sure. Like I'll fix a spot to get one trick for sure. But then also sometimes I fix things I don't even feel like riding just for the sake of fixing them because it's like, I don't know, the more spots, the better for people, you know?

So it's like a sometimes I consider it like community service, so to speak, for like skate and BMX. Because it's like I know how beneficial these things are for people, especially because how weird the world is right now. It's like to have something like skate and BMX in your life and to have more spots to do it on is just going to help everybody. Definitely. Do you, do you feel like you're primarily looking for spots for yourself or do you, do you, because like I remember when I started hanging out Garrett Reeves, all of a sudden, I became like a guy who was looking for wall rides. I'd never really like I'd always been like looking for little shit to grind or whatever. And then I just started hanging out with him.

And all of a sudden it's like, oh no, I can see like a little four foot bank and a wall 20 feet away. And that's a thing that I need to actually remember now. Yeah. So yeah, I think I ride with so many different people with so many different styles that I'm always like keeping my eyes open for everything. Because it's like something that might not work for me could be perfect for somebody else, you know? like and plus like that's that's kind of the point like I want to like I want to be able to I get just as excited when I take somebody to a spot that I found and they get a trick at it and they like the spot then the same as if I did it you know what I mean I'm like oh that's so sick

like it worked out for you I'm happy that everything was worth it now you know so yeah I remember there was a road fools trip back in the day where they went to Miami I think and they fucking put on like a slow sad song and they were like sort of talking about how everything and the whole city was capped and it was just like oh this is a sad look at what the future of street riding might be like um and it's true that like you know a lot of spots I go to are capped and I'm like oh fuck I remember somebody did something on this real 20 years ago and it's probably been capped since then how depressing is that do you feel like that is a sad state of affairs or is that just kind of a negative way to look at it that road full scene is so depressing by the way

I seriously just watched that. It's Road Full 7. I watched it like a month ago, and it's all Super 8, slow song, like security guards and caps and this and that. But yeah, it's pretty depressing. But I think the crazy thing is, like, as with everything, BMXers and skateboarders are like evolving to like overcome those things.

It's like, cool, we're going to take a cap off if we need it gone. Or we're going to bondo this if we need it bondoed. And, you know. Follow the knobbuster on Instagram? Yeah, I follow him. That's motivational. That makes me want to go out and take caps off things, just seeing how I'm motivated he is. Yeah, no, it's crazy.

It feels good to get something running, you know? It really does. So I'm sure that's, like, part of his drive is like, dude, he takes the caps off a spot, and then Nige gets five tricks on it. It's like, cool is worth it, you know? It's all just part of building this overall story of BMX and skating. Yeah. And I think, too, there's, like, something special about.

like being able to um i don't i'm trying to be an example in as many ways as i can you know is again that might sound corny to some people but it's like if someone sees me and they see that i'm out spot searching fixing spots riding a lot it's like i hope that's motivating for those people to have that because you know i know i keep going back to it but these are things that are good for your your mental health as well good for your brain to have that to have these like things you're passionate about. So if someone could see the stuff that I'm doing and get inspiration from it, I want to keep doing it. Right. I remember maybe 2010-ish era sort of realizing that I felt like the new generation of kids didn't give a shit about like real true street riding and spots the

same way that maybe my generation had based on like the animal videos and shit like that. And I started to realize like, oh, a lot of these kids really just want to see. tech plaza shit because it's super relatable and they feel like they could go and learn this stuff and that bummed me out and you know kind of felt like I had to sort of try to work around it but you know there was videos from that time period that I just remember that I thought were the sickest thing ever and just seeing them not really get that much attention and it was kind of a bummer um how do you feel about where the average young BMX kid is at in terms of appreciating those things like spots and finding spots and shit like that yeah no it's it's it's

a lot more rare these days than it was because I know what area you're talking about. That's when I was coming up riding too and really enjoying it. Like literally like it's, I'd say maybe 10% of riders care about spots. They just like,

here's a thing. It's like, obviously tricks are really important. You need to work on those. You need to do things that you feel like fit in your trick bag or whatever. But spots are just as important most of the time, in my opinion, because it's like, if you use the spot correctly,

that's even more of a trick than just doing the trick on something else. You know, it's like, whoa, you use this, this and this and this. Like, that's special. That takes like, take some brain power and it takes like some passion to figure that out, you know? So it's like personally, and I hope that doesn't sound like I'm not downplaying any of the, the tech stuff that anybody does or any of the, I guess, stock eight stair handrail stuff, people do because that stuff's impressive as well. But I think personally I'm drawn towards the riders that use the spots of the full potential. And hopefully, again, like, you know,

I think there's enough dudes that are doing that right now to where it's going to continue to live on. You know, I hope it doesn't fade away. 100%. You've always been somebody who was really fascinated by skateboarding and paying attention to that culture and everything. How do you feel like BMX and skate culture, the overall strength of these different subcultures, like, where do you see that at? Because it's been kind of a crazy thing to witness throughout my life, seeing skateboarding. And I felt like BMX and skateboarding were almost kind of in a similar place when I started riding. It might have just been me being young thinking that, but we sort of seen skateboarding just, like, explode and become this massive thing in fashion and the culture as a whole. And then BMX, sometimes it feels like it's kind of been sidelined a little bit in the sense that it just,

didn't really get that same boost over the years that skating got. How do you think about that? Yeah, I think you're right for sure. And I do think skateboarding's kind of always been a little bit ahead. I think that in some ways, it's a little bit more accessible because it's cheaper than a bike. But then again, sometimes I don't feel that way because I'm like, everybody has a bike growing up. It's almost like, hey, you're, you know, you're five years old now. You're going to get a bike, whether it's a BMX bike or.

not like you can still use it for something you know but i think skateboarding too just has like a it has such like a cult following day and it's it's just a it's like you know 10 or 20 years ahead of bmx and i like i'm not down playing bmx because i love this shit you know um but i think the people that want to get and i also think that there's people in skateboarding that look out for skateboarding And in BMX, we don't really have that. We don't have, like, I guess, some head honchos, so to speak, to, like, kind of navigate the ship and help make sure that it's on the radar of bigger companies and, you know, maybe, like, Gucci needs a BMX or, like, it's like, they're not getting those.

They're getting skateboarders because skateboarders are in their ear as well, you know what I mean? And skateboarding looks cool, you know? So it's like... It definitely looks cool. It's definitely more of, like, a sense that it's just, like, a guy. and then there's like this little skateboard that's at the bottom, whereas like a bike is like the bike is big and the guy is big. So it's like he's really riding that bike. Whereas like in some sense, I feel like aesthetically skateboarding just looks like a guy who's just standing there going really fast.

And yeah, he happens to be standing on this piece of wood. But it's like there's something about that to the average person's eye that is just sort of shocking and just really cool, I guess. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, it looks like surfing. Like, you watch people surf and it's just like, they're just flowing, you know? And you could do that on a bike, but I feel like it's harder to look good on a bike than it is sometimes. You know what I mean? Yeah, I don't know.

It's my opinions could be super bizarre to some people, but. But do you ever, did you ever, like, when you started really riding, were you also skating at that time period? And you just always took bike riding more serious? I started skateboarding when I was three. Oh, okay. And then I didn't really get into BMX till I was nine. But for like probably from nine to 12, I did both equally, like back and forth, back and forth. And then BMX kind of took over.

And I think the main thing was for me, I felt like I can catch more air on a bike than on a skateboard. And I was like, I just want to hit jumps and launch off stuff. Like there's nothing better than feeling like, I guess like weightless or whatever, you know? And it's like you could, you could really, you can get high on a bike. and it was harder on a skateboard. It's weird when I think about it. There was definitely a time period when I was like 13 where I definitely could have become a skater

or a BMX rider. And it was really like the transportation thing that did it from me was like, oh, I can like get like 10 miles away from my mom's house pretty easily. Whereas with a skateboard, it's like if you want to go like a mile or two, it's a pretty exhausting experience.

Yeah, that's such a good point too. And like I think that's why I feel like there is like, I'm thinking, about like when I was in middle school or high school, there was like BMXers that, or there were just people that, um, got BMX bikes for Christmas and they didn't know anything about it, but then we'd see them at the bike locker and be like, dude, you have a BMX bike. You want to ride with us? You know?

So it was like there was that. And, uh, you know, they could have just gotten it just for transportation to and from school, but now all of a sudden they're part of this. You know what I mean? Which is pretty cool because skateboarding doesn't really have that that much, you know, because you're not using it as transportation. much. Right.

No, 100%. I always think about how it's interesting how, like, society kind of comes up with different styles of bikes, like throughout my life that'll pop up as like things that people are interested in for a period of time. Like I just saw that with the fixy wave. Nowadays, like the wheelie bikes are like a really big thing. And that always just really stands out to me. It's like, oh, the bicycle as a entity is never going to go away.

And our culture is just always going to find different takes on it over. and over and BMX is one of those and we have to like figure out how to act in its best interest because we can all agree that it is the best and that we want to encourage kids to learn all these tricks and like these tricks just cannot be lost to time no please keep the legacy going kids please um no that's such a good point and skateboard skateboards can't really um evolve and change as much as bikes can you know what i mean there is different sizes like you could have longboard, but like the majority of people think that's kooky or it's transportation at your college, you know what I mean? But bikes, there's like, like you said, there's wheelie bikes,

fixed gears, BMX bikes, mountain bikes, road bikes, gravel bikes. There's so many different types of bikes that I wonder if that's also part of the problem is like we have, they have one thing and we have like 10 things that are all categorized as bikes, you know, so I don't know. I never thought about it until this conversation. So I could be way out of it. a left field. Yeah, definitely. Well, I don't think you're out. But yeah, thanks, Adam.

Yeah, definitely, man. Now, but like, I just, it's interesting how, like, you know, BMX is so, has gotten so technical. It's gotten to the point where it's, like, it's very hard for the average, like, young rider to do something that's considered impressive just because we've seen so many insane things over the years. And then there's, like, the fixy thing was just kind of like, oh, no, like, here's an opportunity for another generation of bike riders to do, like, really.

really simple tricks and actually get a claim for it. And the same thing with the wheelie thing is that it's like, you know, I'm pretty sure if you, like, devoted the next month to doing wheelies down the street that you'd be able to probably do most of the stuff that these kids are doing. I don't know, man. Dude, I saw a video. Like, I'm sure there's a lot of them, like, one swerved, like, right out the side of the semi.

Yeah. Dude, that was gnarly, man. I wouldn't be doing that. That's gnarly, but I also think it's very socially irresponsible. It's pretty, like, think about how traumatized that truck driver is now. He's like driving around. I'm like, dude, I got to worry about this now. Although I remember being with a black man back in the day in New York,

and the way that he would ride a bike was pretty much like the definition of socially irresponsible. Like, he would... Jumping on cabs and stuff. It would blast towards like a full, like, multi-lane intersection. And just he was, like, so in tune with his bike that he would just spot the opening and just blast through it and not even stop or consider... And that was such like a show of bravado at that time where, like, it was his way of, like, letting everybody else he was riding with know that he was the man. He didn't have to do a big rail that day or whatever.

It's like, no, the way I go through this intersection as if I don't give a fuck about my own life is the way that I'm going to let you guys all know that I'm really out here doing it. That's a really good point, actually. Yeah. Yeah. I think, yeah, sometimes there's people like that that are just like, you can tell that they, like a dude like black man, it's like he, he, he loves. riding and he would want to do it like even if he wasn't going to grind the rail he's just going to

like zigzag through and it's like any way to get that like rush you know what i'm saying it's like and i think that's cool about bmx is like you're you're constantly looking for that high you know what i mean it's like oh dude like i know if i land this or do this scary thing i'm going to feel good you know yeah with him it was crazy because and that was one thing i really liked about new york was that you're riding everywhere so it's like the the actual act of riding a bike is inseparable from the tricks. Like, yes, you're going to go to a spot and put your backpack down and ride and everything like that, but there was a lot of times

where we'd be out and, like, he would just hit this rail hop while we were riding on the street, and it would be the kind of thing that it wouldn't be that big a deal if everybody, like, set up and put their shit down and they were sessioning it, but he would do it, like, going 20 miles per hour down the street with hell of people around, and like,

he's narrowly missing this old lady that's walking by, and it's just like, that just stood out to me so much. It's like, this is like a real bike rider right here. This is somebody that this is just indistinguishable from, from anything else. Yeah.

And when you experience something like that, it's like really special. You know, it's like, I remember like going out street riding with people like, you know, around Huntington when I was like 15, like kids that had been riding longer than me.

I didn't really know them. I was pretty like, I guess intimidated by them. Like we'd just be riding down the street and I'd watch them grind a handrail or something. And I'm like, dude, I've never grinded a handrail.

This is insane. and they didn't even look at it. No one's filming, nothing. Just grind the rail, you know? It's like, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I'm always fascinated by also, like, tricks that people were really good at at a certain point. And then it's, like, BMX kind of, like,

doesn't seem that interested in it after a certain point. Like, they just sort of let that person have that. Like, not that he was the greatest of all the time in it, but I used to, like, go film that dude Rory Ellis a lot. Oh, yeah. He had never been hurt, really. Yeah. So he was really good at doing tire rides,

but he didn't have like a normal like rational fear of doing tire rides because he was really good at it and he hadn't gotten fucked up doing it and like sometimes when i think about shit that i saw him do like 10 years ago i'm like i don't know if i could really expect anybody else to do that right now just and and that just like when you're really really good at riding it's almost like a superpower and and there are certain superpowers that it would be reasonable to assume that maybe nobody else is going to really get down that crazy for some time yeah yeah 100% you brought up a good point like with the like he never experienced like it going wrong so it's like it wasn't even in his mind he was just going to do it and when you're in that state that's when you ride the best because you're like I'm not worried about if this is going to work or not I'm just I'm doing it because I know I can more so you know and it's like that's the one thing that like I guess gets frustrating for me is like you know the older you get the more you're thinking about things before you're doing them because it's like it's like dude like you know I want to want to be able to continue riding as long as I can and I don't want something to interrupt that like an injury or me misjudging this gap to whatever and getting hurt. It's like that's, I think, that's the hardest part about like pushing it further. You know what I mean? Because when you're younger, you don't think about that stuff as much. I didn't, I wasn't scared on my bike, like really at all until I was like 25. Really? Yeah. Like I just like, obviously I'd have like rational fears of things. but like I was so confident in what I was doing

and I didn't overthink anything and I felt like it worked out way better for me now than now I'm like I overthink everything and it kind of takes some of the fun away. So I've been trying to like learn how to mitigate that a little bit. Yeah, what's been helpful in terms of you being able to kind of turn the anxiety off and just be in the moment in terms of what you're trying to do?

I'll tell you when I figure it out. No, honestly like, you know, I'm, I try to be an advocate for like good mental health stuff. Like I, you know, I see a therapist. I talk to somebody, specifically it's called a cognitive behavioral therapy. And it's, uh, it's essentially like learning how to create like new neuro pathways and ways of thinking. Um, because sometimes the old ways of thinking don't serve you anymore. Like, you know, like me, like being at the top of the stairs looking at a 20 stair rail, just thinking about all the bad things.

could go wrong. It's like instead of like continuing to, I guess to interact with those thoughts, like, oh yeah, that might happen or this or that. It's like you could look at it and be like, you know what? Yeah, there's a possibility of that, but I value progressing on my bike. So I'm going to push through this. You know what I'm saying? So essentially it's just like it's, you know, you have bad thoughts and not taking them so seriously and pushing through. So like I've been having to do that a lot more than I used to. Right. Just sort of take control of that, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

I think anybody who's operating at a really elite level for a long period of time, that kind of thing is very likely to happen, where you start to sort of develop unnecessary connections between behaviors and when you're expecting yourself to be able to perform, a lot of that stuff just becomes tricky. It becomes hard for you to sort of just go about it as simply as it really is. Yeah, no, that's a thing. It's like when you're a little bit more careless,

when you're younger, things work out so much better, you know, than when you're a little bit older and you're overthinking everything. Because when you take your brain out of the equation, it's like you can, I'm confident in my ability to decide what I can do and what I can't do at this point, you know? So sometimes I talk myself out of doing things, even though I know I can do it, because my brain is just so loud. It's telling me like all the bad things that could happen. You know what I'm saying? So it's like I've really had to be, I've had to work on that to where I can push through it and just do it. You know what I'm saying?

Right. So. One clip that I wanted to mention I saw from the other day that just really struck me as like a really bizarre thing that I never would have expected anybody to do. And for people who want to see it, it's in the Colt San Diego video, but there's just like a big tall ledge and then there's like an awning over a door, this like blue piece of transition. And you actually like go at it and like bump your tire, kind of like ride up a little piece of transition. and then like ride down and then it's like a eight foot drop or whatever. It was like really high.

That just struck me as like such a bizarre spot for you to notice for you to the end for you to then do that. And for you to feel the need to balk your tire on the way in instead of just jumping into it. Yeah. How did that go down? It's funny. So shout out to Dane Berman. He's a professional skateboard. He's a friend of mine.

He, uh, him and I trade spots like all the time, you know. So, um, anyways, we are. down there. So I hit him up. I was like, hey, like, you want to come skate with us while we're riding or whatever. So him and Chris Cole met up. And we were just cruising around and we were kind of running out of spots in Oceanside. And he's like, oh, I have this thing up the street if you want to check it out. So he took us up there. I was like, dude, this thing's so sick. And I guess some skaters have allied into it also. Yeah. But it was a weekday. It's out of post office. The post office was open. And I got up there and I had heard that someone might have jumped into it already on a

bike. So I was like, I'm up here and I really want to do this, but I'm not trying to like just do the same thing someone else did. I was like, I'm going to try and wally up into it. You know what I mean? So I like checked it to make sure it was sturdy, but I knew I couldn't jump into it more than once because we were going to get kicked out. It was out of post office during the week. It was loud when you went into it. Yeah. So I was like, I have to just do this. I didn't even get to jump into it. I just went straight for the wally and do it. Yeah. And I was really happy it worked out. Yeah. That's awesome.

Okay, another one I wanted to ask about is like your Ender and your most recent section where you do this fucking crook and then you just hop over and like dive into this massive kinkledged and you're going so fast that you look like you almost kind of lose control at the end and you sort of like blast past the last kink of it. Like that seemed like kind of a distinctive clip because it was just definitely something where things could go horribly wrong and you probably were imagining it going wrong multiple times. As soon as I saw you doing it, I'm like, oh, my God, I can't imagine what he was thinking when he was up there trying that. What's your mentality on doing like a real banger like that that has a lot of risk involved? Yeah, that one was, I was terrified. I was really scared, and I had to push through all kinds of anxiety around that one. But, like, you know, it was strange because I, at that moment, I was like, I was accepting what could happen. I was just, you know what?

Okay, that can happen, but I'm going to push through and I want to do this, you know? So, you know, I had thoughts of falling over the thing as I was doing it, you know? So, yeah, needless to say, I was really happy that I didn't die and I rode away. And yeah, so, yeah, it's just, I don't know. I think sometimes you get in that zone where you're like, I want this so bad and I know I can do it if it works out that I'm willing to accept dying if I need to. You know, risk and reward might go in the favor of you sometimes versus like, no, that's too risky. I don't want to do it. That's a funny trick, too, because if you had a break on your bike, it's not that scary, right?

Yeah. Oh, dude. You could just slow down a little bit. It's not that wild. The first time I just rode down the thing without doing the grind popover, I almost died. Like, bars turned on the last kink. Like, it's, dude, it's fast. It's really fast.

Yeah. So that's what I was scared of. I was like, I might even land the trick, but when I get to the end, like, like turn my bars wrong and die, you know? So, yeah, I don't know, man. It's like, it's weird. As much as I hate the downsides of riding, like the fear and all those things, it's like, it's motivating at times.

And that was a time where I was like, dude, I'm down for it. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I felt like I was about to get in a fight. I was like, I'm down. Like, let's do it. Yeah. At this point, you feel like you're always filming top tier stuff. you're always filming for projects you actually give a shit about or everything anything that's like

something that you're not actually that you don't think is that cool could be like iPhone clip or something you put in your story or whatever because remember there's always that like oh we're gonna do like web edits versus like video parts thing but I feel like at this point the web edit clips are all just maybe some stuff you just put on your iPhone yeah I think um I think these days like that's one of the hardest things is like kind of I want I want their to be a difference between what is in like a web part or a video part and what's on my Instagram and what's on the story. You know what I'm saying? Like you need to have things for each of those things. You got to feed all the monsters, you know? So it's like sometimes I'll

start filming something for Instagram and I'm like, oh, if I add this to it, like this would be like I'd be really stoked if this was like a real trick for my part. You know what I mean? So it's a case by case spaces is all I'm trying to say is like, you know, and if it's a trip video, like, obviously, you don't want to do something that's going to take three days to land, you know? It's like you have to do things within reason. So case by case, you know, I think, I think the more flexible you can be with like, okay, this is, this is okay that this is going to here. This is okay. This is for Instagram. This is okay. This is for a video part. And like, I guess being able to differentiate all of those things and figure it out on your own, like,

I think the more content you are with your riding. Definitely. I remember there was a pro who I went on a trip with and he tried a trick for like eight or nine hours. And that was just the whole day. And it was just like a really weird experience to see somebody like monopolized the whole day like that. And I mentioned it to some other pro. And he's like, oh, that motherfucker did that on a trip with me too. And he's like, oh, this is like a real personality type.

Like, like, because I would, you know, I've never a pro or whatever. But yeah, I would probably feel pretty guilty if I was making the whole team wait around for more than, you know, a reasonable amount of time. Yeah, I think, I think that comes into play a lot because even sometimes, like, five tries in, people are like, oh, I'm sorry. You know, I'm sorry to the filmer or sorry to the crew. It's like, hey, dude, five tries is chilling. You're good. Like, if we're here for five hours, then like, all right, man, like, maybe we can come back tomorrow kind of thing, you know, so. But I think once you get to the level, most people anyways, where you're on on trips and you're filming, you are, you're aware of. You're aware of. You're aware of. You're, you're

like, okay, this one's going to take me too long. It's not worth it for this particular scenario. If I come back with just a filmer for another project, then that will be the time I do it. But I'm with six other people and everybody's like really excited to ride. So I got to be mindful of that, you know, so. Definitely. Is there anywhere that you haven't been yet that you still really want to go in terms of riding? Yeah, dude, a lot of places in the U.S. I've still never been. I've never been of Boston. I've always wanted to go there. Yeah. Only place in Texas I've really ridden is Austin. I want to go to some other cities in Texas. Yeah, I mean, a lot of the East coast. I mean, I've spent a lot of time in New York and Philly, but that's really it.

Like, I would love to explore more of the East Coast, you know? So. How did COVID affect your riding? It just make you sort of like double down on looking for shit around California more than anything? Yeah, I actually look back on those, like, we're still in it right now. But like, Like I look back on those early times and it was like, obviously it was like the world felt so uncertain and everything. But one thing that stayed constant for me was like going, I could do it alone. I was going out spot searching. I was going out riding. I was finding things.

And I think ultimately, like taking a break from traveling during that time was really beneficial for me too. Like getting in a little bit of a routine. I filmed probably some of my favorite things I've ever filmed during that time because it was like, everything seemed, first of all, so uncertain. So it's like you want to do everything you can with the time you're allotted kind of thing. The aura in the world as a whole around that time did feel fucking crazy. I went out riding a couple times with Began where there's just like barely anyone around in areas where normally it's just nonstop people. And like we were like hop up fences to go riding schools.

And it really felt like we were doing something bad, like just by leaving the house. I know. That's a thing. There was like that big guilt. Like I felt guilty being by myself in my car sometimes because I'm like, am I going to get someone sick or whatever? But I think the last time you and I rode together was like right. Yeah.

Dude, it might have been like the beginning of March. Like I remember hearing like things about COVID, but it wasn't really a thing yet. Yeah. Yeah. Writing a E-LAC or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I forgot about that day. I want to say like we might even someone in the in the group had mentioned it was going on. And we were just like, oh, yeah, whatever, you know. And then like two weeks later. it was just locked down, you know? Yeah. Like, I follow, you know, there's just like a random podcaster who I really respect in terms of his medical advice and everything.

And he shut down his, like, tour dates. Like, he was supposed to do something in South by Southwest. And he shut it down, like, in February. And I remember just thinking, like, what? Yeah. Like, this motherfucker is serious. He's shutting his events down because of this, like, this can't be that big a deal. And, like, three days later, I was just like, oh, fuck.

like he didn't have to shut it down. Like it was already, it was gonna be shut down. Yeah. It was just everything just changing so much in the moment. It was so weird. I mean, between seeing like the signs on the freeway that, you know, the changing ones, it said like, stay home and this and that. Like you're driving on the freeway and you see a sign that says stay home.

You're like, dude, what is going on? Like, yeah, so yeah, that was, that was a really crazy time. But you got to use it to your advantage. You know what I mean? Like went out spot searching and, you know, not downplaying all the people who we've lost during this time or anything by any means, but like there is things about it that I look back on them. I'm like, I'm thankful I use that time for these things.

Definitely. When you think about how you might, like, do you ever just sort of play out retiring in your head from time to time? And just think about what it would be like and what role bike riding might play in your life or how you might want to, like, would you want to still be involved in the industry? Would you want to do something totally different? Yeah, I think about it for sure. because I mean like, you know, I've been doing this for a long time and I'm, I still feel very much in it and I want to push it as much as I can. But like you got to be mindful of what's coming up as well. You know, I don't want to, I don't want to just be caught without any sort of plan when when BMX checks run out or whatever it is, you know. So it's like I've honestly like I just try to learn everything I can from every experience that I'm in. If I have to be in a meeting or if I have to, you know, I'm a, I don't have an agent. So I manage all my own deal. so like even learning how to, I guess, email and be in conversations where someone could take you serious.

Like I'm taking all those steps to where when this is over, I have some life skills as well. You know what I mean? And I mean, honestly, I work really closely with people at vans outside of like, I guess, like the BMX team and BMX team managers doing like, I do some graphic stuff for them from time to time, some design stuff, and then like, you know, even just like being a part of like events that they throw that aren't necessarily related to BMX. So I guess getting, you know, getting my feet wet with that stuff has been super beneficial and motivating for the future, like maybe being involved with vans or sometimes I think about managing a few athletes because I feel like, you know, I have ground level experience with it, but also I understand. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,

I try my best to understand the business side of things. So I feel like I could, you know, invest a little time into learning more about business. And then it's like I'm able to make sure people get what they deserve and make sure people could take their riding as far as they'd like to. I would assume you probably feel pretty happy about the fact that you got on board with Colt early on because it feels like we've seen so many BMX brands just totally fuck it up to one level or another over the years. And not to mention kind of just, you know, take their. team that they've had for years and sort of throw it by the wayside. That's got to feel like a pretty big part of why you're still pro or why you still are riding so intently is just because all that stuff is pretty on point, I would assume.

Oh, yeah. I mean, like me and Robbie have been close for so long and, you know, he's close with the rest of the team as well. And to be able to continue building that brand and be a part of it from the get go, it's like now I see kids I don't know riding down the street. and they're riding cult bikes in my neighborhood. And I'm just like, dude, this is like, it's still pretty mind-blowing to me. You know what I mean? And it's like everybody worked really hard to help get it to where it is,

and we're going to continue to do that. And, yeah, I think, I think I look back on it sometimes, and I'm like, I guess I didn't necessarily know how risky it was to take that leap because I believed so much, you know, I was like, dude, Robbie Dehart, Hawk. Like, we have AK. I was like, we have our dudes. Let's do this. You know what I mean?

We're going to be able to build whatever we want. And now I look back and I'm like, whoa, like, yeah, that could have, like, granted, all these people are great. Like something horrible could have happened, but it didn't. And now we're here and it's incredible. And I think, you know, being mindful of the achievements and being thankful for those things up to this point, but also still having, like, passion and drive to continue to build it is, like, crucial, you know? Yeah, like when I look at why I'm so impressed by you,

over the years just in the way that you've just like remained so laser focused on riding. I kind of look at Robbie in the same way where it's like his devotion to like running a brand and like actually making his brand the best brand that he can. I mean, sometimes I've just been like shocked by like the small BMX events that I would see him pulling up to like he actually really realizes the value of those little connections. And you know, he just he doesn't shy away from staying on top of that. and like a large majority of people at a certain point would just not really care that much. A hundred percent.

And that's how you know he's passionate about what he does. He's not, he's not standing on, he's not staying at home when an event's going on because the company is at a certain size. He's, he's still passionate enough to be there. He'll be at the booth. You know what I mean? It's like,

he doesn't have to be there. He could hire somebody to man the booth and it would go just fine, but he actually loves being a part of this stuff still. This is, you know, like you can tell his passion runs deep and it's not running out anytime soon, that's for sure. So, yeah. Definitely. That's motivational shit. Okay.

So what are you working on now in terms of stuff you're filming for or what's keeping you excited right now? About two months ago or two or three months ago, I just started working on a new part for Vans that I'm really excited about. I'm filming with Calvin Kosovic. Nice. Yeah, one of my good friends. favorite filmmakers in BMX, getting to work with him. Yeah, yeah. And handsome dude, too, isn't he?

You know, tall. Loves a cigarette. Yeah, loves a sick. Yeah, yeah. No, yeah, so I'm super stoked to be working on that. We have some trips coming up. Been filming local. Film something down the street from here the other day.

I didn't even realize it. I was like, wait, hold on. We're right by that spot where you just at two weeks ago when I was driving up here today. I got a spot I can bless you with that's in like, you know, It's like 50 feet away from here. I got a nice little L ledge over here. You know what's crazy? You saw it?

Yeah, I did see it. Of course I did. Oh, shit. That's amazing. No, I was before I knew where this was, even before this interview was happening, like two before I knew the interview was happening, like two months ago, I was out spot searching in this zone and I was in those new buildings across the street, like zigzagging. I went in there the other day.

Yeah, yeah. A couple big setups. Yeah, yeah. There's some big rails and stuff. But like, it's just funny, you know, because now, now we're here. Yeah. I actually feel like pathetic when I, think about the fact that I've been thinking about doing an oversmith 180 or probably maybe

an oversmith depending on how things go on that L-edge thing over there for like the whole time for like two years that we've been here and I've yet to wax it up and actually go for it. You want me to brick rub it and wax it right now, dude? Let's get it. That requires brick rubbing from your perspective? Oh, I don't know. Yeah, I'd have to look at it up close. Yeah.

No, it might. You might be right. I've always just, that that was like not something that existed during most of my time outriding. Began hit me. up like a year ago or so and he was like yo do you know where this rail is Adam wants to hit it did you ever go hit it was some rail in like Riverside oh that little last three-star or something yeah it's a long three-star but I would like to go there that would be a good one there's a really small rail near my house like a three-stair four-stair that I ride occasionally yeah yeah

that's all right um okay shit I appreciate it man it was good having the conversation dude likewise thanks for having me and congrats on all the success and Hey, you know what? Like the fact that you build what you have, starting with BMX to this point, is inspiring. No, it's weird. I don't know. It's inspiring.

And I think that, I don't know, it's cool that you're, you know, you're able to continue doing things that you love and you're passionate about. So I appreciate you, dude. Trying to do more BMX stuff this year, for sure. Yeah. We got a crazy jam going on Saturday. I'm going to go. Ooh, okay.

I can't say too much, but it's going to be ridiculous. I heard about it. I'm going. I'll be there. That's tight. Appreciate you. Dakota Roach, No Jumper. Coolest podcast in the world.

Check us on YouTube, Spotify, Patreon, all that. Like, comment, subscribe. Nojumber.com if you want to support. Appreciate you, man.