A : One of the places that I like the most is the Flow park in Ohio or Allen skatepark in Dallas and of course my local park the Hangar at Woodward West. Q : You compete in vert mostly but how often do you mix it up with some street, dirt or park ?
A : Well, I love to ride park. I always have so much fun doing it and lately I've been riding some dirt here at Woodward West to keep my body loose. I just ride park and dirt just because I love it . But when I ride vert I get a litlle more serious. I still try to have fun always, I try to ride vert every day and mix that with some pak riding or other days with dirt.
Q : What is your local scene like in Chile? Are there many riders? A : The scene in Chile is not very big. We have a few skateparks, very decent , they are not perfect but you can totally ride them and get some progress. Most of them are wooden parks and a few of them are concrete. We have very good street riding. You can go through half of the downtown area in one day and not stop riding. We have a few big sponsors that dominate the sport like DC, Vans , Gotcha, Adio, Fox, some enegy drinks too etc. We get a lot of magazines; Bmx Plus! and Ridebmx, videos too, so everybody wants to come to the USA to ride and be a pro bmx rider.
Q : What goals do you have while in the US? A : Well, my goals are to improve my riding , take it as far as I can. Try to get more young people to ride vert and mix the styles - bring a little of dirt jumping and park riding to the vert ramp.
Q : You are also a photographer. What do you take photos of mainly?
A : What I like the most is to do artistic shots. That could be old stuff or landscapes too. I do bmx shots too. Sometimes it is hard to find the right rider at the right spot.
Q : Which contests will you be entering this year? A : Well hopefully if God wants I will be at all the Dew tours, some of the LG contests, the Soul Bowl and maybe go to some overseas contests too. Going to Europe would be cool too.
Q : Did you speak much English before you came over to the States?
A : I took one year of classes right before I came, thats' where I learnt all the grammar and the most of my English. I've been learning all the slang here this past 3 years.
Q : What are your favourite things about bmx ? A : Be able to create new combinations of tricks, new rding style and that you can do whatever you want, anywhere. It just depends on your perspective.
Q : What do you think will be the next big trick in vert?
A : Well I am very sure that triple whips are coming soon, huge airs, and frontflips too.
Q : How difficult was it to get a work visa? A : Not very difficult thank God, I just got a lawyer and with the help from GT Bikes I got everything straight.
Q : Are you one of those guys that rides with an iPod?
A : Yeap sometimes I do, it helps me to be focused and motivated. I love good music, but when I jump to the deck with more people I normally turn it off so I can talk too.
Q : You spend a lot of your time at Woodward West. Is that were you progress the most? A : Yea, thanks to God I live at Woodward West, when I am not doing contest or shows I am there that's home for me.
Q : Are there websites out there covering the bmx scene in Chile?
A : Yea a few:
www.bmxfreestyle.cl
www.bmxchile.cl
Sponsors : Vans shoes. Merit Compatibles. I don't ride for GT anymore.
By Lloyd Ramsay
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.