My name is Jhon Jairo Peña Zapata, I'm 24 years old, I'm from Zarzal, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. I once saw some jumps the track with a splitter and two big dirt looked very good and there I only saw that and I thought who jumps there many more days passed I always saw the jumps but I never saw anyone jump my father took me on his bike I also thought It was very early, a lot of sun, so one day classes ended early and when I passed the track there was a group of 3 or 5 people who were on the bmx track, I kept looking in those moments I saw that they were jumping off the track and it was impressive how already They used the bikes that way I was just pedaling And that's how it caught my attention I started jumping in front of my house building small jumps with bricks boards at that time there was a bike of my brother I jumped higher and further away and there feel that sensation that it produced in me from there I started to go out and walk to a nearby park I saw the others who were jumping but I did not get closer I only saw them from afar and after they left I would try things that I saw and some of them came out how to turn the baspin handlebar the fot jam And to practice 180 but I didn't get out From there, over time I began to connect with that group that rode a bike,
they taught me a little about techniques for 180 the barspin And every time it was like I learned something new every day and that's how it has been for so many years... 1I began to go to the salttos track where there were gatherings to eat and to fix the jumps to walk With shovels buckets of water I saw how they fixed and flew I began to fix a jump that was to a smaller side for I always dared to try to jump then, like there, at that moment I connected much more with the earth with the bike, I felt that I had to go every day to finish the jump to be able to fly.
Time to fly I started to jump and I also went out to walk on the street but there was a point that the bike couldn't stand I came home to try to repair it my dad helped me he changed parts of another bike that was there and there and little by little evolving learning I liked it a lot I didn't go to class to go to shovel the dirt train And so I began to feel how to live from those emotions that it produces I began to learn. Much more than doing great tricks that require a lot of technique, what I like the most is that I always like to help and on the bike I saw that people needed help, such as fixing a chain when it comes loose or when you click, since they create brotherly relationships with exceptional people. Time passed and I began to train more to the point that I liked to watch videos on a computer of my sister kept repeating so I saw a trick I practiced it such as backflip or whip, but more than 10 years have passed since then and the magic is still the same, making ramps, fixing tracks, now it's a little different since I earn money for it, I also go out to do tricks at traffic lights becoming a great street artist in the company of my friends, it can be said that it is the best profession that I have had since it has taken me to know many places throughout Latin America representing the Colombian team of bmx freestyle in all the South American and Pan-American championships, simply bmx has made me live in freedom ...
I would not change this for nothing, I achieved happiness and detached myself from any limitation that made me have a sad and empty life... Jhon Jairo Peña - Colombian bmx freestyle team