Features

Quite a few young riders blew up on Vital BMX in 2007, including Apopka, Florida’s Trey Jones. We recently saw Trey at Mesh Skatepark in Longwood, Florida, so we asked him about the life a young BMX shredder. 

You got a lot of attention this year online for being so good at a young age. After all the video clips came out, did you feel like you had more pressure on you, or is it still as fun as always?
The internet and sites like Vital have been a really cool thing for riders like me. I ride BMX because I love it and for no other reason. If good opportunities come from BMX then that’s awesome, but I ride because I love it. So I’d have to say no, I’m not feeling any pressure—just having a lot of good times.
                     
There have been quite a few incredible riders popping up these days in the 15-year-old age range. Does this surprise you? What do you think is making kids progress so fast?
No, I’m not surprised because a lot of the younger riders look up to the pros and the pros’ progression makes other riders push themselves. At Woodward I’ve had the opportunity to meet and ride with some of the other guys featured on Vital, so it’s definitely no surprise to me that there are a lot of good riders out there.

Click here to watch a Trey Jones video by Brett Rohlfing.

When you ride at home, do you ride with kids your own age, or is it mainly older guys?
Yeah, when I ride at home it’s mostly with older guys. I think it’s good for me to ride with guys who are better than me because it pushes me a little harder. There are a lot of great riders around Central Florida so I’m pretty fortunate to have guys like that to ride with every day.

How hard is it trying to progress at a high level on a BMX bike while still being in school? What grade are you in now?
I’m in my first year of high school, ninth grade. It does seem to be a little more difficult this year, not riding but from a school standpoint. I’ve always done the school/riding thing so that’s nothing new for me, but this year I’ve had to step it up at school and that’s been challenging for sure. As with most kids my age I don’t love school. So it’s just staying motivated more than anything, but I know what I’ve got to do and have always found a way to make it all work. It does suck when your friends call you up at night to go ride street and you can’t go because you’ve got to be at school at seven the next morning. 

Click here to watch a Trey Jones Bio video.

Of all the young shredders who have showed up on Vital BMX this year, do you have a favorite?
I have been asked this question a lot about the pros and I can never really answer it because I don’t have a favorite. I have always admired different pros for different elements of their riding. The same goes true for the younger guys. Each of them has different qualities in their riding that I admire. I give props to each of them, but with that said, Todd Meyn’s video was pretty amazing.
     
You have ramps in your backyard. Is that where you spend the majority of your time riding?
I do spend a lot of time on my ramps. We don’t have much to ride in terms of street around my house so if I want to ride after school or whatever, I pretty much ride my house. I keep slowly trying to add to it whenever I can save some extra money for wood. Luckily, my dad’s a carpenter so that really helps me out a lot. We recently added an eight-foot wallride and will be adding a curved wallride here soon. It’s fun! I don’t usually get to hit up the local parks until the evening, and I’ve been riding more street on the weekends lately. I love riding trails as well but it seems like the trails are down more than they’re up, and it’s tough for me to get over there during the day. But any time I can I try to make it to the Casselberry trails for a good session.    
 
What are your plans for 2008?
Of course ride my bike as much as I can but besides that: pass the ninth grade, have fun hanging with my friends, I’ll probably head up to Woodward for a little bit over the summer, and I’d really like to try to get to a few contests outside of Florida. Also, thanks to everyone who has helped me out and given me opportunities.