BMX champ

“BMX is about attitude, the person you are on and off the track, your skills and always being a good sport”

RIDE ON

BY STACIE GAETZ

Airdrie BMX rider Nico Diaz isn’t afraid to push himself to get results on a provincial and national level. The 14-year-old started with Airdrie BMX six years ago, shortly after he moved to Airdrie from Calgary. “I’ve always liked sports and I am never scared to try new things so when my dad took me for the first time to see the track, I knew right away I wanted to try the sport,” he says.

“My favourite part about riding is that it feels like an escape from reality. It is my happy place where I can clear my mind and enjoy the moment. I also love the friendships I have made along the way.”

BACK UP

Diaz’s mom Diana Serna says she is happy that her son has found his passion at such a young age. “He has a strong sense of self and I love seeing him setting his own goals and working hard to accomplish them,” she adds. “He finds joy in learning new things and being with others. He is happy at the track and always remembers to have fun.” She adds that although the sport can be seen as dangerous, she trusts her son to make the best decisions that he can on the track. “I do get nervous with the big jumps and high speed and sometimes I don’t even look, but we both have a good understanding of the outcomes of being on the bike, good or bad,” she says. “You can’t let injuries, or the fear of them, stop you from letting your kids try something they might love.”

Diaz’s pride and joy is his carbon fibre SpeedCo Velox that he says he “loves to death.”

“But BMX is not about how expensive your bike is,” he adds. “BMX is about attitude, the person you are on and off the track, your skills and always being a good sport.”

On track

Diaz says that his biggest accomplishment in the sport has been achieving second place at the 2019 BMX National Championships in Toronto. In 2019, he also placed first at every Alberta BMX Association provincial. In addition, he placed third in a Colombian National held in Bogota on March 3, 2020, right before the pandemic. “Competing feels like a movie, you’re in the zone; focused. The adrenaline rush is crazy, and you’ve got butterflies. A song plays in your head sometimes. It’s pretty crazy, to be honest,” he says. Diaz adds he trains for about four-and-a-half hours a day with three hours of riding and one and a half hour in the gym. He says Saturdays are check-up days and he sets aside Sundays to rest. Due to the pandemic, Diaz doesn’t have any plans to take part in races in the near future and is focusing on his training instead. He spent from mid-February to May 2021 in Medellin, Colombia, training at the Mariana Pajon Supercross track.

“You have to dedicate a lot of hard work to training,” says Diaz.

“We were all beginners once and it is important that you don’t give up. There have been many times I wanted to give up because I wasn’t seeing results on the track and I felt like I sucked. It’s all part of the process; you’ve got to just keep pushing.” life

For more information on Airdrie BMX, visit airdriebmx.ca