Gettin' Rowdy with National #1 Cruiser Rowdy Holzer

PULL: Rowdy is such a cool name. We’ve said it before - with a name like that, you’re destined to either be a rodeo star or Nascar driver. Does everybody ask you about your name? ROWDY: Everybody does. PULL: For 11 years old, you’ve just about got Ronnie Kim proportions - how much have you grown in the last year? ROWDY: I grew five inches last year. Not sure about this year. PULL: Let’s start from the beginning - how long have you been doin’ BMX and how’d you discover it? ROWDY: I’ve been racing since I was five or six. Started out at Oak Creek BMX in Roseville. PULL: Did you breeze through 46

novice, inter and go to expert real quick? ROWDY: Honestly, I really don’t remember it. PULL: Too young - we get it. What’s your earliest memory of when you scored a big win and just fell in love with BMX? ROWDY: I’d say 2018 Grands, when I won cruiser. After that, it all just clicked. I was unsponsored then and Donavon picked me up in Vegas, that next January. PULL: Was Donavon a big help in stepping up your game. ROWDY: Yeah, he was really good. Like, he’d give me advice on what to do on the track, how my gate is, what lines to take. Stuff like that. PULL: How hard do you work at being one of the best in BMX? ROWDY: I work pretty hard. I’ve got a track at my house, so I am riding all the time. PULL: What’s a usual day like for you? ROWDY: I usually ride the track a lot, and we also have a barn with a lot of workout equipment. I’ll go in there, or I’ll do sprints. PULL: So you live up near Auburn, in Newcastle, California. Sounds like you have a lot of acreage. ROWDY: Yeah, we share property with my Mimi and Papa. All of it together is 14 acres, but we split it seven and seven. PULL: Describe the Rowdy Compound to us... ROWDY: It’s got a pretty steep starting hill, a table then a really small double. The first turn is tight, then a double. We’re thinking about adding a rhythm section. It’s just two straightaways right now. PULL: Is it pretty wide? Can you race someone on it? ROWDY: Yeah, it’s not super wide. Nick Adams trains with me - he works with me on my gates ‘ stuff. He rides it a lot. PULL: How long have you been training with Nick? ROWDY: About two years now. It helps a lot. At Oak Creek, we’ll ride together. PULL: Tell us about your home gym. You said it’s in a barn? ROWDY: My sister plays softball, so she has a full batting cage. Then we have box jump equipment. Down in my garage, we’ve got weights. For deadlifts and all that. PULL: How’d the Profile deal come about? ROWDY: I dunno ... about in the middle of last year, I just thought - ‘Dang! Profile seems like a really good team to be on.’ So at Grands, Gus asked. I’m not sure how it all came about. PULL: Gus is pretty cool, ain’t he? ROWDY: I love Gus. He’s just the nicest guy in BMX. PULL: Now, you also do a lot of

mountain biking as part of your BMX regimen? ROWDY: Yeah, I have trails all around the side of our property. We’ve got some drop offs and a lot of doubles. A little bridge built on eight stumps. PULL: What kind of mountain bike do you ride? ROWDY: I’ve been riding a Spawn, but Gus just sent me a Hyper - slopstyle and downhill bike. PULL: Have you raced MTB? ROWDY: Last year we went to Sea Otter - which, I did okay at. It was fun. PULL: Do you see yourself getting into mountain biking any time soon? Once you get older? ROWDY: I don’t really know. I don’t think so - you never know. PULL: What’s your dream scenario for BMX? Keep racing ‘til you go Pro, or ...? ROWDY: Just keep doing BMX. PULL: Any riders or pros you look up to, or try to emulate? ROWDY: I look up to Nick (Adams) a lot. PULL: How do you work in school with BMX? Are you home-schooled? ROWDY: So, my school - we only go to school four days a week, then I’m home-schooled on Fridays. At least, that’s how it was. I’m not sure what we’re going to do now. PULL: Yeah, nowadays, it’s all homeschool, right? What have you been doing during this whole pandemic? ROWDY: Just riding a lot. It’s mostly me, Nick and Ryder Santos. PULL: Who’s your best competition right now? ROWDY: Right now, it’s mostly just Matteo (Pigo). We race each other all the time. My birthday is April 8th, and his birthday is like April 20-something. PULL: Watching you two is kind like Davey -vs- Goliath. He’s fast for his size. ROWDY: Yeah, he is. PULL: How much time do you put into BMX? ROWDY: If I’m with Nick, at least an hour or maybe two hours. Then by myself, I’ll just go have fun on the track by myself. PULL: Are you interested in any other sports? ROWDY: Football. PULL: So you’ve got two sisters. What’s your mom and dad do for a living? ROWDY: Commercial construction, or something like that. PULL: Always seems like success in BMX partly comes with having dedicated parents. Seems like you and your dad have a great relationship. ROWDY: Uhhmmm ... he works on my bike a lot. Sometimes he’ll push me to get better, but mostly he’s really supportive. PULL: Name your top-five favorite tracks. ROWDY: Rock Hill, Georgia and Sarasota. Then, Santa Clara and ... hmmmm ... those four are my favorites. PULL: When you travel to a national, do you only see the airport, track and hotel? Or, do you guys go out and explore, and do other things? ROWDY: Sometimes. Like one year, here in Georgia, we went to the CocaCola factory. PULL: When you won the title last year, you were sitting No.2. What were your thoughts going into Grands. ROWDY: I was really shooting for it. When they announced, ‘Everybody is cheering for you Rowdy. if you win this race, you will get it.’ I was pretty stressed in the gate. But I made it happen. PULL: How do you feel about a repeat this year? ROWDY: It’s not the greatest year to defend the title, but I’m sitting up there right now. But, 12 cruiser - with Ryder Lawrence, he’s No.2, and only one point behind me. And 12 cruiser has more riders than us. PULL: Do you pay close attention to points, and add it all up? ROWDY: I do. I don’t really worry about anyone. It all comes down to rider count. It’s all going to come down to Grands.