FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Name: Gilang Febriansyah
Age: 19 years
Hometown: Indonesia (Kab Bekasi)
Hook-ups/Sponsors: Vans Indonesia, Staycool sock

The FAT Favourites list:

-Spot to ride: Skateparks
-BMX video: Vans BMX Pro Cup
-Website: Vansbmx66
-Web video: This one
-Food: Squid rice
-Travel destination: Japan, Bali
-Riders to ride with: @harrisbegin

Number 2 in the BMX Couples series. Welcome Mariana Pajon and Vincent Pelluard, who together did welcome son Théo just recently. Read on to find out how they manage to keep training and preparing, and handle the family situation together at home. 

You’re both elite-level BMX racers with long careers at the top. What does it actually take—day in, day out—to stay competitive at that level for so many years?
Honestly, being at the top of the world for so many years is incredible. We don’t really feel it that way, though. We still feel like those dreamer kids who one day thought their biggest goal was simply to reach the top. Now, looking back at everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve won, and everything we’ve learned along the way, it’s amazing. But we still feel like the same people who started riding, the ones who learned to ride a bike one day and we still enjoy it just as much. That’s the best part: continuing to enjoy it. I feel like nothing has really changed. The same passion is still there.

Being a couple and racing at the highest level isn’t exactly common in BMX. How do you support each other when results are great—and especially when they’re not?
We met on the world circuit many years ago, so we know what it’s like to be there for each other at the highest highs and also at the lowest lows. When one of us is doing well, it truly feels like a win for both of us. And when one of us is injured, has a crash, or is simply frustrated with a result that didn’t meet

Name: Jonathan Zawadke
Age: 22
Hometown: Village in Bavaria near Munich, Germany

The FAT Favourites list:

-Spot to ride: Mellowpark Berlin
-BMX video: Vocal BMX // Brock Horneman - 2015
-Website: Instagram
-Food: Pasta Casserole
-Person on Instagram: Brock Horneman
-Travel destination: Sweden
-Riders to ride with: Anyone who has fun riding their bike
-Car: VW Caddy
-Movie: I don't watch Movies
-Colour: Baby Blue

Name: Brandon Farmer
Age: 34
Hometown: Tallapoosa, Georgia, USA.
Hook-ups/Sponsors: The homies

The FAT Favourites list:

-Spot to ride: Carrollton park
-BMX video: Facade As Ine

Name: Brodie Quick
Age: 18
Hometown: Traralgon, Victoria, Australia 
Hook ups: Valley Bicycle Centre

The FAT FAVOURITES list:

Spot to ride: Rampfest/ Moe skatepark
Bmx video: Brock Horneman 2015 edit
Website: LUX BMX

Food: Chicken Parma
Person on instagram: Logan Martin
Travel destination: Woodward
Riders to ride with: Andy Rowe, Mitch Brown, Cooper Willson 

Name: Preston Cawthorn
Age: 27
Hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Hook-ups/Sponsors: Lazercat/ Drdabber/ Osirisshoes/ Triple8/ Thespacebrace/ Capitalbmx/ Theyea/ 5150bmx 

The FAT Favourites list:

-Spot to ride: Anything where the weather is nice! I like to keep it moving!
-BMX video: Shadow Conspiracy; What could go wrong?/Danscomp; Rollcall
-Website: YouTube. Mostly BMX, but also some history shows, maybe some alien stuff, haha.
-Web video: Stevie Churchill OSS part. Lewis Mills' éclat part!
-Food: Burgers! Or seafood

First off, congrats on getting your own signature frame with Volume Bikes—how does it feel to finally see it come to life?
Paul Thoelen: Thank you Bart! It definitely feels special to finally hold it in hands and see my name written on it. I mean it's something I dreamed of since I started riding bikes and now dreams became reality.

When did the idea of a signature frame first come up, and how long did the process take from the first conversation to holding the final product in your hands?

BMX couples, there are several of them. How cool would it be to be able to travel the world together, work on tricks together, get through injuries together and feel the support because your partner is going through the same BMX things. Enter Dean Florian and Kim Lea Mueller from Germany. Both top level Park riders. 

How do you benefit from doing the same sport when it comes to understanding pressure, injuries, and the ups and downs of contests?
- It's very helpful to have someone by your side that is doing the same sport and can understand the situations that can be hard sometimes. You can relate to each other and give the kind of advice and support that’s needed in the moment, even if you can’t see it yourself. To have someone who understands what’s happening, because you may have already been in a similar situation, can be really helpful in challenging times but also in good times.

When one of you is having a great contest and the other isn’t, how do you handle that balance emotionally?
- It can be difficult sometimes but we think it’s important to try and understand both sides and be there for each other. We celebrate and are proud of each other when things go well for one person, but at the same time show empathy and understanding when it doesn’t.

Name: Kent Pearson
Age: How old would you be if you didn’t know your age.
Hometown: Athens, GA, USA
Hook-ups/Sponsors: Kink BMX, Profile Racing, Empire BMX, Blackout BMX

The FAT Favourites list:

-Spot to ride: I always have the philosophy that if you keep the right people and the right vibes then you could ride just a curb and have an amazing time.
-BMX video: This week, I’ve watched No Love (Fiend) and Champagne (Kink).

Name: Ahmad Syahrul
Age: 22 years
Hometown: Bandung, Indonesia

The FAT Favourites list:

-Spot to ride: Bedas X-treme Sports, Jalak harupat, Bandung indonesia
-BMX video: “Lew Is Fiending
-Web video:  “LFG MY FAV”
-Food: “Bebek Kalio Si bungsu”
-Person on Instagram: @imeldatabitaa_

-Riders to ride with: @boydhilder
-Car: Nissan Skyline GT-R
-Movie: “All Quiet on the Western Front”
-Colour: Black
-Shoes: Vans