INTERVIEW: BMX rider Minato Oike takes on America

Meet the rider currently leading the charge for Japan’s girls freestyle BMX scene - Minato Oike (大池水杜).

With events on the schedule like this month’s X Games in Minnesota and the VANS Pro BMX Cup (US OPEN) in California, Oike has quit her job and upped sticks for America in order to challenge at the highest levels of the sport. Before departing for The States we managed to catch up with Oike to talk about her bold move.

How did you get into BMX riding?

Oike: It was around the end of my second year at jr high. Before then, when I was in the lower grades of elementary school, I took part in motocross races and from those moved into trail bike riding and trail bike contests. For a little while I decided to take a break from bike contests but it was at a skate park when I saw BMX riders flying through the air that I told my father that I wanted to have a go at that and as soon as I got home from the park I started looking into it.

Actually my father is into bike sports and he used to take me around on the back of his bikes. It’s from that that I started riding myself so I suppose I was influenced strongly by my parents.

I also had friends who were doing FMX stuff - freestyle jumps and flips, and others who were taking part in bike contests based on speed alone.

Tell us about the girls’ freestyle BMX scene.

Oike: If you’re talking about Japan’s freestyle girls, it’s basically just me that’s entering contests, and some girls who are still in elementary school. [Laughs]

So when it comes to contests and events it means competing with the boys. It would be nice though if a few more girls would take part. [Laughs]

What’s the appeal of BMX?

Oike: I like the sense of being at one with the bike, and the kind of foot movements that are required. Doing the jumps is really fun and, yea, I really love the sense of flying through the air.

The feeling you get when you’re being really aggressive on the bike is also unbelievable, and when I’m competing in a contest I know that everyone at that moment is focused on me. I enjoy that feeling. It makes me put more into my jumps than I would otherwise.

Why did you decide to have a go at competing in America?

Oike: To put it simply, now might be the only chance I have. I was invited this year to the X Games and the VANS Pro BMX Cup (US OPEN). There’s no guarantee that I will be invited again next year and, anyway, I don’t know what might happen between now and then. I thought that if I carried on in my job and held back on the things that I really wanted to do, I would definitely come to regret it.

Of course, I understood that quitting work might mean life becoming tougher, and then there’s the problem of having enough money to travel to contests but this is something that I really wanted to do so I wanted to give it a try.

Even if it all goes wrong, I know that I can use the experience in whatever I decide to do in the next stage of my life so, for now, I decided to quit work and give it a go.

It’s like, if I’m going to do it, I should do it properly.

Do you have a message for your supporters?

Oike: So I’m going to America, I’ve quit my work and left my apartment and am going away with the feeling of having cleared everything out of my life so it’s natural that I want to do my best out there. My main goal is to ride as best I can and enjoy myself and through that leave even a small impression on the people who watch me out there. I don’t know how things will turn out but I hope I can have some influence on the Japanese BMX scene, the world BMX scene as well as the girls scene.