Andrew: First, where are you going to school and what are you taking?
Jim: Penn State. I'm pretty much undecided right now, but I think engineering.

That's great, what kind, mechanical?
Yeah.

Cool, what year are you in?
I'm a freshman.

And, how old are you?
Nineteen years old.

So, this is going to be you're first presidential election, huh?
(Laughs) Yup.

You voting?
Uh, no...I'm registered, though.

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(Laughs) Cool. How long have you been riding?
Six or seven years now, I think.

And video, when did you get into that?
I've been really into video for like...two years, just experimenting and trying to film a lot and just learn things as I go along.

Any classes, or formal training?
Yeah, I'm taking a class right now, that's helping me out a lot.

Awesome. Yeah, the video looks real good, what did you film it with?
Digital 8. My dad helped me out a lot with everything, like with the computer, so that went smoothly.

Do you shoot still photos, too?
Yeah, I try to. I'm taking a class next semester, black and white processing. I want to learn so I can do everything by myself and not really have to rely on anyone else for that kind of stuff.

That's good. Where are the trails in the video?
My backyard in Erie, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, and the Bucks, up the road from me.

So, pretty good scene?
Oh, it's amazing.

How far are you from Pittsburgh?
Two, maybe two and a half hours.

You go down there a lot?
Yeah, we make it down there every so often, it's fun.

I assume that Erie is on Lake Erie, is that right?
Yeah.

So you're pretty close to Ohio, too.
Yeah, that's really good too. Chenga is about an two and a half hours away, and Section 8 is like an hour and a half or something.

With all that stuff around, there is probably a lot of people to ride with, huh?
Oh yeah, there's all kinds of kids around here, and people stopping by and staying from time to time. Mike Aitken is in town right now, and Chris Doyle just left, he was here for a while.

That's pretty ridiculous. I guess when the trails are just enormous people are going to show up, though.
Yeah.

How did that happen, were you guys on a mission to just make the biggest stuff around, or was it just natural progression?
Oh man, when Kris Bennett moved here two years ago, he started riding at my house, and over that winter we took it to the next level and rented a Bobcat and just started building stuff. We didn't really think it was that big until the spring and it was like, "oh wow". Nobody really thought we were going to be able to ride it and then, I don't know...we just started riding it. We didn't really plan it out or anything it just turned out bigger than we expected.

I can't even imagine jumping some of that stuff.
We are going to be building a lot this winter, and we are going to make some gaps even bigger, like hopefully 40 feet.

What the hell?
(Laughs)

Where do you get the speed for it, is it downhill?
Yeah, the whole thing is on a hill, it's pretty good. My parents have about five acres of land and they pretty much let me do whatever I want out there.

So what is it like having people come ride at you're house and just be scared of everything?
What's it like?

Yeah, I mean, it must be kind of weird to read about people being scared there in Snap magazine.
Oh yeah, It's strange. Like when I used to go to P.U.S.H. and I was just so scared of everything there, and now people just come to my house and they are just like "What?!"

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(Laughs) So who are your favorite people to ride with?
Probably just all the locals...Bennett, definitely, 'cause he just pushes everyone to try new things and progress. It's hard to say, with everything that's going on around here lately there is just so much talent in Erie right now.

You and Ryan Jordan have a split part in the video, are you pretty good friends with him?
Yeah, pretty much, he came out here from Massachusetts and rode with us for a while.

That's cool, do you know Pubic Jimi from Salem, Mass?
(Laughs) No.

(Laughs) Oh well. Who do you look up to, and who influences the way you ride?
Definitely Taj...Chris Stauffer, Jeremy Reiss, Bennett.

You ever ride with any of them...other than Bennett, of course?
All of them except Taj.

That's rad. Riding with Taj would be pretty disturbing anyway.
(Laughs) Yeah.

It seems like everyone out there rides everything really well, what is your favorite thing to ride, street or dirt or what?
Trails, definitely. I'm just starting to get into skateparks. We have a new park in Erie that is super good, and I ride there almost every day.

What is you're favorite thing about bike riding?
Just progressing, like the feeling I get from accomplishing new things. Just doing new stuff.

How about contests? You ever enter any?
A few here and there. I'm not really a contest guy, though.

Did you ever race?
Yeah, that's how I got into BMX.

How about interests outside of BMX?
Um...I guess motocross, but I haven't really been able to do much of that lately, and video. I also like to snowboard in the winter. We go to Vermont sometimes for that.

Anybody you want to thank?
Definitely my parents, for letting us do everything we're doing with the trails, and all the riders around here that push me to ride and learn new things.