28 Nov NE presents The Ryan Eles Interview/ Day Edit
Name, age, where your from and where you currently reside?
Ryan Eles, 22, from Sudbury Ontario, currently living in Markham Ontario.
How long have you been riding and what got you into riding?
Riding for about 7 years now. My brother and his friend’s all mountain biked, I thought it looked sick so I got one. Once the skatepark in Sudbury was built I started going there and seeing all the dudes on BMX, it looked like way more fun. I always would bug then to use there bikes then eventually I went out and bought one.
How did growing up in Sudbury influence you and your riding?
I grew up pretty close to the skatepark so I rode there a lot. I was pretty into skatepark riding and box jump tricks before I met and started riding with most of the older dude’s. They would always bug me to about riding street and if I would ever throw on a set of pegs. Sudbury has a limited amount of spots and every things really spread out so it kinda forced me to make best of everything no matter how rideable or how good the spot was. Shout-out to those dudes for making me put on pegs haha.
Do you think there’s a difference between riders who grow up in smaller areas like Sudbury compared to bigger areas with unlimited spots? Do you appreciate things more having had such limited stuff to ride?
Big time. In smaller town’s you can search all day and maybe find 1 or 2 spots. Most of the time your driving spot to spot. It’s crazy to go to a bigger city that your totally unfamiliar with, pedal around and find a handful of amazing setups. I feel like so many people take having crazy amounts of perfect spots for granted. Having limited spots definitely makes you appreciate spots a lot more and I think it make’s you less likely to look past something that could be deemed unrideable or sketchy.
What are some of your favorite cities or towns that you’ve traveled to to ride?
I’d have to say Montreal or Toronto. There’s so many unique spots and so many good people to ride with, you can’t go wrong.
Favorite video part?
I’d have to say Garrett Reynolds in Deadline.
This one comes from anonymous: When are you going to stop lying to yourself and buy a VX?
bahahahahahahahahah when the dinosaurs come back. Thanks Joel
What’s your favorite trick at the moment?
360 Double Tailwhip to footjam…bahaha. I’ve been messin with a lot of tire rides lately. So much fun. But you can never rule out a good crank arm.
Why the move to Markham?
Me and Joel Fortin had been talking about it for a few months during the summer. Basically we wanted to be closer to Toronto for insane amounts of spots but also wanted to be closer to Joyride 150 so that we can ride during the harsh Canadian winters EH!. It worked out that we both got jobs at Joyride and Markham isn’t that far from downtown. It was just the perfect situation and I’m definitely stoked on it.
Your welcome to Federal edit got a good amount of attention and for good reason. How long did you film for it and how stoked are you to ride for Federal?
Thanks man! Really stoked on how everything turned out. I’d say I filmed for about 4 or 5 months for it. And I couldn’t be more stoked on riding for Federal. Everything they make is sooo dialed and I’ve looked up to all the dudes on the team forever. Huge thanks to them for the opportunity!
What do you think of the competitive nature in BMX these days? With more kids seemingly only interested in getting sponsored or winning contests, you grew up in a tight scene, making scene videos and obviously having a positive outlook on riding
It’s crazy man. It just seems like there not having fun. All they seem care about is the tricks that they can do and if there better then the next person. Constantly trying to one up everyone just to prove themselves. BMX is suppose to be about having fun with the homies. Don’t get me wrong, there tons of dudes doing there own thing with there friends, and that to me is way more refreshing then watching some kid trying to kill himself just to prove he’s the best. We made a local Sudbury DVD a couple years ago, and it was so much fun. We didn’t care about how good the footage was or who was gunna see it, we just wanted to put something together that we were stoked on and showed our scene in Sudbury. That to me is whats BMX is about.
What’s your tinder closing percentage?
No comment … hahaha (****note for the ladies, Ryan always swipes right****)
Haha wow, plenty of fish percentage?
hahaha man, I don’t have plenty of fish.
Who are some of your favorite riders and also riders you feel are under the radar?
I gotta say Garrett Reynolds, Bruno Hoffman, AK, Ty Morrow and Alex Donnachie would be just a few. Joel Fortin and Joel Marchand kill it. There are so many Canadian dudes that are slept on.
What are a few cities or spots youd love to ride over the next few years?
I wanna get out to San Diego or Barcelona. Both those cities have the most insane spots. Basically paradise.
What’s the plan for the next year now that you’re in TO?
Pretty much just ride as much as possible with all the homies. Having Joyride super close in the winter is key. Best place to beat the harsh canadian winters. Hopefully go on a couple trips during the summer too.
What’s the best/ weirdest Sudbury story you have?
Not much goes on around sudbury lol. One time we were shovelling out the skatepark in april. And we see these kids, who turned out to be a bunch of scooter kids, pushing this big ass snowblower down the street. Apparently these kids walked like a kilometre or 2 with a snowblower. Other then that theres some classic bar stories, but well leave those classified lol
Thanks for doing this. Any last remarks, shout outs or words of wisdom?
Anytime man! Thanks for hooking this up. Shout out to Joe at Federal, Jeremy at OGC, Jay and Stu at Vans Canada and Mark and Tim at Howey Bros! Stoked to meet and cruise with all the Toronto locals this year!
Also thanks to all the Sudbury dudes (to many to name) for getting me into bmx and for all the good times!