Captain Jackie Straiton is Athlete of the Week

For the first Athlete of the Week in 2015 we have BMX Captain Jackie Straiton from Cocoa Beach, FL! If you've been paying any attention to the various BMX blogs on the internet over the last few months you probably have heard of Jackie. With an insane amount of drive to progress, it's safe to say that Jackie has a very bright future! Check out Jackie's latest edit below, followed by a short interview with Jackie discussing the edit and what his plans are for 2015.

2014 was a huge year for you, what are some of your main highlights from the last year?

Well, in October 2013 I destroyed my shoulder and collarbone and had to have reconstructive surgery. I was then off the bike for 11 weeks causing me to miss the first stop of the FLBMX Skatepark Series at Skatepark of Tampa in January. I was then cleared to ride for the rest of the series and I managed to take the overall win with the highest accumulated points for my age group. After that, I went to Camp Woodward for the Mongoose Jam where I rode on Kevin Peraza's team where we ended up 1st place as a team! During the school year after summer, I traveled to New Jersey and San Diego for the Recon Tour and then had the privilege to ride in the Recon Tour finals at The Unit in Greenville, NC. Right around the same time I was picked up by Colony BMX for their USA am team.

In between all of these contests and traveling you also managed to film two insane edits, after the first one received such an amazing response how much pressure did you put on yourself to do even better with the second edit?

Every single time we set out to film for this video we were on a mission. The six months of some of the hardest work I've ever put into anything really payed off and I couldn't be more psyched on how it came out! One of the problems we had while filming was I would keep one-upping myself on tricks we had already filmed. I love filming because it only helps me push myself and progress way more than anything else would.

In your latest edit what clip was your favorite to shoot? Which was your least favorite?

My favorite part was sticking the 360 Whip to downwhip at the end. Surprisingly I stuck it first try! Not really sure there was a least favorite moment, but it was probably the countless trys it took to stick the flip fakie to half-cab fakie down whip.

What originally got you into riding BMX?

I used to watch it on the X Games and Dew Tour all the time and was amazed by it. Then I think for my 10th or 11th birthday I asked for my first BMX bike and it only escalated from there.

Before you started riding bikes you were very involved in skateboarding, correct? Did that have any influence on your riding when you first started? If so, does it still to this day?

Most definitely. It gave me the skills to be able to put a run together and learn how to ride transitions before even the first time stepping on a bike. Most of my riding today depicts my skating years ago.

After such a busy and insane 2014 I’m sure you have even bigger plans for 2015. What are some of your goals for the next year? What are you looking forward to most? Want to fill us in on any Contests/travels/or edits you have planned?

For 2015 I'm planning on visiting Camp Woodward in both California and Pennsylvania for a couple weeks over the summer. I have a few contests planned but the event I'm looking forward to the most is the FISE stop in Montpellier, France. I am extremely excited because it will be my first time flying overseas. I also have plans to release a banger-filled video filmed from spots all over the U.S.