If you’re feeling down about BMX, this is the interview for you. Jocie aka Joce, exudes what it means to have fun, and keeping it fun while on your BMX. This Connecticut bred 27-year-old rider came from cheerleading and bodybuilding, and then somehow BMX. We talk about how these moments in her life impacted who she is today and of course, we talk about the open loop at the craziest BMX event in the world – Swamp Fest. Also, thank you to Nina Buitrago for tagging us on Instagram, without Nina I would have never been introduced to this badass lady.
When and how were you introduced to BMX?
When I was younger my uncle used to race BMX. This really didnāt have much of an impact on me at the time since the only thing I really cared about back in the ā90s was that my Mom and Grandmother let us dye our hair red and green for the one race we made it to…lol. But! Years later after doing a ton of different sports, finding a passion in competitive cheerleading and losing that first love to student teaching (and not being able to travel the 2 hours to practice 2 times a week), I turned to bodybuilding for āsomething to doā.
After that wild experience on stage, I realized that wasnāt for me. This was when I started toying with the things I always wanted to learn. I got sponsored with gear to learn to skateboard, but prior to that happening I had already made the decision that I wanted to try racing BMX bikes. Iāve always, always been intrigued with extreme sports and tried my hardest to figure out a way to be around anything of the sort as much as possible. Bought my first bike from soon to be adventure buddies, (A Mirra Co promotional Monster Energy bike) and ate complete shit during my first race at Bethel Supercross in Connecticutā¦ before even making it to the first turn.
Huge smile on my face, laughing and swearingā¦ it was a good time. I was hooked. While watching me struggle to read the moto boards, this random guy Joe Doherty (GromDad) jumped in to help me out and explained that there was a whole ānother side to BMX. From then on he was dubbed āRace Coachā/ āDadā, let me case his FBM stallion a few hundred times, brought me to crazy events including the NYC Grands to be a street jerk through a rebel race, and quickly introduced me to the āother side of BMXā which I completely fell in love with. I was double-hooked and ready for all the future adventures on two wheels.
Are you still racing BMX these days?
Sadly itās been a while since I last raced. Last summer I started bartending and had to miss a lot of races at the tracks I came to love in CT. After I moved to Long Island, I had so much going on that I didnāt get to race out there before the end of the season! I do plan on trying to get back to a few races this year, and now I have to add Shoreham to the list! Because Iām not super competitive, Iām usually last place laughing the whole time trying to see how high I can get (which is nothing impressive after I watch the recordings lol). Iām really all about having fun and being around the people that make the sport so great. GromDad always laughed at me when I used to say that I was on āIsland Timeā when I got to the track, I was just happy to be there and kind of slacked on warm-ups.
Photo: Jonny Nemecek |
What got you into that and how has it influenced your riding today?
I really feed off of feeling like a badass, as funny as that sounds there is nothing better than looking at yourself and feeling super proud of what you just did. Big or small. BMX seemed like the ultimate badass thing and since I had never tried it before I had all the room to run with it! I had the basics down (I started riding a bike at 4 years old) and the rest was just enough to catch my attention and keep me scared but excited. Iām glad I started with racing because of a few reasons; One being that Iāve met so many cool people that directed me towards the things and other people I really enjoy being around/ learning from. And second, because it forced me to practice bike control that I could eventually use in trying everything else. I used to be insanely squirrely on the track, bars going everywhere, one slight turn of the wheel and I was going over the handlebars. Iām still squirrely, just way less than I was when I started. I can see and feel the physical difference and it keeps me really motivated.
You’ve traveled to some amazing riding spots and trails, what’s your top 5 locations youād like to come back to?
This is a tough one, I have an unhealthy amount of fun anywhere we go, to be honest. Thanks to my friends and Jonny throwing me in the car to ride all sorts of crazy things, I think itās safe to say Iām kind of spoiled with spots. Iām crazy thankful for all the different people and crews who have brought me along to show me everything. If I had to choose Iād say:
1. Swampfest My first Swampfest was last year with GromDad, and since I had only really started branching out from racing that summer, learning to wall-ride a pallet wall thanks to Aaron Simone (@aaronfallsalot) was the cherry on top of a huge sundae. I refuse to miss any Swampfest from here on out, and I hope I never ever have to!
2. Catty & Posh The people and the jumps really make these places magical. The jams are full of so much love and excitement, itās the coolest.
3. Mission Valley YMCA Krause Family Skatepark Although I spent most of my time dodging little monsters on the rollers, I had a blast jumping there. I talk about going back all the time, that place was so much fun to flow and just get lost in your positive head space. Since this was my first time to California it definitely stuck with me. We flew out for a Halloween jam weekend and Jonny somehow managed to pack in everything he knew I would go crazy for, this place included!
4. Rays MTB Park- Iāve been there twice and I canāt wait to get back. That Kink wall ride has my name on it, and some of my skin. One day I will get conquer that thing.
5. For lack of a 5th place and some strong wanderlust, Iād have to say that I really want to explore somewhere new! I know there are so many cool places I havenāt seen yet and I really want to make it to all of them! Physically seeing how Iāve progressed when I come back to an old place though is the coolest feeling. BMX is the best travel excuse ever.
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Is there anything from your bodybuilding days that you bring to riding today?
One of the most important things that I took away from bodybuilding was all about how you handle yourself. I knew right off the bat that I wasnāt going to place during my fitness show. But I was getting up on stage painted orange with an insanely tiny swimsuit and I was gonna have a freakinā blast no matter what I looked like. For my routine, I decided that I was tumbling which wasnāt what I was supposed to do. A fitness routine consists of set āposesā to show off muscle tone. This can be done however you please, so most people just add but a little bit of sass. My weakness is remembering choreographyā¦ so I made it what I wanted to. If I let myself hide in the shadows I wasnāt going to make the best of a situation that I was freaking out over in my head. Iāve never been an introvert, but Iāve also never been on stage naked before lol. SO, on with the show. That same day, as my buttcheeks were facing the audience (parents and friends included) my music decided not to work! So, I sat there laughing at myself and figured it was something to add to the āI did this weird thing once and it almost floppedā list. Like I said, I didnāt place. In fact, I got 6th out of 6th and had more of a field day pounding down a cheeseburger after the thing was over.
Obviously, the nature of this kind of competition has some negative downfalls. For example, what you looked like (however unhealthy for your body at your show weight) could make a huge impact on how you see yourself later. Iāve dealt with that a lot. Which on a positive note has helped me monitor my eating habits to be more mindful of what Iām putting in my mouth (dirt is calorie free * insert wink face). Everything is fine in moderation and starving yourself will only lead to medical problems later. Treat your body well and it will love you back. Thatās not to say I always follow it though, I am the burrito queen. On the fitness side, I know my body physically needs to drain energy. So I do my best to follow a workout plan every day with my weekends as ride or rest days. The gym isnāt my favorite place, but I try. Heck yeah, sometimes I leave 10 minutes in because itās nice out and I wanna ride. Wouldnāt you?
My tips:
– Drink a ton of water, your body will thank you and youāll sleep better.
– Eat simple things that have few ingredients, nothing with preservatives or too much sodium and fillers.
– Get your body moving, we never stop needing exercise. Anything that makes you work up a sweat is good stuff. The gym isnāt for everyone, maybe go for a strenuous hike.. or work fakiesā¦ those things make me sweat like a crazy person.
– Be yourself and make it fun. Naked on stage? Your time to shine! You control the attention youāre going to get by how you react. Use the scary things to pump you up! Anything that makes your heart go fast and spark positive excitement is worth a try.
– Smile. Itās good for yeh.
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@awd_heather wants to know āhow are you so fearless when it comes to your riding?ā
Heather, I honestly think/feel like Iām just getting older and one day Iāll physically have to pump the brakes. So I keep going. Iāve also learned from my friends that if you think of all the reasons on āhow you could get hurtā doing said thingā¦ youāll make one of them true. Iām also stubborn about where I create this storm in my head if I become interested in trying something because I know I wonāt mentally drop it.
I try to make talking myself out of it isnāt an option if I want it bad enough. If I show up, and pad up, Iām doing something, no matter what it is. You and I both know as girls that if you show up on a bike you get labeled immediately, and from there weāre given one of two titles, either āShe probably shredsā or āSheās just here to stand with her bikeā. Everything has to start somewhere, so I always make a point to ride if my pads and helmet are on
Ps. I still canāt figure out a solid bunny hop, and pretty sure itās because I donāt ride with my brain turned on (lol)
@aaronfallsalot wants to now āDo you have Olympic intentions? Has anyone been pushing you towards that?ā
Aaron, I guess that depends on if my coach is willing to push me even farther towards that once seemingly unattainable goal.
Side Story: This one-time last year Tonyās Bikes team rider Aaron told me to do a wallride, somehow got me to do itā¦ then as payment made me give him my snacks and a phone charger. This year he tried to pull the same nonsense and got me to try an open loop. We were both surprised. Apparently, he knew I had it in the bag the whole time.
But in all seriousness, if you were to tell me that only after a little more than a year and a half in of riding freestyle that I would have been able to throw my body into this pallet loop I would have laughed at you and started planning. Aaron killed it again this year with making sure I didnāt leave without something to show for (which I did, in fact, text him complaining about days before). At this point, if I make it into any competition with enough to be proud ofā¦ never mind the Olympics Iād be stoked! But hey! Skies the limit and I donāt plan on stopping! COACH AARON, PACK THE OLYMPICS BOUND BUS.
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Ok, let’s talk about Swamp Fest, for those who haven’t been; whatās it like and what should a Swampfest virgin expect?
Be prepared to be addictedā¦ Swampfest is a massive BMX party with all of the people you love (and some you donāt know you love yet) in one place. Itās the most awesome and rowdy time and thereās way too much that goes down to be able to watch everything. With that being said though no part of it has a dull moment so wherever you are at whatever time of day is guaranteed to be a hot mess of rad.
As a BMX virgin, I say jump in! Itās intimidating and scary and definitely doesnāt look safe but if youāre anything like me youāll need some sort of bloody souvenir (within reason) to take home. My advice is to find something you think you can ride and go for it! Or get ambitious. Plan around events if you donāt like riding in front of crowds, for example, the pallet park is way less crowded when the jump jam is happeningā¦ although there are so many people that itās incredibly hard to avoid having no one around. The good news is that if you put yourself out there youāll have a cheerleading squad of sweaty randos clapping at you for even trying to ride!
I donāt know how, but Swampfest somehow got even crazier this year, how was it for you and where was your tent and shit located?
You know, after all the hype the first year (that I missed because I wasnāt into the scene yet) I think moving it to a bigger place and advertising more and more got everyone really fired up for last year. Then, this year social media and word of mouth got everyone more interested! Last year was awesome. Luckily, I traveled out with GromDad and Todd then managed to jump ship from that crew to stay some extra days with the Nasty North Kids, and another solid group of a great people.
Last year we camped and it was the coolest because we were disgusting, sweaty, and all in the moment. You woke up (in what looked like a scene from Jurassic Park) and jumped right into playing with bikes. My advice, bring warm clothes for at night. Sometimes it can get really damp and cold in the field.
This year, however, we stayed in an air bnb and jumped around a bit! Still just as fun but I think I might try to camp again because it was cool to be right in the action the whole time! Our home base this year was with some friends who camped overlooking the Shadow coffin. Because I knew so many more people this year, I had a blast wandering around talking to the world when I wasnāt riding! (because Iām the girl who canāt stop talking to EVERYONE)
Letās talk about that open loop, what motivated you to give it a rip and how many attempts did it take?
That loop took me 6 tries and with the 7th I managed to land it. I think the frustration of thinking I didnāt have much to get rough on this year kicked my butt a little to do something that was scary. Iām an adrenaline fiend. I like physically scaring myself and figuring it out. I also like to do this thing where I go before my body feels readyā¦ because it literally never does and I hate wasting time psyching myself out. At the same time the majority of the people, I randomly wandered into gave me a nervous āYou want to try WHAT?!ā which also gave me a weird spark of confidenceā¦ then the other handful of āhell yeahāsā like Aaron, Ben from GT, Chuck and the Kink boys, Rich and Courtney (LI), Brian (LI), and the random nice people trying to show me what to doā¦ helped to confirm I was definitely about to do this. Topped it all off with a kiss and a āyou got this, babeā from my boyfriend, copilot, and personal photographer Jonny Nemecek and we were ābout to get rowdy on Jescoās mug painted by Nick Sawyers.
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How sketchy were the ramps?
Sketchy āAFā but rideable until the end of the day when everything shifted. The boys had to move the loop back in place for me to try it.
@osxkate wants to know āwhat was going through your mind right before pulling off that insanity at Swampfest?”
Girl, honestlyā¦ it was the feeling of, āIāll feel so much better about my life being a funny little mess, if I can get this thing landed.ā Kind of a weird sign for me that I really really needed. The fails were good but the success at the end took some weight off my shoulders.
But before all thatā¦ was āAh Fu*k this is terrifying, better just pedal hard.ā
How would you go about explaining how that open loop is done and did your cheerleading background play a part in it?
The boys explained it to me as it āplacingā you where you want to be. All I had to do was go fast enough, ride off at the right angle at the top, and commit. The last part is throwing your head back and just riding it out while holding on. Iām pretty sure I closed my eyes for the landing but I felt it and they were right. If you pull too hard you loop out. You can see all of it in the progression video I posted which is actually kind of cool. I think my cheerleading experience helped me to keep my body rotating so I could land where I wanted to instead of just on my head. It was all really quick but most of my bails were pretty solid! That and Iāve spent most of my life landing on my head learning tumbling tricks, so this wasnāt much different!
Are there any other highlights from that trip?
Honestly just being around everyone I love was so huge for me, the sunshine, people, and bikes. It was great.
Going on another bike vacation, but this time with our friends from New England was the best. We often ride with Colby, Jeremy and the rest of the guys but this time we had Colbyās girlfriend Shelley and our friend Sara with us too! It was awesome having everyone there.
I also finally got to see Grapefruit trails! Ate some solid dirt and exchanged my blood for some to take home but that was cool!
Got a lot of questions about why youāre so cool, how does it feel to have that label?
Haha, itās funny… I donāt feel cool unless Iām doing something dumb. Always been a dream of mine to join the Jackass crew for a day. Emotionally Iām a little less badass, so I make up for it with being physically rowdy. Iād rather land on my head 300 times over being bummed. Plus, the ADHD decides what I do, so I canāt sit still and I hate when I feel like Iām being aā deck warmerā. Thereās definitely nothing wrong with that, but that kicks my butt into getting excited to try things. You are perceived by how you act so I always try to ādress for the job I wantā even if itās a loud girl in a bright yellow jumpsuit who lands on her face in Posh Woods.
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Are you currently sponsored by anyone or hope to be sponsored by any particular company?
I am not currently sponsored but I do have a few people/ places that consistently take care of me!
Tonyās Bikes of Milford will forever be my home base no matter what state I live in. Mike and the boys are my source for bike parts and pep talks and Iām thankful for all theyāve done for me! Mike has seen me go through this whole process from the beginning of my BMX life to a slightly less awkward Joce! Heās great at making me feel like Iām killing it regardless if itās small or huge! Mike was one of the biggest reasons I even tried the loop in the first place. He made me believe I could do it and pumped me up all the way from CT. Making him proud made me proud! Feels rad as heck to be riding for such a badass little shop!
Everyone Sucks But Us Ken makes sure I look really badass on the outside and feel more badass on the inside! Thankful for the extra love! Heās a one-man show with a huge heart and an unlimited supply of encouragement! Idk if youāve heard but ESBU.
Bob Haro Designs Bob has been my go-to since around the time that I started taking leaps in trying freestyle. Heās always throwing me extra love and sunshine. Bob forever has the check in on lockdown and makes sure Iām smiling from all the way in Cali. Heās put up with me crying, laughing, and a weird combination of both. Heās the man.
I have so many people that are on my side with making sure Iām still trucking. Iām wildly grateful for all of them!
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Do you have a crew that you ride with? Whatās the riding scene like where youāre from, are there any ladies?
I have a few crews! Iām lucky enough to have a solid couple of groups to ride with! I have my home CTers, who I originally started with, the upper New Englanders who we should probably start paying rent to, and now Iām lucky enough to have people in Long Island to roll with too! Itās awesome because I learn different things from everyone, everywhere.
The New England and PA ladies crews are STACKED. We have some of the most badass girls from around the world all in one place. Although I donāt get to see them as often and even more so while Iām in Long Island… I still look forward to the sessions, jams, and events where I get to! Too many girls to name all of them but they all bring so much to the table and I feel really proud to know them! Currently, there are a few girls who ride in Long Island. The McCarthy girls are the bomb! Jane and Kayla shred!
Whatās in store for Jocie in the next year or so, plans, ambitions, goals?
Aside from finding a job that lets me play a lot (every BMXerās goal) Iām happy with whatever comes my way as long as itās fun! The main goal is to ride everywhere, all the time, and learn everything! I plan on gathering some new bruises and new tricks and continuing to add to my collection of āI did thisā! Hopefully, within the next year, Jonny and I will have jumps and ramps at the house so I can become an X-gamer overnight. (You never know)
Frame: Custom purple Maloney Frame with a sunflower on as the bridge – By Mike Maloney (@defconfour on Instagram)
Forks: Odyssey R32ās
Bars: Kink Grizzlyās
Stem: Profile Acoustic
Grips: Purple ODI longnecks
Brakes: Odyssey Evo 2ās
Seatpost: Kink Stealth
Seat: Kink Solace 2
Pedals: Odyssey Trail Mix
Cranks: Kink Pillar Cranks
Sprocket: Shadow Conspiracy Maya Sprocket
Front Tire: Kink Lyra
Front Wheel: Profile Elite w/ Odyssey 7KA
Rear Tire: Merritt FT1
Rear Wheel: Profile Elite LHD w/ Odyssey 7KA