Today we’d like to introduce you to RC Colón.
Thanks for sharing your story with us RC. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
BMX Racer, mother of four, photographer, bike advocate, and mentor. I am originally from Lima, Peru. I was introduced to BMX by my brother in 1987. I was nine or ten at the time, and he and his friend thought I’d like it, so they talked me into checking out the local races. He was right. I loved it! I told my Dad I wanted to ride and I started racing using my brother’s GT, which was entirely too big for me. The rest is history. I started winning races on my brother’s bike and fairly quickly was asked by the National Peruvian team to represent Peru at the upcoming BMX World Championships, hosted in Chile. We traveled to Chile and knew I couldn’t race it on that big GT. My Dad, a Congressman in Peru, bought me a new Robinson right there on the spot. There I was, about to race a completely new bike, at an international BMX competition. I was so excited, yet clueless, all I knew how to do was to ride and have fun, so that’s what I did. I ended up making the podium at my first Worlds, everyone was shocked, as I was.
When I returned to Peru on my new bike, I really started dominating my class. Most of the girls I competed against hated me because I was the new racer on the block, beating everyone who had more experience than me. I liked winning and wanted more. We decided I should partner up with a trainer who pushed me hard to be the best. To this day, I can’t thank him enough for transforming me into the strong and fearless rider/racer I am today. I raced many different international races around Latin America in those days, finishing on the podium, usually in first or second. It was amazing experiencing new cultures and making BMX friends all over the world. I grew up really fast, competing in South America. In Peru, I won the National Championships, I was featured in magazines and made appearances on TV shows, BMX was a big deal and being a girl racer made it even more newsworthy. My competitors and I started to become closer even though when it came to race time, I was all business.
When my parents realized our life in Lima was getting too dangerous due to terrorism and my Dad being a congressman, especially for politicians, they decided to pack the family up and move to the US. I was 14. Racing in the states was a bit different and the first thing I noticed was how much taller girls are in the US. I wasn’t intimidated, I was competing in VA on my Robinson and began making new friends and winning. I was asked to join my local tracks racing team, Winchester BMX and starting hitting some of the nationals. I did pretty good and ended up winning my first VA State Championships in the early ’90s, which was awesome. Racing in the United States wasn’t a huge transition for me, probably because I was used to traveling around and competing against riders from many other countries. Because I raced early on, mostly in the East Coast, I wasn’t very known on the West Coast. It wasn’t after too long, being in Virginia, I decided to start a family in 1994-1995 and that became my priority. I took a break from BMX.
In 2007 my oldest son asked me if I’d take him to the BMX track, without a doubt I said, sure. I immediately felt the itch at the track. I also noticed some things that had changed, like clips! I started racing again in 2008 and have been back in the sport off and on ever since. To date, I feel I’ve achieved my goals in BMX for the most part, even though there’s always something more to achieve in our sport. I’m a seven-time NAG 1 rider between USA and Peru, which means I finished #1 in the country in my class. My combined racing career in Peru and in the United States, I have over fifty national wins, and a handful of international titles.
To be a Champion, you gotta have the desire, will, and confidence to win. I’ll share the motto I’ve had since I was a kid. I always refer back to these three words, DEDICATION, DISCIPLINE AND PERSEVERANCE. I’ve practiced this religiously, for me there is no other way. To win you have to be hungry for it, fight, take risks and be fearless. If you truly go after something with everything you’ve got, you can accomplish any goal you set for yourself, there is no limit.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not a smooth road, I definitely had struggles, especially with money and resources. But you gotta take some risks and hustle at times to achieve your goals and that’s exactly what I did. I did everything in my power to accomplish what I had in mind, nothing was going to stop me and I succeed at what I did. And I’m glad I went through those rough times because it made me even stronger and always helped me stay humble.
Whatever you want to start, it’s never impossible, just make sure you have a clear objective and make it happen. If you gotta take risks, then take them, don’t be scared to take that big step, do it all, life is too short and you don’t wanna regret it later in life.
Go after your dreams, be unique, be humble, and work hard. Set high goals, and believe in yourself. With dedication, discipline, and perseverance, you’ll build the confidence needed to love yourself and everything you do Go for it!
I’m very proud of all my achievements in my personal life, as well as my racing career, photography and everything I do in life. I have worked really hard and certainly struggled throughout the way to be where I am today. But my love for the sport, my BMX skills, talents have helped me get to the top and I wouldn’t change anything because all this journey has taught me so much, this journey has made me stronger.
What sets me apart from others? I’m unique, humble, very simple, hard-working, stay true to myself and very down to earth, I have no time for drama or nonsense. I’m simply RC!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Pedal For The Camera and Ride BMX Racing Company story. Tell us more about the business.
Ride BMX Racing Company was founded in 2009 by Rocío Colón, RC, a Peruvian old school BMX rider, who wanted to share her passion and give back to the community. RC rode for different bike shops, national and factory teams throughout the years, but she decided it was time to do her own thing, her own rules, follow her vision and get on a mission. Her passion for mentoring, her desire to share her experiences, knowledge and rise leaders who can give back to future generations drove her to create and start the RIDE movement in the local scene; a mentoring, grassroots and training program. She taught clinics, loaned and gave away free equipment to kids in need. She saw the need to help others, even though she struggled with the money herself, she did everything in her power to come up with the tools and resources to continue her movement and passion.
To earn more money and continue her vision, she invested in both herself and her business and went bigger. Ride BMX Racing Company became a bike shop with two teams, a local and a national team covering a few states; Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania. She ran the teams while she was also racing and taking pictures of her team members when she could (photography being another passion), around the same time she was nominated and elected President of her local home track in Virginia. She not only managed her businesses but also managed her household as a single mother of four children. Yes, pretty chaotic, yet very rewarding.
I also have a photography business called PEDAL FOR THE CAMERA, which is my way of capturing images of the sport and other activities that I am passionate about. There is nothing like capturing that perfect racing moment on film. RC’s unique and professional photography style has positioned herself as the favorite BMX female photographer in SoCal. I can’t imagine life without photography either.
For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
Yes, to some extent. Yes, women could have advantages on certain opportunities to capitalize on, but honestly, it’s all equal to me. Women do whatever they set their minds to. Men and women are equal periods. We all face similar challenges. Whether you wanna take the risk and do it or not, it’s your decision.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ridebmxracingcompany.com
- Phone: (703) 901-4617
- Email: info@ridebmxracingcompany.com — pedalforthecamera@yahoo.com — rcbmx@yahoo.com
- Instagram: rcbmxmami – pedalforthecamera — rcdigitalphotography — ridebmxracing
- Facebook: pedalforthecamera — rcdigitalphotography — ridebmxracing
Image Credit:
All photos belong to RC
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