You might be daydreaming about the #Laboracay that was never at your office desk. You might be tearing up inside asking, “What am I doing with my life?” If you’re in your early 20s, that’s quarter-life crisis.

 

You can say that sport bike superstar Aaron Colton, 22, skipped that. He knew what he wanted at age 12. He entered the world of motorcycle sports a year later with money he saved. A decade since that investment, he became famous. He just went for it, he says.

 

He had more than halved a personal record for customizing a stock KTM Duke 690 the night before—six hours versus the normal 14.

 

From riding a bike with training wheels to braking on a stoppie, it’s been far impressive for this child prodigy. But it was never that easy, and Colton knew it.

 

Inquirer Lifestyle Super recently met with Colton as he prepared for his inaugural run on Metro Manila streets. The Red Bull International athlete talked about his roots, and how his teenage decision let him fly above a gigantic question, in style.

 

Motocross

 

Since you were 13, it’s been all uphill. Let’s go back… How did you decide that this would be your field?

 

I loved going to air shows and flying remote control planes. That is what I wanted. I wanted to enlist in the Navy, I wanted to be a Navy pilot, then an airline pilot. And I still thought that up until I was 12 and 13.

 

I had gotten a motorcycle for my second birthday and I had training wheels on it. From age 2 to 4 I started riding. But when I was 5 and 6, I got into mainstream sports—baseball, track and field, football—and got away from motorsports.

 

When I was 10 or 11, I started going to Supercross, and I thought motocross was the coolest thing ever. So I had an agreement with my parents that if I was on A honor roll for two years in a row, they would  get me a 5 cc dirtbike for my birthday. I got my real start at riding when I was 12.

 

Supercross was the event that made you want to be in motorsports?

 

Yeah. I didn’t know that I wanted to ride a motorcycle for a living, but I knew that it was what I wanted to get back into, so I kept going and continued from there.

 

My dad was continuously riding a motorcycle—to work, and recreationally—and he has a racing background. He would let me take his streetbikes on a spin in front of the house, around the neighborhood. He had friends that got into freestyle riding and he got into the hobby as well. After work, they would meet up, go to areas and ride, and that’s when I started watching. I thought it was awesome.

 

Around the same time, in the States and around the world, many motocross bikes like 50 cc and 110 cc bikes got so popular to play on. I wanted to get one. My dad wasn’t all for it but I didn’t care. At 12, I had enough money to purchase my own. I saved up for a long time. I purchased a Honda 50. I went from there to a bike larger and larger.

 

Career choice

 

How did you start competing?

 

I went to a competition when I was 13 and I brought a bike, which I rode for fun, just in practice. I didn’t plan on competing. But a couple of older competitors told me that I should, only two days after I first rode a full-sized motorcycle. I competed on my third day.

 

At that first event, I’d placed in the team event, so that wasn’t much weight on my shoulders. But I continued. When I was 14, I went from going to competitions to winning an event at competitions. It still hadn’t hit me that this was a serious career choice, but I saw that this was something that I could soon do for a living. I can make make money and be happy doing this.

 

Did determining where you wanted to be at an early age affect other aspects of your life?

 

Absolutely. What’s funny is, to this day, it’s almost the same thing. From the age of 13 onwards, almost all my friends have been 8 to 10 years older than me because anyone I would go riding with was around that age.

 

I also missed a lot of school events like dances, fund-raisers or sporting events. But in the grand scheme of things—when I was 15, 16, 17—I realized that my career choice was definitely worth the sacrifice.

 

You know what, sacrifice kind of sounds like a bad word because I was very happy. Despite injuries and stuff that kids normally don’t have to endure, everything was positive. I have friends I keep in touch with at home (in Shakopee, Minnesota), though.

 

‘Disobedient’

 

Your philosophy is, “If it feels good, do it.” Would you care to explain?

 

There’s a lot of stuff that’s somewhat called disobedient. They have a lot to do with my career or life choices—or just because I enjoy it and want to do it. I made the choice to make that happen, so instead of getting approval, I just did what I wanted. That’s brought me here and I don’t regret anything.

 

What about the cautionary part of the “daredevil” sport?

 

People ask about that a lot, and when they talk about injuries, they think that what I’ve broken is gonna be negative. It’s not.

 

It’s what it comes down to, in any career. It’s damn near impossible for it to be a steady progression of only getting better. There will be ups and downs, and injury isn’t necessarily bad. It’s the great separator. In a lot of sports, the first time people get hurt, they’re done; so that’s what separates extreme sports athletes from hobbyists.

 

Are you gonna push far enough? When you’re hurt, will you be done? Granted that it’s started to affect me at a young age, it’s not like I didn’t know what I signed up for. Plus, with all the training at the Red Bull High-Performance Athlete Center in Santa Monica (California) and meeting new people in the medical field, I’m gonna be all right.

 

Open to everyone

 

In the Philippines, people are fond of riding motorbikes but forget to wear the proper gear.

 

I feel that I’ve been very smart and very safe about making sure that I’m riding in the proper areas. I think that one thing that saved me from a lot of injuries is the gear that I’ve chosen to wear (especially) my helmet. I take my gear very seriously. It’s hot out there and it’s gonna be uncomfortable but I think it’s pushing past that. Seeing you in the long run is more important than comfort for a short period.

 

I’m not gonna play perfect and say I’ve never ridden without gear, but I’ve always had my helmet on. That’s foremost… If you’re ever gonna see me riding, commuting, training, in demos and videos, no matter what, it’s gonna be in full gear. You should have more willpower to wear the gear.

 

What do you want to be remembered for?

 

There’s one thing I am able to do that my competitors in my sport don’t appreciate sometimes. Right now, on trips to the Philippines, Bolivia, or Colombia, or whatever country, they say: “He’s so young and he’s just so lucky that he gets to travel and they’re just paying him to go wherever on vacation.” What they don’t understand is that I’m making the sport bigger in the world. That helps every extreme sport worldwide.

 

I don’t want it to be just for 16- to 30-year-old men. I want it to be open to everyone. I want families to be able to come and enjoy an event. I want to make a broad spectrum. I want to be known for the huge leaps and bounds over getting the sport more acceptable as a whole in the world.

 

A lot of your fans are in their teens. How would they know if this is the path for them?

 

I don’t know if I have the right answer, but the last thing you need to do to get to where I am now is the exact bike I’m riding. I’m not saying it exactly… There are many steps along the way that people think they don’t have to go through.

 

They don’t think they need to start with a smaller bike… I have the KTM Duke 690. There’s a 390, 250, 200 and 125. There are many opportunities to learn in the smaller bikes because something that’s large is pretty difficult to handle. There’s a learning curve for longevity and safety to get to where I am.

 

For more photos of Aaron Colton’s exhibitions in Metro Manila, visit www.redbullcontentpool.com and search Aaron Colton Philippines.