Almost every kid learns to ride a bike when they’re young, but how many ever do anything special with it? Aside from the big steps of riding a two-wheel and taking your training wheels off of your bike, most kids never accomplish anything from it.

Mike Gonzalez is an exception to the rest when it comes to riding bikes. Gonzalez, better known as "Mikey Gonz" to some of his friends, is an expert in the area of bicycle moto cross.

Gonzalez began like most others, riding his bike for fun with other kids in the neighborhood. He always wanted to race moto cross when he was a kid, and when a few of his neighborhood friends started racing BMX, he decided he would try it too.

Gonzalez first raced on a track when he was about 10 years old. He learned of the local BMX track in Bensalem through his friends. One Sunday morning in the summer he decided to go and race at the track.

Though he remembers feeling a little nervous, he had a lot of fun. “I was really psyched the whole time,” Gonzalez said. “The track was a lot different from what I was used to.”

Gonzalez practiced, as with any other sport, and improved his skills. He first started competing against other BMX racers at the Bensalem track. Once Gonzalez was acquainted with the sport and honed his talents, he traveled to other tracks and competed in bigger and better races.

Gonzalez was first sponsored by ACE Products when he was 12 years old. After racing with them, he was sponsored by Roadkill Products.

After Roadkill dispersed Gonzalez began racing for Bethany Cycles/Burger King. But, due to money problems, he changed teams again to Wooden Wheels.

Although Wooden Wheels is his main sponsor, other companies help him out by sending him products and BMX information to keep him up to date.

Gonzalez became a top competitor in his spirt and now competes in various races and tournaments every year. Last year Gonzalez went all the way to the World finals for BMX in Argentina.

Gonzalez competed in the 15- year-old expert class and placed third in the entire world, a very difficult feat, especially for a kid from Langhorne. He is now one of the best racers in the world, and he hopes to continue racing in the future.

Gonzalez thanks his parents, his sponsors, his friends, and anyone that helped him get to where he is today. He offered some words of wisdom to any young riders. “Try not to fall on your face and keep riding your bike,” he said.

Gonzalez hopes to turn AA pro in the next few years and start to make money off of his extraordinary talent. He wants to stay in the BMX industry and continue to have fun.