Ricardo Laguna goes Costa Rica!

Even being bilingual and traveling to a country where Spanish is the current language...I still learned so many new things from this trip! I got to see how different Costa Rica is compared to the United States. I never realized how privileged we are to have the many things we have at home. It was interesting to see how even some words in Spanish are used and spoken in the U-S...have a completely different meaning in Costa Rica. The sport of BMX is also changing lives of kids over there. BMX is becoming even more main stream, and it is really helping kids have hope for a better future. They are staying out of trouble and are building a career from riding their bikes.
This trip to Costa Rica showed me that being a professional BMX rider can offer an unbelievable amount of opportunity. I got to see so much history South America has to offer and meet tons of new friends!
The city of Cartago hosted the 7th annual King of Dirt
Competition where people came from Central and South America to see the pro riders hit the dirt. Some even traveled 12 hours on little money just to make it to the comp. The dedication of the athletes is so strong that some riders even cracked their bike frames, but they still competed. That's because KOD is the biggest comp of the year for them and they have been practicing day in and day out. Mother nature was not on our side by giving us a steady 25 MPH wind. However, that didn't stop the riders from wanting to show off tricks they have been working on all year.

I feel so lucky and honored to win the title of Latin America King of Dirt. While I was in South America I also got to show off my dirt jump building skills. The best part of the trip was getting to spend some time with the future BMX athletes of the world. These kids were so inspirational to me. They also told me how I helped them start riding and how they had always dreamed of riding with me. I was so happy I could make some of their dreams come true. Thanks to everyone for making memories that money can't buy.