LYNN — It’s amazing how far two wheels can get you.
Just take Lynn native and BMX legend, Ryan “Biz” Jordan, for example.
Jordan has been tricking on two wheels from Canada to Japan and enjoying just about every minute since he began traveling to national and international BMX competitions at the age of 16.
The BMX superstar, who now films videos for brands such as Demolition Parts, has participated in about five X Games, placing as high as sixth, in addition to winning “handfuls of smaller competitions across the globe,” he said.
“I’ve traveled the world, (BMX) taking me to every place I’ve wanted to go,” Jordan said. “These opportunities wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for riding.”
Traveling has been the 36-year-old veteran’s favorite part about riding BMX.
Since jumping into the international stage, he’s been to more than 20 countries, with Vancouver, Canada, his favorite place to date.
“It’s a city surrounded by lakes and mountains. It’s refreshing and you really get the best of both worlds,” he said. “Anything that is different I’ve enjoyed, like Germany, Spain, and all these places.”
He charts the countries he’s visited for competitions and films on a map hanging at home.
“Most people save up all year or even two years for one trip and I got all that paid for,” he said. “It’s truly been a blessing.”
Still, the humble trickster has love for his hometown and the roots planted here in Lynn. He makes sure to visit twice a year: once in the summer and for Christmas.
Jordan grew up near Union Hospital and graduated from Lynn English High School in 1999.
Beginning at the age of 5 jumping off curbs, Jordan sought after more thrills, more air.
He earned the nickname Biz from his family at a young age for always buzzing around, eventually building his own track of dirt jumps and ramps in a small wooded area behind Union Hospital that is now overgrown, he said.
He started racing at a track in Wakefield, but by the age of 14, decided to change direction and begin to strictly focus on jumps and tricks.
At this time, he was competing in the area, but paying his own way. Things changed during Jordan’s senior year of high school when he was approached at a competition by a sponsor.
“They came up to me after the event and said, ‘Hey do you want to ride for Huffy?’ and of course I said yeah,” Jordan laughed.
Less than a week after moving his tassel, Jordan packed up and moved to Los Angeles, a place he called the mecca for his line of work.
Although Jordan loves what he does, he admits it was not always a smooth ride. Throughout his career, he has broken almost every bone in his left leg. He has broken about 12 throughout his body.
One of the toughest parts as he has gotten older has not been the physical aspect of tackling new tricks, but the mental side of breaking barriers.
“You just have to go and do something to see what happens,” he said. “Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t.”
For places to ride around here, Jordan recommends the Lynch Family Skatepark near the Zakim Bridge, however he prefers riding natural terrain, or things that really weren’t built for riding, he said.
On Saturday, he was seen jumping his bike onto the beach wall along Lynn Shore Drive and landing effortlessly on the sand.
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Although he loved growing up in Lynn, BMX has allowed him to get out of here, he said.
The advice he would give people dedicated to anything is to not give up, no matter how impossible something might seem.
“I never thought something like this would happen,” he said. “It just will happen if you want it bad enough with anything. If you are really good at something, no matter what it is, people are going to take notice eventually.”
