When it comes down to it, there are few people in life that can get away with truly being themselves and Hucker is one of those people. He’s the type of rider that can go anywhere in the world and he’s guaranteed to turn some heads. Whether it be because of his insane skills on a BMX bike, his unique personality, or simply one of his crazy haircuts people remember Hucker. He’s born and raised in Southern California and it shows in all aspects of his life. He always has a positive outlook on life, is down to get into whatever seems fun at the time and travels the globe on a regular basis. If that doesn’t qualify him as a bad ass, I don’t know what does. In between his many trips I caught up with him in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania to talk adventure and this is what came out of it.
If you had to summarize what it means to live an adventurous lifestyle, what would you say?
It’s crazy. It’s seriously as close to living a dream as possible. Waking up in the morning, flying to a different country and then being away from home from a month on six different trips in that one-month. It’s always an adventure. I feel like you can’t plan life if you try.
When it comes to adventures, what are three mandatory things that you always take with you on trips?
1. My Iphone.
2. My Bike.
3. My Ipod.
Give us a crazy story from one of your many worldwide adventures.
This one is fresh on my mind because I just got back from there but I was in France last year with a bunch of friends and we were all messing around with fireworks and shooting Roman candles at each other. We were at this harbor/marina type area and one of our buddies ran into a boat to escape us and we all followed him and kept shooting off the fireworks. The boat alarm went off and the cops rushed over. I thought I was going to jail for sure. My buddy was fluent in French and after talking to the cop for a while and playing dumb, luckily the guy gave us our fireworks back and just told us to get back to our hotel.
What kind of advice do you have for anyone looking to take advantage of every chance they get to adventure?
Definitely have fun with it, stay as open minded as possible and never pass up a good opportunity. My parents taught me that at a young age. It’s crazy that you just asked that question. They picked me up at the airport last night and I actually thanked them for teaching me that years ago.
You have traveled to all kinds of interesting places over the years so why don’t you fill everyone in on the top three places you have been.
1. Australia.
2. New Zealand.
3. Barcelona.
Globally, what city the best food?
Actually Barcelona has amazing food. Everything that I had there was so good from the Catalan cuisine to the Italian food. It was the best.
How about the best weather?
Huntington Beach, California.
Which one has the best scenery?
I’d say Barcelona again. They had by far the craziest buildings that I’ve ever seen. They had amazing structures everywhere, some that are over a thousand years old.
And lastly, which one has the best riding?
I’d say Allentown, Pennsylvania where Catty and POSH trails are.
Actually, we can’t forget surfing… Where are some of your favorite surf spots?
My all-time favorite surf spot is the wedge in Newport Beach, California. I also love rocky point on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii and South Stradie Island in Australia is unreal.
You never seem to sit still for too long, how do you balance travel-life with home-life?
It’s crazy, I travel so much that I swear that I’m usually only home for a long period of time when I’m injured. I’ve been through enough injuries to take them as a blessing now and my downtime when I’m injured it allows me to do the things that I don’t normally have time to do since I’m always gone or riding. When I’m home for a week or two though, I start to get the itch for my next adventure. I’ve been traveling so much though that I basically took the month of July off and pretty much hung out in the ocean the entire time.
How do you even keep track of everything that you have going on? With a schedule like yours it seems necessary to have a secretary or life-planner or something along those lines.
I plan trips out and then my sponsors will book my tickets and what not but for the most part I plan all of my trips. I pretty much just find cool events that I want to go be a part of, go hang out and find out and check out the adventure behind it.
You actually just got back to America from France yesterday, what’s next on your list?
I’m going to Pennsylvania on the 21st for a project that I’m working on. Then on the 29th I go on a trails trip with the Demolition crew, then after that I go to San Francisco for the Dew Tour and then after that I’m headed to Texas for Texas Toast.
Where is the craziest place that you have ever done a bar-ride or a surfer?
I’ll say that the hardest place that I’ve ever done one was down the isle at fellow BMX’er rider Thomas Hancock’s funeral. I’m really good friends with his family and his father asked me to do one. I tell myself if I could do that one, I could do it anywhere. The craziest scenario was on top of a mountain in Queenstown, New Zealand. The view was breathtaking.
If you had to take a trip right now, to anywhere in the world with your bike, a surfboard, and a skateboard where would you go and why?
I’d probably go to Indonesia. I’ve never been there and they have some of the best waves in the world and it hasn’t really been explored as far as BMX is concerned.
Ever been attacked by a wild cougar?
A wild cougar? Only at the bar!
Obviously you have a lot of support from some rad companies so why don’t you give them some shine-time.
I’d really just like to thank all of my sponsors for allowing me to live out my dreams. It’s so amazing and I can’t thank them enough for supporting me and believing in me. Thanks to S&M, Oakley, Headrush, Skullcandy, 50/50, Red Bull, Vans, Epic BMX, Team Soil and Demolition.
That’s all for this week. It’s always an adventure when Hucker is around and if you ever get the chance to meet him I would highly recommend kicking it with him. He’s the life of the party wherever he goes and it’s almost guaranteed that in one way or another he will put a smile on your face. Whether or not it’s from one of his many incredible stories or from his unreal talent on his bicycle is to be determined. Also, be sure to check back next Wednesday for the eighty third edition of Through the Lens and as always feel free to leave any questions in the comments section or email me at info@jeremypavia.com and I will hit you back as soon as I can. Feel free to follow me on Twitter and Instagram @jeremypavia.
