Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Around the World - The Francisco Lindo interview

A few weeks ago we did an interview with Melbournes Karl Hughes aka Paradoxium. The feedback was hugely positive & people were both psyched & interested as to what he was doing in & around the World Bike Projects.

Looking to get a slightly different angle, Karl put me in touch with a close friend of his that lives in Lima, Peru - Francisco Lindo. The two have been conversing for some time with Francisco helping Karl learn Spanish by correspondence & in return Karl has been offering support by flowing parts.

* Full name & how long have you been involved with Flatland?
Francisco Lindo Diez Canseco and I have been riding for like 6 years. I left flatland for one year when I started college, but the flat is the flat, when you enjoy this you can't leave this as easy as you think.

* Please tell us a little about yourself
I live in Miraflores, Lima - Peru in an apartment alone but now with another biker friend. In my house all the time when me and my friends finished the day sessions we went to my house to see videos and updates about the news of the sport on Global Flat. I'm a professional Business Manager and I work in many enterprises in my country. I discovered flatland when I skated: I saw a couple of guys riding and doing some tricks and I fell in love with this.

* Please describe the flatland scene in your area
The flatland scene in Peru is growing up really fast. Since two years ago we start to see how the international level of the sport changes so much and we start to try everything we can. For this effort we can say right now that we have many more persons in the area and also international riders have said " the Peruvian scene is the more stronger in Latin America" and we are really proud to hear this from other people. The past year one of the best riders of Peru, Antonio Marrache flew to Columbia for the magicflart contest, the contest format was in battle groups, he battle against Raphael Chiquet, and Antonio won this battle and he went to the final against Matthias Dandois, when I heard that I'm really surprised about this, cause Antonio is only 17 years old, and he's the promise of our country, we try to get a sponsorship for him cause he need something like this for flights to other places and show his skillz in the sport.

The best riders here from my view point are:
Antonio Marrache
Williams Perez
Jorge Nazario aka Koko
Cliff Alania
Me, Francisco Lindo
Esteban Salinas
Christian aka Cabezon

Many local riders have a really good level, we have a style and level more like the European riders, cause they're our inspiration. The guys try to refresh themselves every time with new tricks and in every video they try to make a new stuff and this is what we do also.

We had only four spots and the best one is Larcomar in Miraflores, my district hehe. It's in front of the pacific ocean, upstairs of a big commercial centre. The other one is the Residential San Felipe, Antonio and Koko's favorite spot and also there is one in the Alameda in Comas. Many riders live in Lima Norte and ride in this spot during the day. And the last one and the Cradle of the sport in Peru is the Andres Avelino Caceres's Park. In this place I started to ride flatland and learnt my first tricks, a lovely space with a big flat area and we've also had some jams there too.

* What does flatland mean to you?
For me flatland is part of my life and all the time i'm thinking about flatland. I can do anything I think of in flatland. I remember when I studied I wrote the tricks what I practised in my notebooks and thought about the combinations I can do with this. It's like a life style, flatland gives you a discipline, perseverance and attitude, every time when I ride I can make another combo until the first one is done three times consecutive. The flatland open my mind to get to know another kind of people, as maybe you don't know but Peru is a mixture of all the races, and the racism here is really big with the poor people, this is for me is ridiculous. I came for a family with money and before riding I saw the people with another eyes, now, a lot of my friends don't have a lot of money but they're still my friends, because for the people it's not about the looks of the person but what they inspire in you. Every flatlander that i've met in my life is a really nice person for me and we've had lots of things in common and we are one with the sport.

* I understand that Karl Hughes aka Paradoxium has been helping you with parts in exchange for language lessons. Can you please tell us about that.
Karl... is a wonderful person. I met him like a year and two months, I saw in the Spanish forum something like exchange of bike parts for Spanish lessons. I wrote on this thread and he answered me. He asked me about the offer and I accepted, and now we are really good friends, and he helps me with bike parts, for me and for my friends, cause many parts he has given to me. when I changed parts I give to my friends and for me Karl is one of the best persons that I have met in my whole life. He make a lot of things for nothing and the money comes from his pocket. This is wonderful how he can love the sport so much to do this for another person and many times he doesn't know these people. It is his way to say please keep riding and make your dreams reality. I admire him a lot, and now he can write me in Spanish with many words that are really good and he is understanding more Spanish and this makes me feel proud because my form of teaching works hehe!

* Has knowing Karl changed your perception of flatland?
More than just flatland, he has changed my perception on life. He taught me about being a good person, because its like we go to the Egyptian times when the rich Pharaohs go to the grave with all they're stuff, and for what?? What we can do keeping all our money in the grave?? It is better to make the effort to help people, because this is a good way to spend our money, making smiles for other people. Maybe this won't make us rich but our souls will be.

* Where do you see the future of flatland for yourself, your scene & in your country?
Well, in the really short future I am going to Europe to take an MBA and I think my future maybe is going to be in Europe for a couple of years. In Peru if we do the things that we want to do then maybe there can be other options to get more of the pro riders visiting the contests. The scene is going to be so hard and strong here and I hope the foreign brands take a look here and start to sponsor our riders.

* What are you final words?
Well my final words... for every flatland rider in the world, keep your good word, the sport is not easy but when you finish a trick or a combo your happiness is so big...
keep the good job for the contests organisers, this is one of the reasons that the people make their best effort to make new tricks, and maybe they can take a look to make a contest here hehe!
And I hope that flatland can exist always, cause it's like an artist expression and a life style for everybody who knows about this.

* Who would you like to thank?
Special thanks to Karl for helping me since we met, to my mom for support me in the sport, to Camilo, Beto and Koko for learning me some tricks and for everybody who rides flatland and makes our sport bigger and bigger.




Edit: Francisco just sent me this awesome edit he just completed featuring Toño, Coco and himself...

No comments:

Post a Comment