Washoe County Deputy wins BMX Racing World Championship

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Reno’s Justin Wike is now a world champion after winning the BMX Racing World Championships in France.

“The most amazing thing I’ve ever accomplished, to be honest with you,” admitted Wike.

The 40-year old took first place in the Master’s division (35 and older), becoming the first rider from northern Nevada to ever win a UCI world racing title.

“I mean any time you get to put on our colors and represent your county is pretty special,” added Wike. “You know I did it in the military, representing our country there for five years, and it’s just something I’ve always done throughout my entire life. And it’s the most memorable thing I’ll ever take with me.”

He beat out 83 other men from 39 different countries, riding for Remix BMX, a relatively new specialized wheel company here in Reno.

“As any growing company, you’ve got to put in your time and show that your product’s worthy, and we have been doing that,” said Dale Robinson, the owner of Remix BMX. “And people are seeing that our product stands up, and we put people on the podium.”

Wike is not your typical champion. He weights 230 pounds, roughly 50 pounds heavier than the average competitive BMX rider. He’s also a Washoe County Sheriff’s deputy.

“This is the one place where I get to escape everything and just focus on me for the couple of hours that I train,” said Wike. “It definitely helps me with the mental health and everything like that as well.”

While also changing the perception of competitive riders, despite a little ribbing from his fellow deputies.

“They make fun of me, tell me the big guy on a little bike. But once they heard that I qualified for Team USA and was going to France, they were pretty amazed,” added Wike. “It was kind of cool, because I was getting text messages from my shift, they were telling me good luck and everything and how cool it was to watch me win. So it was a cool feeling.”

Wike is also now ranked number one in the country heading into the USA BMX Grand Nationals in November.

“I’m very excited, but at the same time I’m nervous now because I have a W-1 on my back that’s going to be a target for the other guys.”

The national championships are November 23-27 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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