I’m Lily Rice, I’m 13 years old and I ride WCMX. WCMX stands for ‘wheelchair motocross’ and it involves riding a wheelchair in a skatepark. You ride a wheelchair like a BMXer would ride a BMX or a skateboarder would ride a skateboard or a scooterer would ride a scooter.
When did you start?
I started riding in early March and we just, like, stayed on a few banks, which are basically just like small hills, going up and down. But as my confidence increased, I started to try bigger ramps and I eventually did, like, a small quarter pipe which (was), like, two foot. And I felt so happy when I did that. But now me looking back on that, I’m like, that’s nothing compared to what I’m doing now.
How did you do the backflip?
The backflip wasn’t really a target. We kind of just arrived in the skatepark and I was like, ‘I want to try a backflip!’ I practised into a foam pit first, which is like, it’s just a big ramp going up into, like, a pit of foam, basically. It kind of describes itself. And we moved on to a resi ramp, which is a … normal ramp made for bikes and tricks. Once I landed it, I was, like, really happy. I was ecstatic and I screamed.
It’s different to what other people are doing. I pull up to a skatepark, people are like, ‘Why is there a wheelchair here?’ And then I put my helmet on, do, like, one of the ramps and they’re like, ‘Oh my god!’
I’d like to try a front flip, now that I can do a backflip. No woman has ever done a front flip, so I’d be the first one to do that.
What is the future of WCMX?
Skateboarding’s going into the Olympics next year. And I really hope WCMX can go into the Paralympics as well. I want to inspire others and show people that you can do whatever you want. You just have to put your mind to it.
© BBC
