Meet Ruby Isaac, Real Life Shred Girl on the Rollers, on the Road and Pretty Much Everywhere Else!

Ruby Isaac is a nine-year-old legend: She’s the youngest rider to be sponsored by Specialized, she’s done commentary as Steve Harvey (!) rode a bike, she’s one of the very few people Peter Sagan — her cycling idol — follows on Twitter, and she’s even interviewed him. But that’s not even the craziest bits: She races on the road, the track and the cyclocross course, but her biggest claim to fame right now is her huge YouTube channel where she does tricks that almost no other rider in the world can do, riding on her rollers in the backyard. From skipping rope to dancing to games of catch, her stunts are remarkable. She’s excited to talk about all things bike-related, and doesn’t stop smiling for our entire chat. And, naturally, right behind her, her bike is resting against the wall like it’s waiting for her to be done so they can go for a ride. “This one is my favorite,” she says proudly. “So it lives inside right now.” Fair enough. When did you start riding bikes? Why? She started riding bikes only a year and a half ago, but immediately was hooked. She plays other school sports and doesn’t mind gym class, but until she got on the bike, no other sport had ‘clicked’ like cycling did. “I don’t remember asking for rollers,” she admits, but she was pretty happy to have them. Her dad came home with a set of rollers one day, and she slowly started to get more used to them. Getting onto the rollers with the new mounting system her dad built was a bit of a challenge, since it involves almost a bunnyhop/front wheel lift in order to ride up the ramp and land in the right place. Rollers in general made her a little nervous at first, but she pretty quickly caught on and starting to do tricks instead of simply riding. From there, filming them was a natural next step: Learning a new trick takes a lot more practice than you might think, and while her videos look super smooth, she takes a long time to learn new tricks, like this one of her jumping rope. She doesn’t worry too much about falling, and switches between practicing on flat pedals and being clipped in, depending on what the trick is or how confident she is. But while skipping and dancing are fun, her favorite trick on the rollers is playing catch, which she does with her brother: She’s not just a rider, though: She’s also been a commentator for Steve Harvey (!) and interviewed tons of pro cyclists… including fellow Specialized sponsored rider Peter Sagan. “It’s really cool. Specialized brought me to California so I could interview some of their riders like Peter Sagan,” she says. She also loves Christine Marjerus and Helen Wyman, but Sagan is a top favorite. (“He’s really nice,” she says.)

Her Race Reporter Ruby interview with him racked up almost half a million views:

What was it like commentating for Steve Harvey? Sounds like it would be challenging, but she took it in stride, and says she was only a little nervous. “He was really nice,” she adds, “And it was easy to think of things to say when they had funny stuff blowing at him, like leaves and money at the end!” (She also adds that she saw him stuff a few bills in his pocket at the end, and found that hilarious.) Her favorite part of her bike is her sweet (pun intended) paint job, with gummy bears along the top tube (it’s really, really cool). They’re her favorite food… And of course, fans of cycling know that Peter Sagan also loves gummy bears. So is that why she’s a fan? “I liked gummy bears before,” she says, “But I definitely liked them more when I found out that he did!” But she doesn’t just interview big-name racers. She races and hangs out with riders her age as well. "Yes, definitely,” she says when asked if she’s made friends through cycling. It might seem scary to be at a race where you don’t know anyone, she admits, but if you just start talking about the race with the girls around you, you’ll start making friends quicker than you expect.Her goals in cycling? The Olympics, of course, and probably on the track… But she wouldn’t mind racing on the road at the Olympics as well. She loves pretty much any kind of cycling, actually, from track to cyclocross, so she doesn’t plan on focusing on one specific discipline anytime soon. But if she had to choose, well, the elimination race on the track is probably her favorite right now. “I don’t think you should be really serious about racing or training until you’re at least 14 years old,” she says. “I’m racing for fun right now.” That’s fantastic advice, as is her other piece of advice: practice your skills, and don’t be afraid to start from the beginning with things. For her, that means swapping her clipless pedals for flat ones when she works on roller tricks or preps for cyclocross or mountain biking.(Like this one where she’s practicing bunnyhopping ON the rollers!)

It’s all about skills for Ruby, on and off the rollers: This season, she’s racing cyclocross, and she’s been practicing remounts and dismounts in preparation. (Psst: If you need some help with remounts and dismounts, our friends over at the Ryan Leech Connection just came out with a great Remount/Dismount skills tutorial here!) Speaking of skills, she enjoys school, and her favorite subject is math, which explains her interest in how her bikes work, and her awesome reviews of different gear. Ruby is the most multi-talented young cyclist that I’ve seen, and she’s not just riding her bike fast—she’s enjoying every second of it, and really making the most of everything that the cycling community has to offer. You have to follow Ruby over on Instagram and YouTube ASAP!

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