InFocus - Dennis Enarson
We sat down with Dennis in his home garage, shortly after putting his two kids down for a nap. Coming off a broken kneecap, we watched him put together his new limited edition maroon Haro SD frame while reminiscing on the past four months of healing. Learn about his motivations, life off the bike, and what keeps him pushing for a better future.
Hey Dennis, congrats on having your daughter Raven! It seems like you’re healing up nicely since the knee cap injury. What have you been doing during this time off the bike?
What keeps you excited about your friends, family and San Diego?
Since I was young, I’ve always been go-go-go… I’ve always loved San Diego and my roots here. I’m so grateful I’ve never had to uproot my life and make new friends. My family and friends are the people I’ve been hanging out with my whole life. After 33 years, it’s still those same people I get to hang out with while I’m home. I have my BMX family, but also have my San Diego family. It’s two separate worlds that have intertwined a lot. I’m super grateful.
Where do you find the drive to always give back to the BMX, including Markit, hosting the Unclicked podcast and the new Game of Bike series on your YouTube? Did you want to become a spokesperson for BMX?
Ha ha, not a spokesperson at all. All those things have started with downtime. When I’m not focused on filming or competing or even throughout an injury, I’ve always wanted to do cool stuff with BMX in any way that I can! Over all the years, things have happened to give me this downtime. If I’m not able to produce something for myself, I want to highlight what other riders are doing. It stokes the riders while stoking the community and that makes me happy! Same with Markit, I was happy to not just film a video part for myself, but get a crew together and make something we can all look back on, all while motivating each other. I’ve always felt some responsibility to give back. I’ve been so grateful, being a pro at such an early age and being given so much from BMX that I need to keep the community motivated.
Outside of riding what other content keeps you motivated? Are there any other subcultures that you find yourself affiliated with?
There are all the other sports that relate to BMX for me. Two of my favorite sports are Supercross and mountain biking. Just different forms of bikes, but I love them. Anything that is relatable in certain ways including skating, snowboarding, even rock-climbing and different bands. I just love people pursuing their passion and motivation. Just seeing talent, it doesn’t have to be BMX to motivate me!
How do you always keep a positive demeanor when you’re constantly putting in the work to grow BMX, your own career and family?
GRATITUDE! I have nothing to be negative about. Well, the only time I’m negative is when I’m tired. That’s my main thing, to keep my energy levels high and life cannot get me down. There is no reason I should be down, I have the best family, friends, place to live, BMX. Even through this injury, after day one I was already looking at the positives. Three and a half months later, I would not take this injury back, its already made me grow so much.
How do you always stay consistent and trust yourself when making decisions, including things you film, sponsors you choose, & ideas you bring to life?
I try and stay consistent with everything around me, whether it be the sponsors that support me or my friends and family, I like growing with people and brands. However, internally, I am somewhat inconsistent. I always need to take a risk and try new things, filming new clips or even trying new outlets like YouTube. It’s the same with everything, the number of things that have flopped are high too. I’ve tried so many different things because it’s fun, I’m just trying to figure it out. There is going to be spikes and valleys, but the goal is to always go up!
Check out Dennis' Playlist here.
