Like most kids with older brothers, Mat Dagu used to get bullied a lot by his elder siblings.

 

So any chance he gets at usurping them at something, he grabs them with both hands. And feet. Literally.

 

Like in BMX riding. "My two elder brothers were the ones who thought me how to ride a BMX," Mat Dagu, whose real name is Ahmad Shaiful Aziz, says. "Over time, I became a better rider than them."

 

Mat Dagu is a lot better than most BMX riders actually. In 1995, three years after he picked up the sport, he won third place in a BMX contest in Bedong, Kedah. Currently, the 25-year-old is one of the top three riders in the whole of Malaysia.

 

Intra-Malaysia contests, which used to be his bread and butter, have given way to more serious competitions.

 

Mat Dagu’s first major competition was at the 2002 Asian X-Games, which he recalls fondly.

 

"It was a massive experience," he gushes. "Prior to that I was just competing against local riders, at the X-Games I was up against some of the best riders in the world. Some of them were my biggest idols. I was going berserk! I didn’t know what my focus was, to compete against them or to get their autographs."

 

He has since taken on the best flatlanders in the Asian region. Last year, Mat Dagu finished sixth in Taiwan, champion in Kuta Karnival Bali, sixth in Sea Flatland Singapore, third in the Asian Xcursion in Singapore, and, only recently, third in the 1st Asian Indoor Games in Thailand.

 

Not bad for a rider who only started cycling just as a means of killing time.

 

"I started around 1992, just following my brothers -- we’re just normal kids with too much time on our hands," Mat Dagu says. "Then gradually I moved on to doing stunts and stuff and I realised that there’s a lot of things you can do with a bike. Three years later, I was doing all kinds of crazy shit."

 

Hence the birth of his other nickname, which is simply "The Crazy Rider", for his daredevilry when he’s on a BMX bike.

 

Mat Dagu admits that he does not know what he’s going to do after his BMX days are over. At the moment, he’s simply enjoying his choice of career.

 

"I don’t know how long more I’m going to be doing this," he says.

 

When he eventually departs the scene, at least Mat Dagu knows that he’s played his part in helping to promote the sport in Malaysia.

 

"Kedah’s Flatland is one of the most advanced arenas in Malaysia," he says. "Many riders there had started using original bicycle parts and state-of-the-art frames, they were doing all kinds of new tricks. A lot of riders are willing to travel the country to take part in competitions."

 

Inspired by someone like Mat Dagu, for sure.