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Bryson Presson: 'The Mountain Bike Kid'

A Knoxville 12-year-old is shredding trails in East Tennessee and breaking records across the country.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On most days you will find one 12-year-old Knoxville boy, not on the baseball field or playing video games, but high on a mountain top on two wheels.

He's breaking records in a sport that's been passed down through the generations in his family.

Ripping downhills, shredding dirt, hitting trails at high speeds.

This is not your average 12-year-old, but he stays humble. 

"I have a bunch of friends that love golf and I think that's super hard," said Bryson Presson. 

Presson is at the top of his game, number one in the country in downhill mountain biking in his age group.

"Very proud. You know, he's constantly surprising me with the things he does on a bike. So the pride is very strong," said his dad, Will Presson. 

Bryson started riding at a young age.

"I got my dirt bike around five. Then around 10, I got my first full-suspension mountain bike and sold the dirt bike for that," said Bryson. 

Over the years he rode and rode and worked up to Windrock in Oliver Springs which has incredibly challenging jumps.

"You get 30 minutes of gravity downhill mountain bike riding, super gnarly. It's not really for beginners," said Will. 

It's steep and rocky. It's hardcore.

"I've ridden so much that I don't notice how steep it is. And I notice how many rocks are in the trail and when to pull up and when to push down on rocks," said Bryson.

"He just has this natural ability to choose lines and carry speed through places he shouldn't be able to. And with his size, he's tiny. He can get through berm turns faster than some of the best pros," said Will.

This love for racing runs deep in the Presson family.  Will is good on two wheels himself.  He races hard enduro, which is essentially off-road motorcycle racing and Will got the itch to ride from his dad.

"My dad was a superstar from the 60s and 70s racing motocross nationally.  He was a professional motorcycle rider so we rode together pretty much every day from then until I went to college," said Will. 

And that is exactly what Will and Bryson do together.  They have even turned their backyard into a bike park.

"My backyard has probably 10 jumps that I like," said Bryson. Most of the time I'm in the backyard with a shovel. I'm building jumps or building-like features that I can ride on."

"He's constantly like, 'Dad, when can we borrow Danny's excavator? When can we get the skid steer and move some dirt'," said Will. 

Bryson and Will are best friends connecting on a deeper level high on the mountain trails.

"Dirt biking was my love and I think that's the deal with our family. At least the guys in the family. My daughter doesn't like it. But the guys like to ride fast on two wheels," said Will.  

Bryson is just now starting to travel to races in Colorado and Asheville, but Will and Bryson say Windrock in Oliver Springs is one of the best places in the country for this sport.

To follow Bryson's journey, go to his Instagram page. 

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