ZDENDA PEŠEK - WELCOME TO TALL ORDERBy Tomáš Carda | 03.03.2017

Pejda is with no doubts one of the most stylish riders out there and from the first moment of watching him ride you just know this guy has it all. With his unique style, high airs and huge bag of tricks he stands out from thousands of park riders out there getting a lot of attention. Judges are pulling up 10 point cards, dudes are screaming, ladies are dropping their underware because not only he`s handsome and always smilling, but he rips apart whatever place he rides at. Despite all the hype, when you meet him he doesn`t act like a role model at all being super positive and fun to be with dude.

Lately we have introduced you the new British brand called Tall Order owned by the UK legend Sebastian Keep. This brand had quickly become known all around the world so it is not a coincidence that when we`ve talked about Zdenda`s sponsorship, Tall Order was a sure thing. We think that Pejda`s level of riding perfectly fits into the whole concept of Bass` Tall Order brand and none from Czech Republic would represent it better than him. Now let`s stop with the small talk and let Zdenda to tell you his own approach in the interview bellow.
 

How long have you been in BMX and whe did it all start?

It has been circa 8 years since I`ve started with BMX with another 6 six years riding MTB. Back then I was spending a lot of time with Ondra Šléz and Honza Beranek and that`s why I decided to change the instrument and start riding BMX bike. I have an aunt over in the USA so I reached her asking if theres any chance she could hook me up with a BMX bike. She`s sent me a KINK complete and I couldn`t have been more stoked.

Have you always been into contests? Do you like the feeling of having all eyes on you while you ride?

Yeah, I love contests all my life, maybe because I used to ride cross country and motocross to. Later as i said before, my path has turned into BMX. I love the atmosphere and meeting all my friends and that "contest" vibe always pushes me to try the tricks I would`t have normally tried.

Do you remember the time when it all changed and you`ve started ending up at the top positions?

I don`t really have any breaking point in my mind. Simply, as I was riding all the time the results were better and better.

 I know you organise annual VANS contest called Off the Wall Jam in your local skatepark in Litomysl. Where does this idea come from and whos behind?

Me and Ondra Slez were once talking after a random session and the idea of organising some kind of jam has just randomly popped in our heads. We`ve just wanted to organise some jam as there were only a few of events going on and none of it around our town. Our idea was to make it a little different to the classic bmx contest so we created various disciplines such as high air, foot down, long jump, best trick etc... We try to change these disciplines for every year. However last couple of years I`ve been doing this contest only with the help from a local friends, because Ondra is unfortunatelly not really into BMX anymore. This year`s Off The Wall Jam vol.4 is already in the making and we are doing our best to make it bigger and better than the previous rounds. Stay tuned and on 5th of August be sure to come over to Bikepark Litomyšl!!

You have won the Czech BMX championship in both park and dirt for couple of times. Does this title means a lot to you?

Previously it meant a lot but the times are gone. Of course I am happy about these victories, but It is hardly different from any other contest I have won. I guess it`s also the fact, that theres always less riders coming to a championship then to a good local jam.

When the freecoaster era came along it didn`t really touch park riders and most of them kept on riding their cassettes. Why have you switched to a coaster?

I`ve just wanted to try something new while being inspired for example by Pat Casey and the tricks he`s been doing with a freecoaster. I try to ride a bit different than the rest of park riders out there doing the biggest tricks one after another. That`s why I have switched to freecoaster and now I can try various fakie combinations, which are easier to do with a coaster.

Your combination of a coaster and brake seems like an ideal park combo. You can control your speed while being able to do brake tricks. Have you considered to go brakeless?

I`ve been thinking about it many times and even tried riding brakeless for a while, but it`s exactly as you stated above. Sometimes I like to do tricks such as frontflip where I feel way more comfortable and safer with brake on.

I am a big fun of park/dirt combination. These two styles goes hand by hand and at the same time they`re totally different. How do you approach to this?

In my opinion both are kind of a same. I don`t really get to ride dirt during a year anymore, becasue there`s simply nobody to ride with on dirt in my neighbourhood. Although I`d say if you are good in jumping boxes and transfers, dirt riding can be even easier than park. I am not affraid to try new and more difficult tricks on dirt as theres more air time and that`s what I enjoy the most.

Where do you get your inspiration? I suppose one of your fav riders is well know Larry Edgar, ain`t he?

As I said before Pat Casey has a big impact on me. I am big fan of Larry`s riding too though, his high airs along with a smooth style are an absolute treat! I like to watch all kinds of videos, no matter if it`s park/street/dirt I watch it all and it gives me a lot of ideas.

Now let`s talk about Tall Order. What do you think about this brand? Do you like their crew and parts? You have been riding on your new bike for a while now, how does it feel?

This brand is quite new but I think it`s growing up super fast. There`s so many big names on the team like Jack Clark or Tom van den Boogard from Holland, who I know well as we rode together couple of times. His brutal high airs and style of riding 040BMXPark is just nuts! The bike feels awesome too, I`ve got 21" 215 frame that is super steady and comfortable. I can`t say a bad word about all of the other Tall orders components on my bike, because they`re all high quality and I really enjoy riding it. Thanks a lot!

As a camera guy I gotta ask you about your relationship with filming videos. As far as I know the filming is not really a park ridign thing. Why do you thing it`s like that? Would you rather go and film a nice video part or stick with preparing for contests?

I`ve got a little vision now where I would love to start filming more than ever. I`ve already started getting lcips and my plan is to make riding various parks in various countries. Also I know you guys are making awesome videos and I can`t wait to be a part of it.

TALL ORDER 215 PARTLIST:

Frame: Tall Order 215 
Fork: Tall Order RAMP
Bars: Tall Order RAMP
Tyres: Demolition MOMENTUM
Freecoaster: Éclat CORTEX
Front hub: Éclat DYNAMIC
Rims: Éclat POLAR
Stem: Éclat MERCURY V2 
Sprocket: Éclat SYLAR
Grips: Shadow CHULA
Pegs: Éclat VENOM 4.5" 
Chain: Shadow INTERLOCK SUPREME 
Brake lever: 34R CLITO Black
Brake: 34R CLITO
Cranks: Éclat ONYX 24mm 
Pedals: Saltplus ECHO ALU
Seatpost: Tall Order Pivotal
Seat: Tall Order LOGO