We’ll never forget the first time we came across New Zealand mini-shredders Jake and Theo on Instagram.
The post in question was a short video rather than a photograph. Specifically, it was a video which showed eight-year old Theo attempting to do his first backflip on a mountain bike – and well and truly embodying the phrase “if at first you don’t succeed” in the process.
Watch the video below and you’ll quickly notice a pattern:
It’s unlikely that any first-time backflipper will be able to stick the trick on their first attempt of course, but the sheer volume and velocity of bails that Theo takes while attempting this trick had us absolutely glued to our phones – and his twin brother Jake (who is also an awesome rider) is the icing on the cake, shouting encouragement from the side of the ramp.
Within minutes we had the entire Mpora HQ watching the Instagram footage of Theo flying off his bike, bouncing hard on the floor and getting back up to try again and again to nail that backflip, which of course, he eventually does stick.
We quickly contacted Theo and Jake’s awesome parents and stuck the video out on our Facebook, and now it has a well-earned 1.6 million views.
The viral video above is just the start of Theo and Jake’s appeal though. The kids are genuinely rad at mountain biking. They can’t get enough of it and any one of their posts will put a smile on your face and make you remember why you love the outdoors.
Their mum Emma told us: “They say they like mountain biking because “it’s fun and they like to go fast and do big jumps”! They know they got a tiny bit famous when their four-year old edit on You Tube went viral but they don’t really know what is happening with their Instagram account. Their plans for the future are really just having lots of fun whether it’s biking, skiing, parkour, or trampolining!”
That’s right, the twins aren’t just mountain bikers either, they’re actually fantastic skiers – and they’re stomping backflips on the snow now as well…