BMX Freestyle Team Founded by Del Rio Native Wows Elementary Students with Stunts and Big Air

Upon the outdoor basketball court at Ruben Chavira Elementary, a BMX (bicycle motocross) rider speeds toward a quarter-pipe ramp and launches himself 30 feet into the air as children cheer him on all around. An announcer, Robert Castillo, introduces each rider and their tricks to the students. 

Castillo has assembled a team of pro BMX riders who bring a spectacular show wherever they go, which in the past includes NBA halftime shows and NASCAR meets. But this week, they’ve brought their show to the students of Del Rio, TX, where it all began. 

Robert grew up on Broadview street, with his brother Ruben Castillo. They found and shared a love for BMX freestyling early in life when they saw the traveling 'BMX Action Trick Team' perform at Plaza Del Sol Mall in the early 80s. This experience lit a fire in them that would set them on a course to make bicycle motocross history. By age 13, Ruben was sponsored by Dyno, a BMX brand from California, to travel the country and compete. He would become a 3-time BMX freestyle national champion . 

Ruben Castillo, October 1987, American Freestyle Association Competition in Wayne, NJ

"At a young age, we definitely knew this is what we have been blessed with," Robert Castillo tells Connect Del Rio.

Robert’s BMX trajectory also rose quickly when he gained sponsorship from GT Bicycles as a teen and won competitions through the American Freestyle Association circuit. The Castillo brothers would be featured on magazine covers and centerfolds as rising stars of the sport in the 80s and 90s. They were known for inventing tricks no one had ever seen before. 

Their level of freestyle creativity would continue to earn recognition and awards beyond the turn of the century, and by 2024, both Ruben and Robert Castillo’s legacies would be solidified in BMX history by being inducted into the Texas BMX Hall of Fame. 

The brothers, now in their 50s, work with a team of BMX freestylers to both dazzle and educate spectators throughout California, the country, and abroad.

Meanwhile in Del Rio, a stylish new skate park and upcoming pump track have enlivened the skate community. Word of these developments reached the Castillos and compelled them to call up some sponsors and bring a show with a message to the youth of their hometown.

"We’re here to let the kids know, ‘Go for it. Don’t be scared. You can do it. Anything’s possible. Look at us!’ To think of how far we traveled from our hometown of Del Rio to see so much of the world. It’s not impossible for the average kid to find something they’re passionate about like us," says Ruben.

Throughout the last week of February, Robert Castillo’s BMX Freestyle Team will put on ten shows at 10 elementary schools in Del Rio, and one final show in the downtown district that’s open to the public.