Kiwi BMX star Jed Mildon attempts world record jump near Rotorua

Kiwi BMX star Jed Mildon might not have made it to the official Guinness World Record book yesterday but he still made a personal best - and says he will be back to finish the job.

"The main goal today was the same as every day, to walk away safe and have the systems and the calculations work," Mildon said.

Mildon set out to make history on a hilly farm south of Rotorua yesterday afternoon by
attempting to jump 30 metres on a pedal-assist eBike.

A twist in the front part of Mildon's bike and a fall on one of his speed runs put a stopper in those plans.

Jed Mildon at the jump site on Friday. Photo / Andrew Warner

Mildon, dirty-faced and smiling, said he was happy with what had been achieved.

Mildon's longest jump of the day was 25m, a distance he achieved after hitting the top of the ramp at 91km/h.

The jump was a new personal best for Mildon, who said the distance doubled his previous longest jump record.

For now though, Mildon will head back to the United States for a 35 show Nitrocircus tour.

"I've done 300 shows [with Nitrocircus]. But we haven't been touring outside of Australia since the start of Covid."

Mildon promised once his tour in the US was done he would be back to try again.

"I'll be here with my digger, fixing the course a bit. I know I will hit 30m."

Mildon said he felt like he had spent a lifetime preparing for each jump.

"I've been dreaming [about this] for forever.

"I started jumping as a kid in the neighbourhood. Then I just kept wanting to jump as big as possible.

"That's kind of how my mind works."

For Mildon, every jump was just a preparation for the next record-breaker.

Mildon was the first person in the world to land a triple, and then a quadruple backflip on a BMX bike in 2011 and 2015 respectively.

Breaking a Guinness world record, Mildon said, would mean everything.

A slight twist in the front structure of Mildon's bike and a fall on one of his speed runs meant the BMX star had to call it a day. Photo / Maryana Garcia

"You can envision every step of the way, how you're going to do it and what it's going to look like.

"I also visualise what it's going to feel like.

"These are the moments we live for and why we do this stuff."

Mildon compared the feeling to unwrapping presents under the Christmas tree as a child.

"I still remember what it was like to get my first bike. [Setting the record] will be like that."

Mildon's record-setting attempt took place at a purpose-built venue near Rainbow Mountain about 25km south of Rotorua.

"We've been on-site for two weeks," he said.

"[But] this all came about a year ago and we've been working on it for nine months.

"There's a lot of people behind this."

Mildon attempted the record at this purpose-built venue near Rainbow Mountain about 25km south of Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner

Bosch project manager Paul Gunn said he met Mildon a little over a year ago and had been working towards this jump ever since.

But even with tens of thousands in funding dollars, Gunn said getting to jump day was about having the right people in the right place and at the right time.

"We couldn't have done this without the Rotorua mountain biking community.

"You have to have empathy for what Jed is trying to do. They know what this jump means."

Preparation for the jump included visiting seven different locations.

"We needed a really, really big hill."

Gunn said surveyors and engineers were just some of the expert consultants who have lent a hand to making sure Mildon could clear the ramp safely.

"We always take a safety-first approach.

"Over the past two days, we have shifted a lot of earth [just to build the course]."