The natural ability first surfaced at 18 months when Jesse Day started doing laps around the kitchen, perfectly sliding his bike sideways to maneuver the turns.

The training wheels came off by age 3 once Laura Day saw a young BMX rider on television and figured her son was equal to the task. Within a few hours, Jesse was riding on his own and eight months later he discovered his true calling on two wheels.

Soaked in sweat and smiling after completing 40 laps at the Sycamore BMX track in Simi Valley, 4-year-old Jesse climbed into the family's truck and fell fast asleep dreaming of his future. Those dreams have grown to include becoming an Olympian.

The sport of BMX makes its Olympic debut today in Beijing, and a now 13-year-old Jesse has his sights set on representing the United States in 2012.

"That is my main goal," the Thousand Oaks resident said. "It would be awesome to be in the Olympics, and I think a lot more people are going to be riding after watching it."

Although it won't be Jesse, there will be an American BMX rider named Day with county ties participating in Beijing. Santa Clarita's Mike Day isn't related to Jesse, but most people swear they are brothers.

From their appearance to their riding styles to their home track (Sycamore), they share striking similarities.

"It's really incredible," Sycamore BMX operator Joan Nigro said. "Even Mike's own brother doesn't look like Mike as much as Jesse does. It would be wild if they could have the Olympics in common too."

BMX, short for bicycle motocross, was invented in California in the early 1960s. It features riders descending from a start ramp on a dirt track and jostling through bumps, jumps, banked turns and straightaways in a sprint to the finish.

Soft-spoken with floppy blond hair that partially obscures his sleepy eyes, Jesse, who will be an eighth-grader at Los Cerritos Middle School in Thousand Oaks, hardly sports the look of a competitive thrill seeker. But his demeanor changes once he hops onto his silver and black Supercross bike made with Easton Scandium aluminum.

"I feel like I am in a whole other world," said Jesse, who finished ranked No. 2 in the nation last season in the American Bicycle Association Boys' 13 Expert class. "I just love the feeling of being able to go faster than I can go on my feet."

BMX riders tend to have medical charts filled with injuries from hard spills, but Jesse has never even broken a bone.

"He is a very cautious kid and is very good at knowing his limitations," Jesse's father, Bob Day, said. "Jesse seems to kind of study things and understand things well before he does them."

Sensing his son's aptitude for the sport, Bob Day had a designer build a pro-style BMX track on the family's sprawling ranch in Thousand Oaks.

It's the first thing Jesse sees out his window when he wakes up in the morning. But, Jesse admits, the convenience hasn't necessarily translated into more track time.

"I don't really train as much as all the other riders do. They are riding five or six times a week, and I maybe ride two times," Jesse said. "It's kind of hard to ride by myself here because I don't have anyone pushing me. But I am starting to train and work out more."

Last June, Jesse and some friends traveled to Chula Vista to watch the BMX Olympic Trials.

The track in Chula Vista is a replica of the Beijing course, featuring a start ramp more than three stories high that allows riders to reach nearly 40 mph while jumping about 45 feet in the air.

"I was so impatient because I really wanted to see them do it," Jesse said. "I thought it was crazy. But they made it look so easy."

Jesse has been invited to ride the Chula Vista course, but his father is considering an option even closer to home. Bob Day wants to replace the pro-style track on the ranch with an Olympic equivalent.

"That should give Jesse a distinct advantage," Bob Day said. "You look at (skateboard icon) Tony Hawk, and when he was a kid his dad built him this huge skateboard park in his backyard and said that is why he is the way he is today. He utilized an opportunity other riders didn't have."

Jesse could have gone to China this summer for something other than the Olympics.

He qualified for the BMX Worlds in Taiyuan, but decided to stay home. "I am a picky eater," he said. "I don't think I'd survive there." Jesse hopes to find the food choices more palatable in London, so he can carry on the Day Olympic BMX tradition in four years.

When asked if he would be watching BMX's debut today and picturing himself as an Olympian, Jesse cut off the question in midsentence. "Already thought about it. Already thought about it," he said.