The irony of today's world is kind of weird, from my point of view. A virus, one of the tiniest things on planet Earth, has mutated into a form infectious to humans, and is wreaking havoc on hundreds of millions of us intelligent, sophisticated, technological, human beings. This is something that happens in nature, generally when animal populations get too numerous for the environment. Human scientists, understanding how viruses operate, have decreed a bunch of rules to keep this virus from spreading to more people than absolutely necessary. Because of this, most of you have been mostly cooped up in your house or apartment, very likely not working, for 4 to 6 weeks, or so.
Meanwhile, since years of really weird events have led to me being homeless right now, I'm wandering the streets of Los Angeles county, primarily in the San Fernando Valley. Like oh my God, fer shur. Homeless people have largely been left outside to die in this pandemic, myself included. Most of the businesses and places we rely on to survive, like fast food restaurants, and the libraries, have been shut down. So basically, while you were bummed about having to watch 17 hours of Netflix a day, I was trying to find a bathroom to take a dump. While most of you are chomping at the bit to get outside, and move around and ride, eat out, go to a club, and shop like normal, I'm working towards the day when I have my own apartment again, and can hole up and draw and write 14 hours a day... on purpose. Irony. On both sides of this equation, we have adapted, dealing with the weird rules, as this pandemic plays out across the U.S., and much of the world. As it turned out, being stuck outside turned out to be a blessing, since many communal living places, like homeless shelters, nursing homes, jails and prisons, are turning into virus hot spots, with many people dying.
In March and April, I spent a month seeking out power outlets where I could charge my laptop, and wifi guest spots still open, since McDonald's and the library, my usual work spots, are closed. I was barely able to keep up with posts and comments on Facebook, while most of you consumed more media than ever. Because of this, at a time when I really wanted to be writing the most I could, I have been blogging the least.
Searching my mental data banks for a blog post subject for all of you still cooped up, Robert Peterson came to mind. I first heard of Skyway's Master of Balance in an article in FREESTYLIN', in 1984, I think. Most pro rider' tricks seemed beyond me then, though I was full bore into freestyle, my skills on a freestyle bike were just starting to build. Bert's balance tricks showed me something I could start on that day, and then build upon. I could balance on my front peg, with my bars turned sideways, and soon climbed up, standing on the front wheel, and got the hang of balancing there.
I spent the Idaho winter of 1984-1985 in my small bedroom, in Boise, balancing on my bike, moving around from peg to front tire, learning to move around my bike in a tiny space, indoors. I learned to do The Peterson, the no-footed trick you see Bert do at :39 in the clip above. I also learned Dave Nourie stomach stands, and other balance variations. When I slipped and fell, I'd hit my bed, with one arm, my dresser with the other, and sometimes hit my head on my nightstand. That's how small my riding area in my room was. I learned to balance on the bike and juggle three tennis balls that winter, which became a signature trick for me in shows and the first contests. Then I learned to balance on the bike, and juggle two tennis balls and a bread knife from the kitchen. Balancing and juggling became a standard part of my trick show and contest routine. I even had "Go for the Juggler" printed on the butt of my leathers. Really. Go ahead, laugh, it's pathetic. But it was the 1980's, we were just making all this freestyle stuff up, a lot of goofiness ensued.
The next August, 1985, I moved to San Jose, California, with my family, and became a part of the San Francisco Bay Area riding scene. I met the Skyway guys, Robert Peterson, Maurice Meyer, Oleg Konings, and Hugo Gonzales. Later on I got to know Eddie Roman and "little Scotty Freeman, " as we called him then, as well. Since I was riding a Skyway T/A then that seemed epic.
San Jose was much warmer than Boise in the winter, and I could ride outside much of the time. But that winter of 1984-85, sessioning my bedroom, doing balance tricks, helped shape my early days as a BMX freestyler. I even invented a third version The Peterson. Bert invented the trick, hold the front brakes, and take both feet off the front tire, while balancing over the front end. Then he came up with version #2, doing The Peterson, one handed. My third version was to do a Peterson, but lift the back wheel off the ground, balancing no footed with only the front wheel touching the ground. I could balance 10 to 15 seconds, like that. I showed Robert my variation outside of Beach Park Bikes one day, and got his official approval on The Peterson, version #3. I was pretty stoked, as we both spent a few minutes doing my variation of his trick.
BMX freestyle, as we used to call this sport-type thing, is all about adapting, to begin with. Bob Haro took a standard BMX bike, adapted to its form, and started inventing tricks on that little machine. A whole bunch of us other weirdos thought it looked fun, and joined the party. So now, 35ish years later, a tiny virus has upended our lives. I thought a blog post about sessioning in my bedroom all one winter, doing Peterson-inspired balance tricks, would be a good reminder that whatever life throws at us, we have to adapt to it. So if you're cooped up and jonesing to ride, this may give you an idea. Get the bike in the family room, in the garage, the back patio, or up on the roof, and see if there are any balance tricks left in your trick bag.
In other blog news, I think this blog, Steve Emig: The White Bear, has pretty much run its course. I'm going to let this one creep up to 100,000 page views, which it's real close to. Then I'll let it sit here, for anyone who follows a link to one of the nearly 700 posts. I've started two new blogs, and I'll start focusing on those two soon. Here are the links to the new blogs:
I have a new blog about BMX, skateboard, and action sports spots, check it out:
I also have my online book/blog thing, explaining my thoughts on the long term trends leading into the tumultuous 2020's.
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