Saturday, July 29, 2023

So... Chase Hawk built a little backyard ramp...


Yeah, I was being a bit sarcastic in the title.  Chase Hawk got some property, moved himself, the wife, and the kid out to it, and then built his dream ramp.  Way to go.  No matter how far our lives may have diverged from the BMX world, if you spent some serious time riding back in the day, something like this was the dream.  Props to Chase for pulling it off.  

After the intro part about the dream, and building this crazy bikepark in his yard, Chase proceeds to completely tear the place up.  Transfers and variations every which way possible, and then some.  Just watch the video.  then watch it again.  

What this really reminds me of was a time when I worked at Unreel Productions (Vision).  As cameraman in either 1988 or 1989, I got the great job of driving a van load of skaters out to the Blockhead Ramp, somewhere out in the SoCal boonies, south of Orange County.  That was the first really cool, privately owned ramp set up I ever saw, with bowl corners and all.  I think every one of us there was thinking, "I want this in my backyard some day."  That day sticks out in my mind, and this video of Chase really reminds me of that.  I didn't have a bike to ride, mostly because it was a skaters only spot.  But I got to hang out and shoot video, and get paid for it, which was a great day in my book, back then.  

The other thing that stands out in my mind about that day is that this guy.  He was 14 or 15 then, I think, and he was one of the skaters I drove out there.  That's the first time I met him.  You never know who those young BMXer and skater kids will turn out to be. when you first meet them.  To bring this post full circle, I only met Chase once, when I gave him a ride in my taxi one night, with a couple of the Sheep Hills locals.  

Another BMXer built his dream ramp.  Who's next?


I'm doing a lot of my writing on Substack these days, check it out:

No comments:

Post a Comment