D.I.Y. World Championships- Post 5

 How cool are BMX people?  When I landed here in Richmond, I was literally escaping crazy drama in North Carolina, and was homeless, broke, and trying to figure out what to do next.  Steve Crandall saw it on social, and told me to meet him at Powers Bike Shop.  I didn't even know he spent time in this area, much less is pretty much based here.  We go back to 1994, but hadn't seen each other in 15 years or so.  After the high fives and bro hugs, Steve handed me an old phone of his, and a bag of food.  He didn't even think twice about it.  That's a thing that only happens if you've got a solid history in the BMX world or something like it.  Good guy that Steve Crandall.  This is the side of BMX outsiders don't see, or don't get.

That phone is what I shot these photos on.  I've never spent much time shooting photos on a smart phone, and never action photos.  But I've been shooting photos for 45+ years, and every photographer gets lucky now and then.  I'm really stoked on the pic above.  The peak of the highest air of the day, full invert, Cruelsifix rocking (hidden by the crowd), pyro stuff smoking, and the whole crowd digging it.  Good bikes.  Good friends.  Good times.  What more do you need on a Saturday?

 All of us old guys get sick of seeing flips, one after another after another, in comps like the X-Games.  But this wasn't the X-Games, and this back flip to flat off the cinder block launch was burly as fuck.  Props rider, whoever you are.

Below is the launch ramp to bike rack rail contest, which had a bunch of crazy variations coming off it.  Crank arm grind the full length.  Gnarly shit.

 I honestly have no fucking idea what this guy is doing in this shot.  One hand off, the bottom of his tires 5 to 6+ feet above the deck of the 10 foot high quarterpipe.  I'm sure this didn't end well.  But I think this might be the guy who managed to do a foot jam nosepick on top of the knobs later.  That was huge.

One more time, Steve Crandall, the man behind this whole jam idea, on the mike.  Huge thanks to Steve for shepherding this whole jam into reality.  Props to FBM Bikes and Powers Bike Shop for the support, the gift certificate prizes, and the location.  It was a great event all around.  Thanks again to Steve and Chad Powers for letting me set up and sell some art.  It was great to reconnect to the BMX world again.  It's been over a decade since I've even been to a BMX event, and I've been wanting to make it to an FBM "ghetto comp" for a long time.  Everyone I talked to had a blast, many of them actually did blast air, and have Instagram pics and real life memories forever.

On a personal note, I got contacted by a couple of old school BMXers I didn't know before the event.  A guy named Sam Weber messaged me ahead of time, and told me he wanted to buy my sea turtle drawing, which I drew from a photo shot by mid school jumper, Sheep Hills Local, and now hardcore free diver, Barspinner Ryan Brennan.  That definitely helped me out a lot, and I got to meet Sam, which was cool.  I literally haven't been able to chill and talk to old school BMX guys for a decade. So that was way cool on both counts for me. There simply weren't any where I was living in North Carolina.

I also got a message from York, PA legend and Plywood Hood, Brett Downs.  I'd never talked to him before, but he's been reading my blog, and wanted to catch up.  Brett's a really smart, really cool guy, and we ended up talking for a couple hours all together, I think.  He's also one of the better riders in the 50 plus age range, or Level 5-0 as I call it, because that sounds cooler.  Here's a riding clip I found of Brett, which is a ton of inspiration for us older guys to get on a bike, or to ride more often.  Ride everything.  Good advice.  He also reminded me that I may not be riding like I'd really like to be now, being out of shape and in a sketchy living situation.  But he reminded me I'm still part of the BMX world.  That was huge to me.  Thanks a ton Brett.

Brett also handed me his bike, and said he wanted to see something.  At about 315 pounds at the moment, weighed down by the taxi driving weight I never lost, and after about ten years of not riding, I was nervous.  I managed a halfway decent (for not riding so long) infinity roll on the second try.  I was jonesin' to ride all day, so thanks for that Brett.  While we were talking, Crandall walked by, and Brett offered his bike and challenged Steve to bust out a flatland trick.  Crandall, who I've never seen do any flatland, busted out a mega spin.  Hell yeah.

One last thing.  A bunch of guys were doing flatland tricks, hang-5's and such mostly, on the loading dock, early in the day.  I walked up and said, "I've got a quarter for the best front brake trick."  None of them had front brakes.  I was just being an old guy having a little fun.  But I had a point to it.  Hey guys, we named it "FREEstyle" for a reason in the 1980's.  You can do whatever you want.  You can set up your bike however you want.  I rode brakeless for a year in 1989 when EVERY trick was a brake trick. That year, as a MEDIOCRE rider, I learned half Cabs, lookback 180's, lookback half Cabs, full cabs (rollback to 360 bunnyhop), no complys (footplant to 180 bunnyhop), and a bunch more.  It made me try new stuff, riding brakeless in the "must have brakes" era. 

Just because everyone is running no front brakes and lots are running freecoasters, doesn't mean you have to.  Try whatever sounds interesting.  Different setups teach you different skills.  Different types of riding teach you different skills.  You know how Brian Foster can do such insane gaps? It's partly because he was a AA pro racer and knows how to accelerate and go fast, so he can get speed to make the distance.  Most of today's riders don't have those basic high speed pedaling skills.  Racing for a few months can fix that.  Even if you race flat pedals against the clip guys and get fifth.  You build bike skills, acceleration, and speed.  Flatland teaches you weird balance points and concentration.  It can also impress gangbangers in the hood who want to steal your bike.  That's actually the best reason to learn a few old school flatland tricks when you're street rider. Flatland tricks have gotten me out of many sketchy situations in the hood while street riding back in the day.

OK, enough preaching.  This past weekend was a blast.  Like I said in an earlier post.  Good bikes.  Good friends.  Good fun.  What more to you need?