Oh, hello. Did I mention that el Pirate and I got bmx bikes? It's true. I haven't owned a bmx bike since probably 1985, which was probably the year that Li'l Dave was born, so needless to say, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. That being said, bmx bikes are fun. They're like riding Ali's mountain bike but smaller, heavier, and featuring platform pedals. And while I'm sure the only thing more exciting about reading about my exploits in a Cat 4 road race is reading about tricks I tried, but failed to do on a bmx bike, I will save those tales for another time. Instead, I'll outline my program for success. Since a lot of talented professional cyclists come from a bmx background, I think I can learn some skills that translate to other forms of cycling (and possibly some life-lessons, too). Therefore, I've set the following goals (in no particular order):
1) Learn to bunnyhop. It'd be cool on a bmx bike but would be really fun to break out in a cyclocross race.
2) Learn to corner. While mountain biking, I like to brake a lot in the middle of corners. This is supposedly not cool and bmxing should help me to stop.
3) Not die.
4) Not get beat up by punk kids. I've been road biking for years and have been made fun of by everyone from kids to the elderly, so ridicule doesn't much faze me anymore. But if a bunch of teenagers see a poser (me) on a bmx bike, there is a chance that they'll decide that I am not cool and should be informed of this not with words, but with their fists. As mentioned, I road bike a lot and have a weak upper body so, yes, kids could beat me up.
5) Watch a double feature of "Rad" and "BMX Bandits".
6) Acquire more bikes. The catch is to acquire new bikes with very specific characteristics such that no current bike I own would quite work, therefore making the new bike a necessity.
7) Not injure myself in a way that would prevent me from other forms of cycling.
8) Not tell my mother that I've bought a bmx bike and have been riding it around downtown Durham at night.
9) Not have to tell my mother that I've injured myself on a bmx bike I had been riding around downtown Durham at night.
10) Never use the term "shreddin' the gnar".
11) Blog sparingly about shreddin' the gnar.
Why stand on a silent platform?
2 days ago
5 comments:
this link should help with 7:11.
i pass this on the commute home ... there's some ramps, rails and various other stunts to hone the skills downtown.
google maps link to where chris can hurt himself
oh ... and i saw linus out representing the BCC this morning on erwin rd.
Hey Brofessor,
Remember when we were kids and heard about that gnarly bmx track Richard Cockerel had in his back yard? ...And mom wouldn't let go there to unleash our inner Mongooses (Mongeese?) but we went anyway? I recall making use of either the top tube pad, headset pad or handlebar pad (as in here) or all three on that day. You do have pads on your BMX, don't you?
Thanks for the comments.
Sennaster: are you recommending i ride around the cement factory? or rob the cement factory and make an awesome cement park? either way, i'm totally doing it.
miniweesh: haven't you seen, top tube pads are no longer used on bmx bikes. they are now the domain of nyc fixters. besides, this bike is too small to require a top tube pad. i am worried about my shins--platform pedals look like cheese graters and my shins look like ungrated cheese.
nah dude .. across from the factory ... on that flat concrete slab.
I dunno, that seems like a pretty good place to get beat up by neighborhood punks. On the other hand, I'm intrigued by the idea of ramps.
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