hello. my name is mike. i had a torker freestyler back when i was a kid and loved that thing to death. for 6 years of my childhood i lived in a tiny hick-town in utah named delta. this was the early to mid 80's and i was in love with freestyle but there was only one ramp in town (two if you count the short ramp) and all of the cool older kids would pretty much monopolize it. they were pretty cool though and we always got in a few runs...needless to say i sucked pretty bad. anyway, life happens and i grow up. 33 years old now and living in long beach i notice all of these local skateparks popping up a few of years ago and dreamt of riding them since by the time we moved back to cali when i was a kid all of the skateparks were gone. long story short (too late?) i decide to get a bike off of craigslist and see if i can even still bunnyhop let alone catch some air. well to my surprise i can still hoist my fatass up over some obstacles and am now having lots of fun and getting some much needed exercise. sad part is...i still suck as bad as i did when i was a kid. i hit the parks as early as possible to stay out of the way of the kids who are really awesome and so i'm not the "creepy old guy" hanging out there. i hope to build a nice vintage cruiser when i have the scratch but god knows when that will be. thanks.

Cool, welcome! So what are you riding now?

'Creepy old guy" LOL!

welcome aboard...... there are plenty of OS dudes out in the long beach cali area!

just gotta find them

Hey welcome!!! Hey man everybody sucks at first, even the best riders! And I wouldn't worry about being "old". I'm 42 and the local kids around my town love it when I ride with them!

hey guys, thanks for the warm reception. i picked up a '97 (i think) haro backtrail from craigslist for $90. i would love to get another torker like the one i had or build a nice redline. i always wanted a redline as a kid. ultimately i want to have a 24" cruiser for hanging with the family (wife and kid) and a nice freestyler to mess around on.

Age ain't nothin' but a number, holmes. I'm 36, and could care less. Radness has no boundaries... I remember seeing some 80 year old skating pools in Thrasher, BITD, and was stoked. You don't stop riding because you get older, you get older because you stop riding. 33 isn't even old, dude. Enjoy your life and ride.

i don't know what the hell i was thinking! haha! the bike i bought recently is a 2003 haro NOT a '97. again, don't know what happened to my brain for a second.

Welcome to the West Coast! I feel like a circus giraffe when I ride (6'3" and 37 years old)....."He's too old to ride a bike like that".......

Welcome to VBMX and have FUN!!!! I'm 6'3" and 41 years Young and Still Ride A Bike

thanks guys. i'm getting used to it. and hopefully i'll get to a point where i can hit the skatepark at a decent time of day without making a fool of myself. and i am definitely having lots of fun already. don't tell my wife though...she thinks i'm exercising! haha!

parks are cool... do you hit up any flatland as well? With that, you can practice by yourself, and you won't feel uncomfortable... I have a great spot behind a plaza by my house that is deserted on the weekends- smooth pavement and secluded- if I crash, I don't feel like a chump, I just get back up and try, try again... and uhh, that's often LOL.

right now my bike is not set up for flatland. no front brake and no pegs...and i was always more of a ramp / vert wannabe...but after seeing all of the cool flatland threads and videos here i definitely want to start learning flatland tricks again.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome back!

Even if you can only do endo variations, it's still pretty fun.

Endo variations rock! Don't forget to throw a few footjams in there...

Toejam endo plant---greatest trick ever!!!