I ate it big time. My bike went one way and I went the other and hit a drink machine. LOL But I was so stoked that here I am 32 years old and ate it that bad and lived to tell about. So all of you collectors put down your fatory correct NOS grips and dated brake cables. Get on a bike and just ripp it up. I'm going to bed because I will probally feel like I got hit by a truck in the morning. LMAO

Later

Love your attitude. I really need to ride more this year.

I havent grown a set of........umn...you know,to attempt a spine...yet.The guys here make it look simple.Oh,BTW I`m riding my Hutch Pro Racer there,if it breaks,I`ll fix it.And its been into the foam pit We ride at www.raysmtb.com

Man all of the kids there looked at me like that old man is going to kill himself. I am just so stoked that I was getting a ft out on a 7 ft mini half with a 19 kid telling me man your pretty good for a old guy. And this is only my 3rd trip to the park. I haven't been on any ramps in 13 years. I am so jacked up right now I don't think I can go to sleep if I had to. I guess I just realized tonight that all this collecting crap is cool but guys you've got to dust off the cob webs and just ride man. But stay away from the drink machines. The really hurt.

LMAO!!! Been there myself.... We used to ride at Vans during the winter to keep the rust off the bike skills. I used to mostly just pump & carve, jump a little.... I decided to try a 1/4 pipe on a race cruiser. Hey the mtb guys were making it look easy. NOPE! Tried a little mini air, hooked the rear wheel & ATE IT. Ah well....

Yeah I hung my rear wheel tonight but managed to ride out. Scared the crap out of me though.

thats so awesome lol, it makes me want to get out and ride more im still brusied up from a few days ago because I ate it on some ramps too lol, but it was still great fun.

No doubt crowdaddy....I went to my first park just this past December @ age 30. I took the only bike I had at the time....my restored 88 master. Now I have a NS ride that I don't mind beating the S--t out of. I have been back every week since.

As for eating it. I went to my first concrete park last week and went OTB trying to carve over a 6 ft loveseat and I still feel like a truck hit me.

Keep riding.

Im 35 and ride as much,and as often as I can. We have a park set up in an abandoned warehouse, and I'm the oldest dude there(also the only one with pads,LOL).
But there is nothing like the feeling of pullin of a sick trick, and having all the younger dudes clap and let out a YEEEEAAAHHHH!!!!
This is usually where I get a little to brave, and wipeout BIG-TIME (hence the need for the pads!)

[ April 07, 2006, 12:26 AM: Message edited by: JIMBO420 ]

When learning to do spines- take it in stages.
1 footplant and return on the same side.
2 foot plant over
3 roll over on you sprocket. go just fast enough to pop you front end over.
4 jump it straight. make sure you nose in and tuck the seat between your legs
5 carve over it so you can spot your landing like coming in from an air.

Thanks Bret. BITD nobody had a spine in my area in NC. Just Vert ramps and minis. This spine is pretty small. Only about 3 ft tall. They have another that about 5 ft tall but I'll stay away from that for now. LOL.

Man I am really feeling my age this morning. My knee is killing me.



Its all in the name of progress right.

Funny story! LMAO as I am back in the game myself... I was at the local park and was just getting the basics down (in and out) and got greedy. There is a spine connecting the pool to a bowl so thought I would transfer out of the pool and into the bowl really fast, nothing fancy at all. I nosed over and went over the bars. Scracthed my hands all up and sent the bike flying. I feel your pain. So I went out and got pads, gloves and helmet. I'm not as dumb as I used to was. LOL I also bought me another bike (Haro F4) that I could tear up some and had some new school technology. Fun Stuff. My wife thinks I've lost it.

guys guys guys , i rode bmx from 13 - 17 yrs old , have'nt turned a pedal since 2 weeks ago .... 8 weeks ago thought about going old school , since then i have 8 bmx's in bits , i have a NOS streetbeat fully built , i have 2 looptail pk"s on the way , redline cranks , arayas , acs z's , ect , man im gonna kill myself . i go out at 10pm each night (except tonight coz im drinkin ****) and do wheelies and 360's and stuff to try and get in shape to do it in daylight . i live in adelaide australia (originally belfast uk) and here there is a bmx course/half pipe within 2km of any direction , pretty good for a city . my aim is to advance to where i was at 17 . and to not think of the pain of falling off

I've hit the local skatepark (litterally! lol) and I realised it takes a lot longer to heal pains at 40. Though I can still get 2 ft out of the half pipe and clear the roll in.
Crowdaddy I hope you reach your goal. Great to see the oldies getting rad!.

Brett's tips are spot on. That's exactly how I ended up learning spines last fall. I put a dent on my downtube the same day I did my first spine.
I'm very proud of that dent.
I can't do any super-tricks on the spine, I'm still fine-tuning steps 4&5, but it's nice to not have to go AROUND them at the skatepark anymore!
Congrats Crow!
-Bill

Thanks for the stories guys. And yes my wife thinks I am out of my mind too. Lets here some more.

I'm 38 and ride all the time. Flatland, ramps, street, dirt and race. You guys aren't too old, just out of shape. The more you ride, the better control you'll have and the better you'll be able to take a hit when they happen. I'm nursing a swellbow and scabs on both knees and shins. I don't even notice it anymore.

But, remember you can't get out and do what you did as a teen if you have been off the bike. You know how to do it in your head but getting that message to your body is a different thing. Wear pads and a helmet. Unlike when we were kids, we can't have down time due to an injury. Ride safe, ride smart, have fun.

In my hay day I raced, rode vert, and flatlanded a while, last year I was riding and discovered a couple of serious doubles in the wooded area behind where i ride seconds later I realized I was 8ft in the air and slightly top heavy it felt nice but the last time I encountered air like this I was 120lbs 5'9 currently 195lbs 5'9 tried to make the proper adjustments to correct but...kinda got bloody from it since then I keep it on the rode or on quarter for air, its kinda like relearning what u know how to do moral of this olderfellows jus gotta make adjustments.

Thanks for the advice Brett. I'm the only guy at the park with a full face helmet vs the new school skater helmets. I know what you mean about your mind knowing how to do it. I haven't been able to do a aired fakie yet but I was teaching a few 20 somthings how.

And I must say I am really out of shape but each time I go back I can ride longer without gettin winded.

good stuff guys. I am 33. I rode very serious from 84 to 89. I even placed at a couple AFA flat comps in 88. I have not been on a freestlye bike since 92. I have been saying I need to buy a bike but it is hard to find 300+ dollars to drop on a bike having a family and all the responsibilities that come with that. There is a nearby park that I pass going to a from work everyday that looks like fun.

old school daddy, tell me about that F4. I saw one at the local shop a few weeks back. let me know what you think of that bike.

Its really funny that the first time I went to the park I was getting some looks like what the heck are you doing here. But after just a few weeks I have gotten to know some of the regulars and some have even stopped by the shop and bought a few things. I think that in the long run that people will remember that when they need parts and pick me over the compitition. Until then I guess I'll just continue to huck myself. With in reason of course.

I think it is really cool so many on here actually get out and ride as often as possible. I think that so many people get so tied up in the show part of this hobby and they forget why we all started riding BITD. I hope that I can continue my progress and master those darn spines. And I hope that I can see more bikes ridden this year.

For all of you current rider, keep it up. And to all of you that haven't had the chance to get back to riding, here is a open invite to drop me a line and we'll dust off the cob webs together.

Whilst the body might take a bit longer to heal, at least with age comes the lack of peer pressure and caring about what other people think.

Next time you start heading for the drink machine, just whip the money out and pretend you were going to get a drink anyway.

One day it might be us oldies saying, "hey, not bad for a young guy".

Sounds like a plan.

Hey guys, this seems like a good thread to ask this. I'm a beginner and wondering Is a full face helmet necessary? I have a protec classic now and I'm thinking about upgrading to a full face. I don't ride vert. Just park and a 7 foot mini.

Goood Reading...very motivational!! I feel yestruday doing a stupid trick...I have done 100's of steamrollers and yesturday I just flipped and rolled on the ground and hurt my foot. Needless to say I am okay...just in pain. But crowdaddy is sooo right. You got to get out and ride...before it really is tooo late. We only have about 30 more yaers before we may want to stop riding and these first 30 years of life have flew by....So stop reading this and go out side and ride!!!! Or go to the park and hit the ramp...Learn a new trick..or re learn a old one..just so long as your riding and having fun.

Keep on Riding!!!!

Mark

I use a full face helmet. I like having teeth, and I think they dont look as bad as a bucket helmet,

I wear a full face because I got a concusion or two BITD. And I value my good looks and teeth. LOL!!!!!!!!

I used to have recurring dreams about knocking my teeth out to the point where I would wake up and have to stick my fingers in my mouth to make sure they were still there. I got a full face. I decided to wear it when I was going for "dangerous stuff".

A good friend, who had knocked his teeth oout before, said "You slam just as quickly on the little stuff as you do the big stuff." He was right.

Moral of the story-A full face is always good.

little off topic, but pwh4130, any word on when york jam is going to be this year?

I'm 33 and ride all the time. There are a few of us "old guys" that ride together. Tony from Pine Bluff (those are his ramps & goat on the FBM 1/2 & 1/2 dvd) has never quit riding, bad a-- on mini-ramps at age 45. By buddy Ken is 46 (that's him on the Etnies site photo contest airring the spine) really good park rider. Danny D-Boy at 32-33 is one of Arkansas few flatlanders. Us "old guys" can hold our own against the young kids. Actually at a some of the public skate parks Ken & I are some of the only bmxers that ride. Matter of fact its not uncommon to hear the little skater kids tell us, "You guys are the best bikers we've seen."

My only thing is that there are tricks I could pull BITD like super stalled nose picks, no-footed nose picks, nose-picks to disasters and I can't pull any of them now - just this nose-pick to tail tap type thing.

If you guys haven't rode in a while and you buy a new bike, its gonna feel weird. Most old school bikes had a 19" top tube and a lay back seat post, whereas the bikes today have a 20.5" to 21" top tube. The tubings bigger, wheels heavier (triple walls are OVER KILL), etc. So, don't expect to buy a 25lb complete freestyle bike.

i wish we had a smaller spine. the only one there is is a 7ft one that connects two mini's. still scares the cr*p out of me, but i too would like to learn how to jump spine ramps. i'm about to turn 27, btw.

won't even try to jump one until i finally get a helmet (currently looking at the bellistic by bell) and some new pants that fit over my fuse slim knee pads.

[ April 08, 2006, 03:31 PM: Message edited by: supergoose ]

Good for everyone here that rides. I don't ride the skate parks, and there just aren't any bike ramps around here to ride either so I don't ride 'vert anymore. I did start racing BMX again mid summer last year. Someone said it, we have watched the first 30+ years fly by, lets not miss the ride and let the next 30 years whip by either.
As for progress and skill, I started racing late June and a kid I know (15 at the time) started in late April, when I took him to the track. I consistently ran better than him in my races ( I know, age difference) but I can also still kick his BUTT in a one on one race, at either track that we race at. I'm 34, so that makes me feel pretty darn good.

I love what riding does for me, it's a great way to have fun AND stay in shape, but safety can't be taken for granted. I can't work broken, so I have to take good care of myself while out playing on my bike. I'll be out there again this year, running myself out of breath and trying to catch heat stroke. Gotta love it!

Who ever thought me busting myself up would turn into 3 pages.LOL

I'm going to try to go back this Thurs and try some of Brett's tips. I'll give a progress report.

I know what you mean about regaining bike control after years off of a bike. It seems like each time I go back it gets a little better. Does anyone live near Lapeer, Mi who would like to come with and give it a run?

Going to ride in the Local Exposure Tour tomorrow in Newnan, GA. They said all skill levels are welcome to ride. I figure what the heck.

Allan Cooke, Dave Mirra, Mike Cleaveland, Gary Young, Ryan Guettler, Ryan "Biz" Jordan, Chris Doyle and Corey Martinez should be there to scout the local talent.

Sweeet!

I'm going out to ride again on tuesday. My day off. I use an open face with a Jofa just like the old days. Looks pretty good but I still get the looks. I'm lucky here on the Gold Coast. We have a heap of parks around and a really cool park about 30 mins away. Ryan Guettler is a local and a mate of a mate. With any luck i'll get an invite to the next jam session at a private park!

Excellent thread, belongs in the new school freestyle section. Riding any kind of bmx discipline at 30+ years equals WIN

Jesse D
doin' it to em since the 80s

OOPS

[ April 10, 2006, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: crowdaddy ]

Thanks for the compliment Jesse.

step number three sounds sketch on the bigger ones though cuz I can just see going OTB but the rest are there
just pull up and dive in