for me, probably a couple years ago when the ups man came and dropped off my first freestyle bike, 1987 gt pro freestyle tour parts. felt so great puting it together.

bitd i rode for a local bike shop freestyle team and we did a show at the state fair that rolled into Reno. Had the trailer quarter pipe setup and while i didn't ride the quarter (flatlander....wurd!). I did pedal up about 3/4 of the way, hit the front brake and roll back about a 30 ft reverse nose wheelie (ya know...squeaker style) Got a ton of applause for that one. Remember that to this day. There was a big half pipe setup for skateboards and our ramp rider took few turns on it...i remember people in the crowd yelling 'Let the bike go!' heh...

Hey Hudson - I have a similar story about a Switzerland Squeeker (as they were originally called - when you skuffed for momentum).

I was in my first competition and Rockville BMX for an NFA (Randy Bowser was the promoter) contest. I was in the 15 Novice class and had never competed in BMX freestyle before. I was so nervous for my name to be called for my run.

I went through my routine and had a few "touches" but only during my 1st boomerang attempt. The crowd began to cheer more with every subsequent trick I pulled off.

Finally, I kept my best trick for last. I did a Squeaker for about 30 feet also. At the time this was a very "new" trick very few people could pull it off with consistancy. The crowd went nuts and I ended up getting a 3rd place trophy at my first contest ever. Felt pretty good - Woody was there that day and complemented me on the trick which was cool too.

To this day - the BMX Plus and Super BMX and Freestyle where my name is mentioned are some of my most prized possessions.

I'll NEVER forget that day. After so much practice and my parents getting up so early that day to drive down to Rockville.

Then I turned 16, got a girlfriend, discovered cars and never looked at BMX the same until 2 years ago. Funny how things happen that way for so many of us.

Mike

Edited for grammatical errors - personal pieve of mine.

[ May 20, 2006, 05:33 PM: Message edited by: Chevron Envy ]

Wow...a favorite freestyle memory would be hard to narrow down. Either my first flail boomerang, when I yelled so loud people came out of an office building I thought was closed to see if I had hurt myself, or when I realized that the "extreme angle" ally-oops I was doing on a local bank were in fact 360`s. Or maybe pulling my first `nothing`, first try, motivated by the razzing of the town a-hole in front of about 30 other riders.

pulling my first whiplash.

my riding partner told me we werent leaving the front of his house to actually RIDE until i pulled it....it felt so strange when the back end swung around..

you want dirty or clean....?

both

...I have TONS of great riding/contest memories, but the bike one I keep comming back to recently (probably cause I'm lookin for a black General Blood Pro/Osborn Pro without much luck! ) Is when I got sponsored by General and getting my new FREE sponsored guy bike..brand new fresh out of the box..before that it was always new frames and parts as needed..never a new complete bike..it was great..I remember tearing it apart imediatly and puttin all my usal stuff ( coaster, etc..) on it..felt like a rockstar!

My favorite? Just hanging out all day, riding our bikes. Nothing even comes close.

For years and years my buddy and I would hear
" The kids from such & such neighborhood were the BEST AROUND !! " me and my buddy got tired of hearing it, so one day, oddly enough we found them at a skate board show. We had alrady sat down and to rest. They started bustin' out their stuff. Not impressed. We got up and threw on our gloves and pads, and this crowd that had been watching us went nuts !!!!
We did our tricks for about fifteen mineuts. They couldnt hang with that. They got ****ed and left.

We never heard much about them after that.

The feeling of freedom sneaking your bike out at night and riding the streets with your best buds at 2am. For a 14 year old that's it!!

Oh, and showing off on you bike in front of your girl and her friends while riding around at 2am.

86EK

Winning my first comp, or AFA Masters, or the title. Getting my pic in 'zines/magazines. Doing shows. It's all good.
Overall, it'd have to be the thrill of pulling a trick or combo for the first time. Seeking that thrill is what made all the rest happen.

Loads of contest stories, riding & partying but one of my favourites was in 1995, its King of Concrete, Southsea, UK. It is my local park, the contests used to be really personal to all of us.
Dave Mirra was over riding the new Blammo & every night we would go out on the booze. Me, Mirra, my friends Ronnie & Jon plus whoever we bump into along the way. Great nights had by all before MIrra gets "big".
The day after the contest we are in the local pub shooting a little pool, chatting up some chicks, Mirra fancies his luck with them so its fun. Some strung out weirdo starts being an ******* to the chicks in question. I asked him to ease off & he just freaks out!!! Pulls up the sleave of his grey, flecked 80's style suit to reveal the tracks up his forearm & screams "DO YOU WANNA **** WITH ME?? i'M ON THE COLD TURKEY, LETS HAVE IT ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!" I'm all about to get into a fight with this nutjob when Mirra just pushes me to one side holding the pool cue, squares up to the dude & tells him in a roundabout way to "Go away" or risk an *** kicking.... THe dude backed down but kicked off again an hour or so later & got his *** whooped by some huge Naval services meatheads which was amusing but it always sticks in my head how Mirra was down for the throw down from the word go. Fantastic.
I've been good friends with Dave since then & it ****es me off when peeps bag on him.
Good memories. too many too list.
great thread tho

Dave's a cool guy i met him in 95 in philly when they had the sprocket jockey shows.

I have 3 good memories of riding
Pulling a boomerang for the first time june of 87.
Seeing my first freestlye show the 87 in search of fish tour.
Witnessing kevin jones' run at the 89 afa masters at bristol, pa when he first did the hitchiker and backpacker.

Pulling my first bar ride. The old school style ones where you'd stand on the crossbar and not the grips.
"Rubber rides" were simple in comparison to the original bar rides.

Let me think about this one...

Just 1...

To limit it to 1 is just...

[img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RQDoApkUE9Qeu!SfHgqp4GuF5BDD2enM11F3hqxNhlY!3Mkr98bGGOlYYvJJ0WiXiJvEmFnY7*ULDyT
3XAm5!XZ*teGp2*ojATpm4WTnsUA/Crying.jpg?dc=4675532222329480279[/img]

sad.

http://groups.msn.com/Woodward1991/shoebox...Photo&PhotoID=3

I getz nothin. Linky no worky.


86EK

Ok, so it took a lot of thought to come up with number 1.

Honorable mention. Meeting the GT team for 3 years in a row starting in 86. Martin took me under his wing and gave me trick tips and would look for me each time he came to town. I have some great pictures that I need to scan from those times.

Martin will always be the one who really got me focused on flatland, and even today I always do my arms out like he did on no handed stuff.

Martin
[img]http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/445148e1m0942799d/34e3/__sr_/cbfere2.jpg?phYbEdEBFdR6a3Bj[/img]

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/glennwmiii/d...re2.jpg&.src=ph
Me
[img]http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/445148e1m0942799d/34e3/__sr_/f617.jpg?phYbEdEBehhol6rn[/img]

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/glennwmiii/d...617.jpg&.src=ph

10. Greensboro NC contest in 88, first taste of "underground" contest, no parents, sleeping on the floor of Leigh Ramsdales house with 20 other riders, and riding all day and night. Many of those guys are still Pro riders today. Hanging out with them when we were all kids was a blast. (I am one of the few people who know the true reason for why Eastern was named that, and also why they called that bike the "Jane")

9. The day RL, Perry, Jon and others knocked on my door to see if I wanted to go ride in 89...
What an amazing weekend.

8. The day me and my everyday riding friends; John and Greg, decided we were going to learn decades, period. We did them from sunup till sundown I did one first, and then John and finally Greg, but by the end of the day we were all doing them.

7. The get togethers in downtown Raleigh with the racers, ramp riders and flatlanders to have fun, before it was called street riding.

6. The day Freestylin came to town, Hanging out with B,BlythAir, and seeing how many bikes could fit in the trunk of a compact rental car. (9) And then being amazed that none fell out as we showed them around Raleigh.

5. Woodward in 88 and 89, I learned more in those two weeks than I did in a year. It was amazing how fast you would pick up tricks at camp. Not to mention picking up my nickname for all of my trades "FreeEnterprise". One year I left for camp with $100 and a old busted up bike, and a plate of cookies from Mom. I came home with a decked out bike, and couple of hundred stickers and $50.

4. Riding the U jump in Raleigh, Watching guys jump over their cars, landing my first 360, amazing times.

3. No list would be complete without mentioning the time I lived in Myrtle Beach with Scott Sharp during the summer of 1990. We would sleep all morning, ride all afternoon until I went to work for a couple of hours, after that we would ride some more and then go down to the strip and cruise in my lowrider until late, then ride some more until really late and then sleep for the morning and do it again. (Scott told me he still has the video from those days, he was the original girls gone wild guy...)

[img]http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/445148e1m0942799d/1c38/__sr_/ad6d.jpg?pho6EdEBYobmigxL[/img]
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/glennwmiii/d...d6d.jpg&.src=ph

2. When I was in College in Oklahoma, I was riding street downtown when Mat Hoffman rode up. It was cool getting to see the monster ramp first hand, and hang out at his "compound". He was and is a great guy.

1. My favorite freestyle memory. When I was teaching flatland at Woodward in 1991. Watching as the plywood hoods drove up. Getting to hang out with them and build up Kevin Jones bike, not to mention riding with them all for hours and hours on end, and even getting to video part of dorkin 4 1/2 (I filmed Marks part in the bowl). I never saw the video until I got the dorkin box set last year. I was watching it for the first time with my kids when I saw myself standing on the ramp in Joe's section. It brought back all those memories...

http://groups.msn.com/Woodward1991/shoebox...Photo&PhotoID=6

Freestyle in the late 80's was amazing. I am glad that I got to be there for so much of it.

Glenn M

My favorite memories consist of a warm, sunny day, a parking lot, my bike and friends. Luckily, I have had a zillion of them.

My favorite memory would have to be watching Gary Pollark & Dino Deluca doing a freestyle show while I was having a vacation in Singapore, circa '88 . I know that lt's a crappy pic. but that's the only one I have of them anyway...

I have a lot of great memories of riding around spots in town with my buds, and then there's the time my folks and I were in CA on business and I got to make a stop at Wiz Pubs, which was cool. Strangely, one which keeps coming back is the winter I got my Trick Star, I built it up and in the basement it went where I would look at it, sit on it, and ride it as much as I could down there in anticipation of the spring (I lived in IL at the time)and the snow melting so I could RIDE!

1987: Landing my first decade and just doing infinity rolls in front of my house - actually learning how to compensate for the slight decline/incline. I guess I was a tiltland freestyler.