September 8th, 2009 by Life

BMX rider getting some air time - wikipedia.

I’m just wondering how many adults remember the old BMX style dirt track racing we once created with our ‘cycles way back when. I still do – and it’s all of only yesterday.

Just turned teen and boy, did I ever love this new concept on using a bicycle.

Over dirt, steep hills, over tree roots, jumpover humps or hillocks – a dare and do or die situation. So I crashed a few dozen times. No matter how bloodied I got, as long as my old Raleigh mini bike was still in 1 piece I kept going again!

It was just a bunch of teens getting out of trouble but into another kind. Although we didn’t know it then, ADULTS frowned mightily on our wild antics. In fact, the wilder the track got the better and more fun. When heavy rains made for muddied tracks, it was time for some splashing good fun. Of course mothers being what they are, banned us all from ever doing it again.

Those bans lasted for all of 2 days and we’re back at it. You can always tell when we’ve had our fill of a good race – coke in hand, blood on knee, sweat all over and the bike was a strange shade of yellow or red clay.

Yes, if only I still had the endless energy to do it all over again. The dreams of an aging set of bones and joints.

These memories were triggered by watching a bunch of teens riding over hard paved roads and then onto a short dirt track squealing about not wanting to get dirty…Com’n you softies! We used to ride a hundred miles over dirt tracks on our weekend trips. What’s a couple of hundred yards of the yellow brown stuff?

It was all about the freedom to wander, getting some air (and I mean getting both wheels high enough to brush the tree branches), wheelies over a hundred yards (a tall order those days because the bikes back then were just so badly balanced), and riding on the beach in sand!

It’s a shame that all over North America the fear of litigation has made real raw fun on these BMX bikes all but banned or so sanitized FUN is no longer part of the BMX lexicon. Everyone is made to ride the safe and technical rules – made by adults who’ve never been on one of these things.

Are they really too dangerous? Depends on your ability. Skate boarding for me would be dangerous. But I used to do wonders on these bikes! Obviously stuffy shirted adults with absolutely no idea of the range of abilities of these experts on bikes want to close off the fun parks.

Well, if you bulldoze these informal riding areas, make damn sure you build up a good one to replace it.

Remember, the more adventurous of riders will seek far and wide for great trails to ride in. Invariably these will be far away from cities and in extremely dangerous places. I know, I did that too. Eventually, someone will get injured badly or killed. Take it from experience. And you know what?

You, Mr. Stuffed shirt, you drove them all there! I hope you can still sleep at night after that.