A little something for the two or three other BMX fans out there

This past weekend was the BMX Spring Fling, a reunion for old-school BMXers. So, yes, I made the big trip to St. Augustine, Florida. (It's about 45 minutes north of GRM World HQ.)

Saturday was chill: bike showoff at a beachfront park. No classes, no awards, no entry fee. Free lunch, though. This year I brought two bikes--the MCS parked up front (my first real BMX) and a 22-inch S&M, my current bike. My friend Chelsea joined me, and that's her orange Cult.

Several serious collections were on display.

Lots of bikes.

That evening we visited the local skatepark. (Shhh, no bikes allowed.)

The group ride was on Sunday--like hundreds of people on BMX bikes. That's longtime Haro factory rider Brian Blyther in the black ball cap. Dennis McCoy, another name long associated with Haro, was also there. Former BMX Action freestyle team member Mike Buff also made the trip.

Stu Thomsen was there all weekend, too. Todd Lyons also represented SE.

We broke off from the main ride a bit early, and Mat Hoffman joined us. He's a car guy, too.

These two gentlemen own Skyway, meaning they love Tuff Wheels (and American history) as much as I do.

And Sunday wrapped up at a local watering hole. Bike parking was improvised.

Thank you, Planet BMX, for organizing this.

DMC and the condor are childhood heroes of mine. all these guys doing these crazy flips owe it all the McCoy and the first flair.

Impressive collection, a bit old school for when i actually started getting into street/park riding but its always neat to see the bikes that paved the way for what i rode.

For as popular as BMX is in the Sunshine State, I've always been suprised at how few BMX parks, pump tracks, and in general "rad" riding there is in that state. Brice Sherback just did a great article on Pinkbike about the Santos Trail system, and it's a shame that is one of the few substantial trail networks in the state.

I don't know if it's that horrible. There are lots of parks and riding spots in Florida but, sadly, some parks (like the ones in St. Augustine) don't allow bikes. Orlando has at least two parks with one under construction. Plus Sparky's Distribution (Shadow, Subrosa) hosts a ramp jam in the parking lot. Our Florida BMX skatepark series wraps up this Saturday.

We have a free skatepark in our neighborhood. Bikes are welcome, too.

Edit: Here's a shot from our local park.

Very cool! I've still got my autographed Haro, Dyno, CW...and I think other tour posters ...either framed, or at least shrink-wrapped on cardboard.

It just isn't the same since they closed down Hell Track.

I hear that Hell Track is reopening. (Okay, technically it's going to be called Heck Track this time.)

Man, I wish I had kept one bike I used to have. Any one of them really. We used to have to drive almost an hour to get to a bike shop that sold something other than Schwinns. In fact, this is funny, we used to go through the yellow pages and call every shop listed to find out what they had. Then on the weekends we would try to talk one of our parents into driving us there, just to look at them. Then the phone bill came and that ended that.

Cracking teenage voice on the phone with the newest copy of Freestylin' in front of us, "Um, yeah, do you sell BMX bikes?". Guy says "Yep". "Um, do you sell CW's?". "We carry them but none in stock." Us, "Oh, ok. Thanks." Click. Call back ten minutes later (us) "Hi, um, you sell BMX bikes right?". Him, "Yes". "Oh, ok. Do you sell GT's?". Him, "Kid, why didn't you ask me that ten minutes ago?".

We lived for those magazines, and the bikes.

Every time you bring this crap up, i start hunting frickin vintage bmx. My excuse before was mn has a E36 M3 bmx scene. Clearly that is not the case here. I hate you. *runs off to cl/eBay/my doom.

I forgot about these:

General CL ad

There are still tons of old bikes out there--plus today's retro stuff. I have a retro Skyway frame set that I need to build. It looks like an old T/A but has modern geometry.

I won't ride my old bikes. The dropouts are paper-thin, never mind the fact that the wheelbase is wicked-short by today's standards.

Some retro completes: http://planetbmx.com/shop/complete-bikes/20-bmx-retro.html

And some big retro bikes: Quadangle cruiser, anyone?

http://planetbmx.com/shop/complete-bikes/24-bmx.html?page=all

Or a retro Haro Master cruiser: http://planetbmx.com/shop/2014-haro-freestyler-mag-24-master-complete-bike-deposit.html

I went to Camp Woodward for BMX racing when I was in highschool. I remember watching when Matt Hoffmann crashed hard on a halfpipe and get carted off in the ambulance. I still have my Dyno Detour, Auburn chro-mo/AL frame, and a frame I designed and raced when I was 16. Then I got into cars and the BMX racing stopped. I still want to get my old racing frame back together.

Excellent event!! And some pretty big stars from back in the day attending.

On the other end, I found out that there was an ABA Nationals event here in the Austin areas this past weekend. So, while you were watching the old, I was watching the new.

I was amazed at the sheer number of entrants. Something like 1000 riders. About 250 moto's per day. Including Maris Strombergs (2 time gold medalist).

Made me really want to drop about a 100 pounds and get back on a bike. (or drop a few to save the knees and get on a bike now!).

-Rob

I still have the Race Inc. I rode through childhood. I bought it used in 1983!

Damn good bike--- it's ready for another 30 years!

I owned a big bike shop in CT for 25 years. Rode freestyle, race, street, ramps, trails till I was in my 50's. Three times over the bars one night grinding ledges got me thinking maybe I wasn't in my 20's anymore so I dialed back what I would do.

Raced all over the country from Cape Cod to Orange Y and Orlando to Track 2000 in Canada. Raced class & cruiser but 18+ expert at nationals got tough when I got into my 40's.

I was hardcore. Many trips to the ER over the years. Once you get above locals and regionals certain classes at nationals, the Grands, World Cup, Gold Cup, and World championships get rough. Broke my hand at a track in practice trying to manual a set of doubles in the first straight full speed. Had the docs remake the cast so I could slide that hand onto the handlebar grip and won both days at a National the following weekend. Broke my spleen in practice at a Gold Cup Qualifier doing a look back on a step jump into drop off in Phili, overshot the landing. Did everything "right" for the crash (Pitch bike, try to roll , etc.) just too high so spleen exploded without getting a scratch. It hurt really, really, really, bad but I was stupid and raced anyway because I didn't want to travel 1000 miles to get to a different qualifier. Won cruiser & came pretty close to killing myself because I was bleeding internally, stupid move. A few days in ICU then exploratory surgery to remove the spleen remnants they could find and stop bleeders, got a huge "zipper" and 6 weeks later I was on the Podium at the World Championships. Ya, I was hardcore.

My first race bike was back when a lot of us still had coaster brakes, had to set your pedals just right when jumping doubles or the brake would be locked when you landed if you backpedaled a little mid flight. I rode every production bike mentioned previously in this thread along with lots of the other obscure early bikes. My favorite cruiser was a custom built Cyclecraft cruiser with 24 X 1/38" wheels, chromed, very few chrome Cyclecrafts made. Favorite 20" race bike was a S&M Challenger. Street & ramps was a Hoffman SD-4. Unfortunately, all were stolen.

Currently have an Eastern Jane, mid school Redline PL 20, couple other old school frames along with the #3 Evel Knievel frame/fork frameset never built. I was a Hoffman dealer from the time Mat started and we talked about the Evel bike many times before they made the first batch. I grew up an Evel fan destroying helmets and snapping mini bikes and small dirt bikes in half trying to jump like Evel. I kept telling Mat I wanted one as soon as they were released. First one I got was # 3 so I hung it on the wall and wouldn't sell it. Received more after that to sell and have kept the #3 unbuilt the past 18 years. Then when the completes came out I sold those as well as the 2nd Edition.

Me, riding trails about 25-30 years ago. Forget what bike it is but note the Hutch pedals and we weren't wearing shin guards yet at that time. Still have deep scars from those days.

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Very cool. I still have my BMX bike from 1982. A far from original Schwinn Predator. It's too small for me to really ride anymore, so I have a '98 Gary Fisher Lush Rush that fits better.

Granted, I still ride my mountain and road bikes a lot more and only race Downhill and enduro. I'm currently building a new DH bike for this season.

David S. Wallens wrote: I don't know if it's that horrible. There are lots of parks and riding spots in Florida but, sadly, some parks (like the ones in St. Augustine) don't allow bikes. Orlando has at least two parks with one under construction. Plus Sparky's Distribution (Shadow, Subrosa) hosts a ramp jam in the parking lot. Our Florida BMX skatepark series wraps up this Saturday.

What's the reasoning behind not allowing bikes? I see that a lot at parks (and it's pretty universally ignored, too).

I'm spending far too much time thinking about this. We've been here before too :-)

Maybe it's time to sell my skateboard...

Beer Baron wrote:

David S. Wallens wrote: I don't know if it's that horrible. There are lots of parks and riding spots in Florida but, sadly, some parks (like the ones in St. Augustine) don't allow bikes. Orlando has at least two parks with one under construction. Plus Sparky's Distribution (Shadow, Subrosa) hosts a ramp jam in the parking lot. Our Florida BMX skatepark series wraps up this Saturday.

What's the reasoning behind not allowing bikes? I see that a lot at parks (and it's pretty universally ignored, too).

Damage from axle pegs, pedals, handlebars. Once watched a kid on a biketrying to learn 540's crash almost exactly the same way over and over on a 12' half pipe made with plywood. Eventually the axle pegs made a hole through the first layer of ply, no skater roll over the hole.

These are concrete parks, so I'm honestly not sure why bikes aren't allowed.

Not a TA, cool on the Cyclecrafts. I still have my Cyclecraft cruiser.

Also, for those adults thinking about a BMX, I am still digging my 22-inch S&M. It's built around this frame: http://www.sandmbikes.com/product/hardgoods/frames/atf-frame-for-22-wheel/