Why I hate BMX, or a Cracker wants to be Mystic…pt one of a few

George has more or less capitalized on this topic already, but he’s been bugging me for my follow-up, so here goes…

A while back I setup, built, and kinda ran “Atlbmx.com” (I won’t bother making that a link, the domain is parked until it expires). Nowack had the idea and I had the know-how. We were all pretty surprised that the “scene” didn’t have a site by this point. After a few years, I understand entirely why it didn’t. George has this topic covered as well so I’m not going to go off on it again. Nutshell, the “scene” here in Atlanta can kiss my ass b/c the “scene” in general only seems to exist between people who want a “scene” to shill their product-of-the-week to.

I honestly wish Jason the best with AtlantaBMX.com. He is really trying to help this godforsaken “scene” actually become, well, in fact, a scene. His heart is in the right place and out of everyone I’ve met when I got back on my bike, he’s in that elite class of genuine folks who really love the sport and want to see it advance and flourish. (Even if he doesn’t always have brakes on his frame.) So, odinspeed my friend…

(more after the jump)

However, my problems with the scene and the site are all pretty symptomatic of my problems with the sport of BMX as a whole. I was around in the early days of the sport. In the mid-80′s I spent countless hours attached to my bicycle. I watched Rad atleast once, if not twice, a day for almost 3 weeks straight. I built a “hell track” in my backyard. I rode flatland, dirt, and, when one was available, I would hurt myself on a ramp. It was all just “freestyle” back then.

I saw the death of the sport the first time. I saw the products all become gimmicks as company after company jumped on the bandwagon to gain marketshare with the ever-elusive yet hugely profitable 13-18 yr. old male demographic. This, as any amateur economist could tell, created a bubble that would would inevitably burst. When it did only a handful remained to see the aftermath. Some of us stuck with it. I tried my best. I rode my bike, mostly by myself, like a nomad in the desert hoping to find another lost soul. Around age 18 I was in college and after one last gasp I chained my Pro Performer/Dyno hybrid to a bike rack for the last time. School, life, women and parties were creeping in and there just wasn’t any time to get that flat fixed or to even bother to get the bike off the rack before it was either stolen or removed by campus security. Either way, the sport was dead and I was tired of being a nomad.

Fast forward 10 years and a mountain bike trip re-ignited my love of two-wheeled action. I bought a mountain bike and also set foot on a 20 inch “freestyle” bike for the first time in decades. Immediately I was taken back to being 13 and the feeling was nothing short of total elation. I had to have a bike, I had to have that feeling again.

Fast forward a few more years and I’m now on my 4th or 5th “upgrade” to a bike I rarely ride in a sport I’ve grown to loathe. I feel surrounded by contests that make no sense, products that are signs of the next bubble, riders appearing “hard” or “street” and pretending that they’re NOT just doing that to sell t-shirts. It’s full of in-fighting, back-biting and self-loathing. Christ, if I wanted to be involved in that I’d just run for congress!! The sport USED to be fun!

And that’s the start of why I hate BMX…stick around for pt. 2…we all know the sequels are usually better since the backstory is out of the way. =)

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