Oldie-Newb quest to fly this summer (& beyond).

[Hellcat]

Right. Long story short, I'm 38 years old, was mental about BMX as a kid, had a back yard 1/4 but never had a better bike than MK2 Ultra Burner. Bought a new FreeAgent Hellcat cheap on Ebay 4 years ago (nice but heavy), during 1st mid life crisis, then got into Thai Boxing so bike sat in Mum's garage while I kicked people  & got kicked.

4 Years later & unemployed, got some me time on my hands, so determined to ride every day, & get better than I was, and actually get good.

First 2 days I spent thrashing round local slag heaps & jumping anything bumpy while learning to ride a bike again. 3rd Day hit Hindley Park concrete park & did some clean 180's, kickturns & nearly nice 'rollbacks'.

Got a nice F&F on it's way, so this is it...Out to learn & fly...

Will be updating regular. Any beginners or re-learning tips welcome...

[Jaymz]

Full face helmet, knee/shin pads/elbow pads/gloves. We dont heal quickly or as well as we used to. I learnt the hard way

[Hellcat]

Full face helmet, knee/shin pads/elbow pads/gloves. We dont heal quickly or as well as we used to. I learnt the hard way

Thanks. Got gloves, will get a helmet asap, it's my face / teeth I'm most worried about...

[Spen69]

Get a lid.

Get to a ramp night lock-in.

Ask us for a bit of advice

Get the pish taken out of you by new mates

Take the pish back out your new riding mates

Don't feel stupid riding around on a kids bike at 40 even though we all know it's ridiculous

Simples

 

[Hellcat]

Was funny at Hindley yesterday. All the 10 year olds asking how long I'd been riding & what tricks could I do. They'd never heard of the OS tricks.

They were pretty chill tho, and all rushed to see if I was ok after my 1 big slam.

Off to the park now...First mission is to properly master rollbacks (as I'll always call em), & to get my 180 bunny hops back to 80's standard.

[LENNY-LENTINI]

'Ello Brother

Your doing the right thing, once you love BMX that's the start of a life long ride.

Where abouts you living?

20 of us 40ish riders regularly set up nights at Leics Boardroom skateprk.

Riding at any level and at our age will make you smile. that's all we need to know.

Keep the faith. L

[Sink]

I'm on the same path Hellcat, its a long road for us older gentlemen I get 1/2 to an hour in an empty skate park most mornings, getting those fakies nailed (Roll backs as you said) no where near a 180 bunnyhop yet but hitting a 90  I don't care much for pulling huge stunts, it's all about giving it a go and putting a smile on your face in a normally stressful world.

[Hellcat]

@ Lenny - I'm in Hindley near Wigan.

Sink - I had 2 hours alone in the skate park this morning. Blissy, love that 'being in the moment' feeling , and looking round thinking what to try next. Got to experiment a lot more with lines & angles. Best trick was a 90 degree curb endo to roll out pulled cleanly, and lots of 180s on the transitions, no height yet, but getting smoother & more comfortable.

Got a long way to go to regain the stuff I was doing / trying at 14. I haven't got any major ambitions, but 360s over boxes would be very nice, as would 180s to fakie. I just want to keep learning & progressing.

[Sink]

The kids make it look easy, The ramps in the park i use are only small, i can ride them, but come to drop in on the 1/2 and my bottle goes It's a strange one cos they are no higher than the other ramps, it's that curve that does it  I'll just keep at it and get there eventually

I was shite as a kid so I ain't expecting miracles, but to be fair I can do more now, then i did back then

[Hellcat]

Yeah 1/4 dropins are a way off for me yet. I was trying some 'new drop ins' (sideways ride ins) on the transitions on the boxes yesterday.

Before yesterday, the last time I was on ramp was when I was 16, in the same place on a wooden mini half pipe (the park's concrete now, and actually a park now, not just a mini). I was doing 'old drop ins' (back wheel on the coping). My back wheel slipped out one time and I handed on the flat with a bump, very badly winded, lucky I had a helmet on.

I've not really seen any good riders at the park yet, or ever when I've been around there with my son on the playground. Some of the kids can get air, but don't see many tricks. There's a hip jump over a gap from a 1/4 into the half pipe which I daren't go near yet.

[Sink]

I've stopped in a couple of times later in the day and there are a few older fellas in there riding, one fella is 42 and he rides like mad, mad air and some nice tricks, I had a chat with him and he's never rode anything other than BMX since the age of 13. Most of them are spotty teenagers with really nice bikes, that just ride around on the flat, doing peg grinds off the boxes, but now and then there is a good rider in there. These are the guys i need to get to know, watch and learn from

I must say though I am surprised at the welcome most give, when i'm hanging about. It's nice to know I'm not the only old fart that goes in there, I'm 37 so the other fellas got 5 years on me