P.s where is Joe from 
DINGO
yorkshire,
after the sheer amount of e-mails, pm's and messages of support i've recieved thought i should at least put my point forward,
if you look at the thread you can clearly see the point at which i started to spit vitriol, check muttley's message "what the fcuk are you on about now" this implied to me that i'm seen as some sort of negative whinger, so i stamped on it,
muttleys reply to this was fine,
i straight away apologised for my sarcasm, its there for everyone to see,
the msboo wades in and openly, politely informs me that i come accross as a "w a n k e r", at first i just laughed and took this as a joke,
but, mischief got the better of me and i started to wonder if i could get away with a similar response or whether i'd be jumped on for it,
so i responded with "no offence but you come accross as an i g n o r a n t c u n t" i chose the "C" word very carefully, not because i'd ever think of ANYONE in such a vulgar way, but to females the term illicits a strong response,
which it did.
now, i like oberon but his response's in the thread (to me) bore to relation to what we were talking about,
at no point did i mention anything derogatory about the events that you guys put on,
but i got the same "were just a friendly bunch" "beers,bikes and laughs" lecture, for absolutely no reason, as if i were in some way against it!
i actually applaud and respect anybody that throws there leg over a bicycle,especially a bmx, on a regular basis,
if you read my responses to the last mk event, they are ALL positive and supportive! i love to see people enjoying riding, whatever form it takes!
i did think digging up my "collectors make me puke" was a little cheap, but its just a little internet banter so, fair do's!
from a purely idealogical perspective i stand by that 100%
if more young kids rode instead of taking drugs,nicking cars and mugging old ladies, the world would be a far better place.
but in practice i can see that these old bikes are quite rare and valuable and much loved so....
i hope that goes in some way to explaining it.
dcshoeco,vans and the usa skateparks,
in most cities across the usa if you try to ride a bmx in a skatepark youre in trouble, i most parks bikes are banned completely, you can even be fined by the police.
this isnt the fault of Vans or DC.
a few years ago Taj, joe rich and many other top pro riders started a campaign to let bmx bikes in public skateparks,
and many hoped the big skate companies would put there weight behind it but pretty much nothing happened.
for some people all this is irrelevent because its over there and not here, but imagine that scenario in the uk, how stupid would it seem?
not so much dc but Vans had a massive amount of financial support from bmx back in the 80's, at a time when skateboarding was dead, now i think its time the returned the support.
i have absolutely nothing against either Vans or DC, they both have amazing bmx teams and do a hell of alot for bmx,
but what i really wanted was for them and the other big companies to show support to there bmx customers by supporting the "bikes in parks campaign"
thats just my point of view, i'll tell people but cant force them to share my opinion! thats all it is, an opinion.
whats really weird though is that i skate! two of my closest mates are pro skaters!
at my local skatepark i know as many skaters as i do bmxers, as sports/lifestyles weve shared alot in common over the years,
i very much want bmx to follow in skatings success as a self supporting industry.
humour,
i get sick of saying this but it really is my fault when people take my harshness the wrong way,
"please dont get pissed off, i'm just taking the piss"
notice aswell that i only responded to peoples threads like this that i knew could take it, (stodge!
)
or pre warned people otherwise!
it really is just an funny alternative to the usual "nice bike
" responses.
banter,
as many of you will know ther exists on the internet a type of forum/chat room dedicated to arguing,
most normal folk stay well away from the and rightly cannot see the point, but for someone in my trade it is genuinely priceless!
so i admit that i'm a little more distanced from the usual internet banter/beef than most,
its NOT personal, if it is youre finished.
most of you will already know this from experience and its a part of every forum i've ever been on. (check thecomeup or streetphire for proof!)
for over a year i pretty much moderated and administrated one of the biggest bmx forums in the uk, where i first met bill and he told us about this forum,
i honestly know just how difficult it is to keep the finite balance of a good, safe and fair forum thats accessible to everyone
and also know what a pain in the arse some people can be! me included!
but the one thing i absolutely always tried to do was keep it from feeling like "a clique"
no special priviledges were allowed to any of the moderators(or there spouses)
they gave it out then they had to be able to take it,
that (to me) is a fair forum.
i genuinely hope mr&mrs spaceferret didnt take any real offence and apologise for oberon walking away from his pc feeling pissed off,
anyone who i stung with the "you gave up on riding" jibes , dont be so daft, its just the obvious thing to say! more power to you for getting your bike game on again!
lastly,
thank you so much for all the pm's and e-mails i've had from across the world urging me to stay on the forum,
it stands as a reference for just how great this forum is and could be,
i'll look in on the forum from time to time to see what you lot are building and have a look at the events photo's etc,etc,
but i really feel personally that i'm not quite ready to remenisce(sp?) just yet,
one thing i would ask all of you though is,
to give the credit and welcome to the "new school" riders that they deserve, theyre the ones breaking themselves to push our sport further.
good luck with the MK event,
joe
