It was my 40th last week, and just found this piece I wrote back in '03, ha ha, the good news is I have LESS pads to carry now since my ACL repair. Silver linings, etc . . .
12 October 2003 14:57:36
I was sat on the deck the other day, apre session, chatting with my mates and ribbing the teenagers still riding, when we computed the collective age on the deck – the three of us almost totalled a century !!!!!!! Not only that, we’d nearly 60 years BMX experience between us …………..so what’s riding at 30 plus like in the 21st century ?
Leaving to ride means getting your (sh)kit together – tools, spares (sessions so infrequent it better not get drawn short ‘cos of repairs), pads/ lid ( body’s hanging, can’t afford time off work), painkillers (variety of old injuries to numb before you can swing a leg over the top-tube).
Trade shows/ contests – you don’t go, riding yourself is so rare you ain’t spending time watching others – plus you rode with half the riders ‘back in the day’ and are all-too-aware how good they are.
Sessions are interupted by adjusting the braces,pads etc. that hold you together, and drinking loads of water because……..
You now sweat like a docker after the sort of mellow session that never used to even raise your heartbeat.
Scepticism – ‘nothing new under the sun’ – parts, videos etc. have to be out of this world to gain your attention.
You get a good laugh out of riders building ‘careers’ from stuff the Dirt Bros. did in the 80’s.
When you visit the Doctor, the file he pulls out on you is thicker than the Argos cataloque.
All true, but you won’t know ‘til you got 20 years + under your belt !!
