James Shepherd "Sheep Bites" editorial from RIDE '96

[SaMAlex]

OK, so I know I have totally stolen this from SPRFLS, but its great and worth taking. Its something that James Shepherd wrote for his "Sheep Bites" editorial from RIDE (or Ride UK?) back in '96.

I wasnt even sure if this should go in the Old, Mid or New section, cos its applies to all of them!


Here's the piece in its entirety:


"Remember your roots." Old guys with real DX pedals and a closet full of magazines love the roots. Hey, I'm down with the roots just like the next guy, but you can't go overboard. Sure, looking back a lot of really cool stuff happened. In general, though, the sport was pretty gay. Mostly because the average rider had no clue. I had no clue. Jimmy'Z shorts. Fold-out-motorcycle-style-bitch pegs, mags and no f***ing clue.

Today, with rider-owned magazines and bike companies, people know what's up. John Q. Rider wouldn't stand for the crap that used to be shoveled out. It wasn't anyone's fault, really, the sport was new and just blew up. One day you were some pin-headed kid, and the next you're a high-paid pin head pro riding for a company run by an old man. It's really pretty funny. I won't go over everything, we'll just wade through a few of the more idiotic parts of the sea that was BMX AND FREESTYLE.

First of all, let's talk bikes. I hear people whining about how some new frame sucks, or that forks bend too easily. You want to talk about crappy bikes, bikes used to SUCK. I mean really SUCK. Try getting a Spin Master to work with caliper brakes on mags at the age of thirteen. It just doesn't happen, my friends. Clueless companies made stupid frames with standing platforms that extended as far back as the rear axle. Great for carrying luggage, not so good for schralping on down at the spot. If you want to show your roots, ride an old MCS Styler, but you won't be retro, you'll be retarded.

Now let's talk pros. Ex-superstar Mike Dominguez took his bike out of its box a total of six times one year. Those six times were to ride contests, which were part of his contract. No longer wanting to ride, but still wanting to draw a check, he rode as little as he possibly could, and people loved it. It was a little before the whole "ride to live, live to ride" thing.

Then there was the rollerskating retard, Fred Blood, who crossed over into the pro freestyle ranks. This fruitcake had about as much skill as an I-hopping 10-year old, but put him in an ad with a chick, two minitrucks, a complete bike, and you've got yourself a pro. That couldn't happen today, unless Jess Dyrenforth makes a comeback.

Then there were magazines. There is no doubt that almost everybody with roots considers BMX Action and Freestylin' to be the riders bibles, but even they were not without flaws.

Bob Osborn, who owned BMXA and Freestylin', had a son named RL. RL happened to be a great bike rider. He was so great, in fact, that during his pro career he got (I'm guessing) over thirty covers of his father's magazines. Ask Woody Itson (one of RL's main competitors at one time) how many covers he got. I'll bet he could count them on one hand.

Bob also had a daughter named Windy who shot photos for the magazines. Windy had a boyfriend named Eddie Fiola. Maybe you've heard of him? When your girlfriend works at a coffee house, chances are you can get free coffee. When your girlfriend shoots for a bike magazine, you're the king of coverage. Actually, the real king of coverage was Mike Loveridge, because he lived down the freeway from BMX Plus. Whooaaa!

Location didn't hurt Chris Moeller, either. In 1987, when Chris was still Mad Dog, he made the cover of BMXA four times. In case you don't know, getting four covers of the same mag in one year is ridiculous. Chris is definitely bad ass, but come on. If Ride's overlord, B Rad, pulled that crap you guys would have his ass tarred and feathered faster than the autowind on his Nikon.

Honestly, I don't think the sport was entirely gay, I'm just trying to make a point. Some people miss the past so much, they don't enjoy the present. It's not that bikes were so great, it's that you were young. Everything was great. No rent, no bills, just riding and trying to get laid. That's what people really miss, and hell yeah, I miss it too. If you're young and just got into bikes, this time in your life is the shit, so live it up. 'Cause one day you might grow up to be some fruitcake burnout with a beat-up old Dirt Bike that rambles on for hours about how great growing up riding was. If you are some fruitcake burnout with an old beat-up RL20II, sorry, but "F*** 'em if they can't take a joke."

Remember your roots, just don't let them keep you from where you're going. (That last line makes me look like a fruit.)

[JT71]

 

[munners]

 

[bmxbert]

the guy is right on alot of stuff there. te reason ive gone back to my roots isnt because riding was more fun back then though.

if anything it was worse. i used to ride old sh!tters back then that were handed down to me as i didnt come from money. dont get me wrong i was always grateful
but riding on halfords slippy tires on a set of old ally rims that have split and bearings that dont spin int my idea of fun. i rode an 80s bmx's in the mid 90s because i couldnt fund a bike. left home when i was 13 and all that jazz.

so the reason i build bikes now is to have what i could only dream off as a kid. not to remember the good old days but to live the dream. its fooking well worth it n'all.

other than that though the guy is right about the parts and pros. i know for sure on the parts as i was riding them a decade after they had come out 

[lodge]

Superb

[Matt S.]

It's not that bikes were so great, it's that you were young. Everything was great

So true.

Thanks for putting this up, Alex 

[SaMAlex]

Thanks for putting this up, Alex 

Hey, thanks to sheps for writing it, and thanks to SPRFLS (one of the best sites on the net) for putting it up.

Im sure I read this the first time round but it didnt really mean as much as it does now. I think its because there werent as many "BMX Collectors" around, or I didnt know of any. We were all just riding, and trying to get the best parts we could so I didnt really understand what he was talking about.
I mean, why would anyone want to use crappy parts from a few years ago 

[laughinggravy]

Today, will be 'bitd' tomorrow.

Which is why you should get the most out of each ride, get that feeling NOW, not try to recreate something from the past . . . you'll never buy those 90's KOC trips, Leigh, Backyard . . . on Ebay.

In fact, all those old bits on Ebay, the price has shot up from the demand from collectors? Not a bit of it, the price is high cos there's so few old bits left, cos we all shredded them in the 90's . . . . I've sent gooses, pk's and t.a's to the great BMX scrap heap in the sky, do I feel bad about it - no, built to ride, and ridden they got.

I've spent WAY in excess on fuel/travel compared to bike parts in my time riding, cos it's those times that mean the most, buy your own memories, this weekend, available at the local garage, and courtesy of your mates.

Live to ride, ride to . . . have fun.

[scott250]

Today, will be 'bitd' tomorrow.

Which is why you should get the most out of each ride, get that feeling NOW, not try to recreate something from the past . . . you'll never buy those 90's KOC trips, Leigh, Backyard . . . on Ebay.

In fact, all those old bits on Ebay, the price has shot up from the demand from collectors? Not a bit of it, the price is high cos there's so few old bits left, cos we all shredded them in the 90's . . . . I've sent gooses, pk's and t.a's to the great BMX scrap heap in the sky, do I feel bad about it - no, built to ride, and ridden they got.

I've spent WAY in excess on fuel/travel compared to bike parts in my time riding, cos it's those times that mean the most, buy your own memories, this weekend, available at the local garage, and courtesy of your mates.

Live to ride, ride to . . . have fun.

Words to live by! 

[fugazi]

Mmmm, read that before I think & agree with a lot of it, yes most of the old stuff was badly designed & broke a lot tat, but if people want to collect it, so what? Let them get on with it! Personally I was glad to see the end of the 80's "boom time" in freestyle because all round, it was getting beyond a joke! I still have some old frames from the '90's & have got hold of a couple more that I've always wanted, I'll build them up, what I'll do then I don't know, but they certainly won't be put away & "preserved" as for any 80's bikes? No thanks, spent too much of my earlier riding years cursing their crapness 

As for certain people getting more coverage, what's changed?

People have their own reasons for riding/bmx, but that buzz, that cool, inner smile that you get from from it has nothing to do with money or rarity, and not being able to ride much the last few years has made Me realise how much I miss it