Welcome to the rule book.

Bmx has become so much more than it really is in almost every ones eyes. It has been happening since the first day someone jumped a 20 inch. The more time goes on the more it takes on its own life. Whats in and whats popular has come full circle at least one full revolution. Nac nacs, tailwhips, and even early grind moves that faded away have come back in to the spotlight. The biggest key factor in whats in, is who is in. Trend setting is unavoidable and not always a negative thing. Its how you personally perceive these trends that defines what they bring about. You hear more talk than ever about whats wrong with bmx. What is in? What are the rules? What is accepted and what is frowned upon? Are web videos/Internet ruining things? I find these questions absurd and only surface deep. The Internet is the greatest tool in the history of man. You can learn anything or communicate with anyone. You can share your thoughts with the world. Turns out that most peoples thoughts are hateful, jealous, misguided, ignorant and rude. The Internet could just as easily be used to spread motivation, respect, admiration and common courtesy. Web videos and the Internet have done nothing to bmx. People and people alone shape what we have. It seems that all of us kids that chose our path in life to be ridden down upon a 20" kids bike have been slowly steered towards the opposite of what drew us this direction in the first place, non conformity. Slowly but surely were losing everything we loved about what we do to newer generations that never knew how it was. Self expression has been replace by imitation. I'm guilty too, a product of my environment. To them its a sport, with rules. The way you spin, the way you roll out, the way you dress, and the tricks you do all matter now. You are constantly being judged and graded by onlookers, as they run down their grade sheet in their head checking off different aspects and adding up your total score to determine your worth. Of course none of this matters if you don't care what anyone thinks about you, but everyone does to a certain extent. We want to mingle with our peers that share our similar interest and share videos and photos. There is nothing more pure and honest in bmx than to see someone grin as they role away from something they like doing or have been working on. That is all that matters. Who are we to turn that into something negative? I hope that anyone that reads this will always continue to do what truly makes them happy in the spirit of freestyle bmx, even if the first half of the name has been dropped. Welcome to the rule book.

JR gave me some very old pictures to scan and this one is what brought out these thoughts. This is me from 2003 in my moms back yard. I was the bees knees for doing whips then. Its a mirror image of the ones I'm doing 9 years later.  Both photos were taken by JR.

 2003

 

2012

I will always do lots of tailwhips because i love them. I love them for the most simple reasons. I love them because if you weren't a member of the bmx community you would think it was the coolest concept ever. It is so much fun and after all these years that hasn't changed for me. After seeing this old picture I love them even more. I feel as if I've gotten some of that old bmx nostalgia back. If I ever see anyone wearing a "stop the tailwhips shirt" i will just lower my head and weep a little inside for what bmx has lost, its freedom.