so this is my first post. i dont even know what this blog will actually look like. ive been inspired by another trials riders blog and decided that after 15+ years of riding its time to get a little more serious than facebook posts. so here it is!
my goal with this blog is to post or report info and videos in the world of cycling with heavy influence towards observed trials and mountain biking. occasionally youll find tech tid bits, or perhaps a random tangent that will relate somehow to my cycling existence.
THE BEGINNING
i rode a bike without training wheels for the first time when i was 5 years old (1987). back then it was all about skidding. i wore through many a rear tire in this way. around 8 or 9 (1992) i had a very basic 5 speed mountain bike with 20 inch wheels. my neighbor, who now when i think about it was probably into stealing bikes, replaced my mtb flat bar with a chromed bmx bar. i remember cruising around on that thing and loving the fact that my bike was modified in some way. around that time another friend and i would borrow his little brother and little sisters 16inch wheeled bikes, tilt the bars forward, and attempt to bunny hop curbs. a couple years later i had more than outgrown the bmx barred mtb and got a hold of a much larger bike mountain bike. it was more of a commuter, a nerdy one at that, with chrome fenders and a rickety rat trap. i rode this bike to school everyday almost embarrassed although i appreciated the ride none the less. by 1994 i had a walmart special 21 speed purchased by my father. around this time i was gaining knowledge and started riding with an relative to myself experienced mountain biker. he was a couple years older than me and i must admit that had i not ridden with him i wouldnt have been exposed to mountain biking or the shop i currently frequent and have been suppported for the last decade and a half. this guy was all about rebuilding BRCs. he painted his framesets and rebuilt them. i rode with him a few times a week at a local park that had a few steep trails with alot of rock faces. this turned out to be an alright trials spot in future. by this time i was realizing how crappy my bike was and decided that i would take it apart. i put the top tube in a vice and clamped it as they did at the bike shop...although it was a normal vice, far from a rubberized park tool bike stand that they actually used. so with that i accidentally destroyed my shitty ride. months went by without riding; i would frequent pretty much every bike shop in victoria just looking at and trying out anything i could. i learned alot and annoyed bike shop staff by never buying anything im sure. i bought my first mountainbike action magazine around that time and read it front to back. eventually my mother saw my extreme interest and asked to join me at one of the bike shops downtown, pacific cycle, later called the bike cellar. a couple hours later i was riding my first good bike home, a 1996 mongoose rockadile sx. it had a rock shox quadra 5 fork and the best brakes i had ever used. this was magnificent and ive thanked my mother over and over. every spare moment i had was dedicated to riding. up until this point i had never joined a high school team but decided to give the mountian bike team a shot. by this point i still hadnt ever been out in the woods on some real trails, so my first race was a bit of a shock. as i stood in my category waiting for the start a random guy behind me made some remark about me already being in his way. the race started, my lungs burned, and once i had ridden past my watching mother and into the woods i had to stop. i leaned over my handle bars having never felt this type of work ever before and decided then and there that i couldnt finish the race. i deflated my front tire and walked back to the start claiming i had gotten a flat tire. ive raced many times since then, having even placed tenth over all in the city mountain bike series of five races by grade 12, and to this day i will finish every race i enter.
to be continued...
