on the cover / By Elise Castle

Men On Bikes

Tricks, stunts and epic crashes on the rough edges of cycling

(Jan. 11, 2007)  The light is fading at the Arcata Community Skate Park as Oliver Wallace begins another lap around the perimeter of the park, heading towards the big concrete bowl. He dips his bike over the edge of the bowl, rolls across the middle, and swoops up the other side, keeping one hand on the handlebars and reaching down to place his other hand on the lip of the bowl. In one smooth motion, he twists his body up and over, still on the bike, and lands on the other side, but the bike skitters out from under him, pedals scratching on the concrete as his feet slip off, and he lands hard. “Attempted hand-plant, 100, Oliver, 0,” he mutters as he gets back on his bike and heads out for another lap and another try.

Wallace and his friends describe the sport of BMX as “grown men riding little kid’s bikes,” and the sport is enjoying a renaissance, according to local area riders. The sport first arose as a means for kids to emulate their motocross heroes in the mid-to-late 1970s, hence the name “BMX,” which stands for “Bike Moto-Cross,” an amalgamation of street tricks, dirt jumping, and more recently, vertical riding. Technological advancements in the bike industry and the overwhelming popularity of “X-Games” and other extreme sports markets have led to a sport that is, as Wallace says, “blowing up.”

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Sequoyah Faulk, a friend of Wallace’s and fellow BMXer, describes the sport as “being on your own roller coaster, and you’re in charge of where you want to go.” In this case, the roller coaster is a small-framed bicycle, with 20-inch wheels and four “pegs” screwed into the front and rear of the bike, which allow the rider to ride on the bike, but not necessarily on the pedals. The seat is lowered flush to the frame, and many riders don’t use brakes. The result is a remarkably simple, light, compact bike that can be “hucked” over jumps, curbs, stairs, and anything else the rider can roll up to, and over. “A lot of what we do is find stuff that’s not meant to be ridden, and riding it,” says Wallace, and he’s not exaggerating.

Due to the popularity of the sport, many parks and tracks are being revived or built for BMX use, but lack of these venues doesn’t stop riders like Faulk and Wallace from finding “features” to try tricks out on. “Stairs, wheelchair ramps, garbage cans, hand-rails, park benches, fountains — if we can get the bike on it, we’ll try to ride it,” says Faulk, describing a tactic also known as “urban assault.” Parks that are specially tailored for BMX, with jumps, ramps, bowls and ledges, are being built in more numbers in recent years than in any time in the past, and the industry is expanding.

David Bethuy, a wrencher at Revolution Bicycle Repair in Arcata, has been riding BMX for several years and has noticed a spike in bike sales over the past couple of years. “The early 1980s introduced ‘free-style’ riding to the sport, and it became popular for a while,” says Bethuy. “And now the sport is enjoying another renaissance, because of its success in the X-Games, new technologies in bike parts and components, and a more specialized market. Small, rider-owned bike companies are keeping the sport ‘custom,’ and the market benefits from feedback from riders.” The shop orders and stocks parts and bikes specifically for BMX riders, mostly from small companies.

Professional BMX riders can make up to $20,000 per contest, not including free bikes, gear and clothing from industry sponsors. Faulk, who has competed in the past in BMX competitions, says the sport should not be judged by contests alone. “There are many riders out there who don’t have the money it takes to go to competitions who ride way better than the ‘pros’ out there, and have way smaller egos.” For Faulk, it’s the training and fun in riding BMX that counts, in addition to keeping the sport as “home-grown” as possible. Faulk received a degree in manufacturing technology last year, and plans to use his education and bike-shop experience to engineer and machine bikes that “don’t break all the time and are made in the U.S.A.”

Since many riders share local skate-parks with skateboarders, etiquette must be observed to ensure that bikers and skaters get along, and are able to share space in harmony. “I understand,” says Wallace, “because for so long, skaters were the outlaws, and now that they have parks, and places they’re allowed to ride, they don’t want us coming in and getting in the way or hogging up the concrete.” Technically, BMXers aren’t allowed to use many skate-parks, unless they’ve been written into the insurance, but, says, Faulk, “If the cops roll by and see that everyone’s wearing a helmet, and there aren’t any super-little kids that may get landed on, they’ll usually just cruise along.”

Due to the “airborne” nature of the sport, consisting of vertical riding like ramps, half-pipes, and transitions — steep corners and berms — and the inevitability of landing on hard surfaces, BMX riders usually wear some form of protection, mandatory at most parks. “I broke my tibia, collarbone, and fingers, and have a metal plate screwed into my knee,” Faulk says, “and I’ve knocked myself out wearing a helmet, so I’m not about to go riding around without gear.” The rewards, however, are worth the risks.

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