Wednesday, September 15, 2010

2, 4, and 24's

the pump track is two years old now
the local club is now officially off the hook.
track work began the day after Teaberry 2008,
two years prior to that, at Teaberry '06, I pulled into the lot with a Suby loaded down with several skis, surfboards, and multiple bikes. It was the beginning of the move from VA to PA.
I think that was the year of the bees. Elk got stung up pretty bad. Albert and I got lit up trying to retrieve Elk's bike for him. I think Albert broke his [frame/fork/stem/bar] during that race, on that one rocky section . I think the rocks were wet that day

Riding the pump track has definitely changed the way I think about my riding,
I no longer think raw, rugged, techy, gnarly, rocky singletrack is the only way I can have fun on 2 wheels. If I don't have 2 hours for a road ride, or 3-4 hours for a mtb ride, I can always get worked in 20 minutes at the pump track.
It's led to harder stuff, like skateparks and now BMX. Yea, I sorta live a lot of my life backwards; have a kid at 40, start BMXing at 48. Terrain parks at 45 when I've been skiing since 18. I do at least have an early history in skateparks Version 1.0 from the '70s.

thoughts
  • carving a 20" back and forth on a half-pipe is a full-on happy quad burn
  • doing it on a skateboard is comparatively easy
  • My eBaby Watch list is all 24 stuff
makes me wonder though. Oliver is sitting here teaching himself how to write Japanese while I blog & search for BMX bikes online. And I just had the brilliant idea that possibly I need a 20" for the parks and a 24" for the tracks. anyone want to buy a road bike? I need to make some room in the garage.

  • I've found myself driving by skateparks. That weren't on the way home.
  • it feels a little perv checking out skateparks when I don't have a kid along
I just consider it like going to a gym. it's something you can do alone
I often go to a gym in Fall to prep for glisse
why not just hit the parks and call that a gym?
seems a damn good cure for the month of meh too


3 comments:

pabiker said...

If you're not having fun on a road bike then you're not riding with the right people.

Sajkovich said...

There are many like you Mr. Camp, some even ex-pro mtn bikers ride 20" and skateboards now instead of single-bling, stranger things have happened. It is hard to pass up on the explosion of sculpted skateparks popping up. It condenses the fun of biking into a concentrated form that you can share with your kids that are not ready for 50 mile journeys through the wilderness, and as you said, it is hard to road ride or mtn bike if you have a job and a family, they both take a huge amount of time.

And Pabiker, if you get a stiffy over road riding, you have not ridden concrete tranny love. Go to Front Royal skate park now!

brett said...

whatever makes you happy, man. enjoy it!