| Author | Message | ||
     12r |
Last year I provided a little spade work to help build a dirt jumping area in the local woods. Since then it's grown and developed into a pretty good facility and there's a good vibe going on. So two weeks ago I bought a reasonable BMX bike to join in the fun  15 mins into my first ride, I bale out of the beginner's 1/4 pipe and take the skin off my elbow. Undeterred I carry on and eventually crawl home with bruises and dog bites on both shins and a sore shoulder. After a week's practice, I feel more confident and pull off a couple of reasonable jumps. I try again (a little faster) and predictably face-plant when the handlebars go sideways on landing. One of the grips punches me in the kidneys and my (healing) shin has another unscheduled appointment with the pedals. I'm a natural  | ||
| Darkducati |
Nice! I used to ride when I was a kid and bought an 06' Haro Mirra 540 last year when I decided to start riding again. I do a little street and mostly flatland. It's lots of fun and I get to spend time with my five year old too! After I had been riding for a month or so I was thinking about how I hadn't really hurt myself yet. LOL I was doing a face plant within 60 seconds of thinking that! Have fun and ride safe! | ||
| 12r |
Flatland ! Doh I never thought of that  Nice'n'slow, small risk of injury  I might have to try that if the other guys get tired of me taking the top off the jumps with my pedals | ||
| Spiderman |
I think some shin, elbow and knee pads may be sound investment at this stage... | ||
| Eboos |
I rode freestyle for years. Ramp and street mostly. After my third knee injury, I had to give it up. My last frame was a Kink Freebird. I also used to design some products for different companies. The Odyssey P.A.C.T. and the Poverty Boss Cogg were my designs. I still have the prototypes of these. | ||
| Tdiddy |
I stopped racing in 1999 or rather was forced to stop. I was at Simi BMX in open practice. They had just started running the gate so I was only doing the first 3 straights then shutting down and heading back to the starting hill. I remember my last time on the track like it just happened. The gate drops, I snap out, front wheel 2 inches off the ground spinning backwards until I hit the first jump, a huge step up. I clear the top and force the bike forward and get 2 more pedals, this always gets me ahead of anyone. I carve into the first turn, a steep 180 left hander and spin up to the next set of jumps. I could blitz this section with my eyes closed. Its a 6 pack, the first set is 15 feet peak to peak, the second is 20 and the third is about 25. Everyone called it the pro section. After this straight was a tight 180 right hand burm followed by a small roller to a 30 foot tripple. This was as far as I was ridding untill I got warmed up. (start sweating) My chain came off as I pedaled off the second berm, I think the frame flexed. I'm 6'3" 195lbs at that time so I was bigger than most of the guys in my class. My hips hooked up on the bars, lifting the rear wheel off the ground. I was still moving fast and going down the berm. The whole time I was looking at the roller, thinking if I could just fall past that jump I'll be OK. That didn't happen. I slammed into the face of cement hard jump full force with my right shoulder taking the whole impact. I dislocated my arm and broke the ball off the humerus. This also broke the nerve that controls the arm and hand. I didn't even hit my head. People on the far side if the track watching said they could hear the snap and thought I broke the bikes frame. I spent 2 nights in the ER and a year and a half in physical therapy to learn to use my gimpy hand. I have about 98% use back and can't pitch a baseball. The thin that kills me is I see o lot of the guys I could beat at will on any track with the factory sponsership deals. I wasn't ready to stop when I did. The year before I stopped racing locally and only ran state or Nationals. | ||
| Rick_a |
I stopped riding BMX around 1998 when I lost a bike I left in a friend's storage. It was an IronHorse, tbe best bike I could afford at the time, though my favorite bike was a PK Ripper I had as a kid (one of the first aluminum alloy frames on the market). I was really fast at the track (never raced professionally, though) and could beat my neighbors on their mountainbikes. I had a reputation for hitting jumps full speed with an odd ability to get good distance while not getting much height. People would tell me that it looked like I was hovering off the ground. Anyway, I spent much of my youth hiding injuries from my parents and many months healing from screwing up on big dirt jumps. The two worst were probably badly over-extending both my knees on one occasion, and on another broke the floating ribs on my left side. I never sought medical attention for either. The knees ended up fine though they were locked nearly straight for a couple days and sore for a couple months, and I don't know how bad the ribs were though they stick out a little more on that side and to this day I feel discomfort in that area when I lay on my back. These days I ride a full-suspension mountainbike for transportation and leisure. I've thought about getting a BMX, but I really can't afford it or the injuries at this stage in my life. My older brother is a competitive BMX racer and a gifted freestyle rider. At his age I have nothing but respect! | ||
| Tdiddy |
I know I could get back into racing and be just as fast or faster in 6 months. I think about it all the time. My wife brings me back to Earth by reminding me of the 3 knee ops and 14 odd broken bones from close to 20 years of racing. I do miss the feeling of getting in the starting gate and looking at everyone lined up and thinking I'm going to make them all look stupid. I've never really been good at any thing other than BMX racing. It's too bad I couldn't stay healthy for more than 9 months at a time. For 5 years in a row, I was in a cast or on crutches for the summer. | ||
| Flyor |
I was forced to "retire" as well in 1999. While never anywhere near national-level, I do have a few regional qualifiers somewhere in the attic when I was kid. In 1999, I had gotten back into it and was racing cruiser class. Similar to Tdiddy my unexpected season ender was also at gate practice one night. After the first 180 berm off of the gate I was jumping the first double of the rhythm section, and apparently caught the second peak with me rear-wheel and went straight over onto my head. I suffered a major contusion and to this day have about a 6 hour block or retrograde amnesia. Everything I know about the event was told to me by someone else. While it wasn't a "major injury" it almost cost me my career as an Army aviator, and I spent 6 months grounded by the Army and in various hospitals trying to cleared back to flight status. That was it for me. I stick to single-track now and no major stunts! |
