freestye bmx | riding | bikes | 80’s | heroes

I’ve been reliving old memories from the 80’s on youtube, watching a lot of great (dated) clips of freestyle riders long past.

Naturally, that nostalgia raised some thoughts in my head about the history and times of freestyle bmx.

Little known and ever under appreciated, Gary Pollack turned the bmx freestyle world on its ears in 1986 with the mind blowing invention of the Fire Hydrant. Little known and under appreciated as that trick is, I’m having a tough time finding any images of it on the web. Regardless, I’m reasonably certain that that trick alone was responsible for changing the way bikers rode. It led to an almost immediate shift from posing, stiff, bouncing and staccato-like movements/tricks to flowing, rolling, sweeping, (almost baroque) tricks. It also sparked a mass hysteria for chaining tricks in long fluid streams of unbroken motion.

the animation above is actually Pollack doing another, less world morphing trick: the pinky squeaks. (it’s tough to tell, but he’s gradually scooting the bike backwards as the back end whips around.)

That break-less, flowing riding style soon morphed into something more hardcore –street– which, by late 89 / early 90’s really got it’s kick in the pants thanks to the considerably arrogant and egocentric Kevin Jones, who happened on the scene and started doing impossible – insane things on a bike. (his balance was awesome, his tricks were inviable — his demeanor at shows was not so inspiring).

All that historical perspective is fine – but let’s get to the part where I tell you who my hero was.

He was none other than the most inspiring and generous rider Woody Itson, of course. Woody was (hands down) my favorite rider. He might not have contributed any element as long lasting as brake-less, free flowing, stream of thought/body riding – but his immediate (at the time) impact on everyone he met at bmx shows had an even greater value; Woody shared his passion and love for riding with every young rider he met. Never one to greedily hog all the glory for himself, he freely and gladly took time to show others how to do his(any) tricks. Plus, he remembered me and my friends from year to year as we saw him in different locations on each tour – which was pretty darn cool.

OK, OK, maybe his tricks weren’t all teeth-gritting by today’s standards, but he was the heart and soul of freestyle in the 80’s and he was a hero to many young riders – which is also a valuable thing.

To summarize:

Music had Stravinsky and Sonic Youth. Science had Einstein and Hawking. Cooking had Wok With Yan. Comedy had Laurel & Hardy and John Cleese and Fawlty Towers. Film had Hitchcock and Jean Luc Godard and Coppola. Freestyle BMX had Gary Pollack and Woody Itson (… as well as many, nearly-equally awesome others).

Reference: a great freestyle and bmx history site.