The Freewheelers BMX chronicles Videos

The basic wheelie. The very first trick that most learn on a bike. We used to measure how far we could keep the front wheel up using parking lot lines and then as we got better, telephone poles. A rock on the side of our dead end street indicated the current record until one day someone did the entire street. I can’t even imagine how many hours we practiced. Wheelies are mostly a big BMX bike thing today with the fancy footwork combos and hand drags. With the new school 20” BMX crowd it’s manuals. Their seats are just way too low for seated wheelies. Such a basic trick, but I still love doing them. That feeling you get when you’re sitting perfectly in the balance point. Feathering the rear brake. Coasting. Slowing down to almost a standstill. I had the skatepark to myself this morning. Practicing amongst other things wheelies... . . . #bmx #bmxlife #bmxfreestyle #bmxallday #bmx4life #gtbmx #gtbikes #80s #pkripper #bmxlifestyle #freestylebmx #gtproperformer #vansbmx #ridebmx #dopebikelife #bmxaction #bikelife_mob #sebikeslife #oldschoolbmx #bmxplus #bmxtricks #freewheelers #manual #canadianbmx #wheelie #skatepark #rad #frontwheelup #mikesbikeshop #wearembs

We used to call them rollback rollouts. I’m not really sure what they’re called today. Some type of fakie something. My riding buddy Jeremy (who is almost 20 years younger than me) mentioned a half cab. I hop a bit to help with the spin momentum. I think that’s what makes it a “cab”. I’m not sure. Whatever they’re called I’d like to eventually lengthen the spin to a 540. Even if I need to pedal into the last 180 after the hop. Yeah, that would be awesome. Until then it’s a 360 on a good day. Like today at the skatepark… . . . #bmx #bmxlife #bmxfreestyle #bmxallday #bmx4life #gtbmx #gtbikes #80s #halfcab #bmxlifestyle #freestylebmx #gtproperformer #vansbmx #ridebmx #dopebikelife #bmxaction #bikelife_mob #sebikeslife #oldschoolbmx #bmxplus #bmxtricks #freewheelers #fakie #canadianbmx #spin #skatepark #rad #bmxover50 #mikesbikeshop #wearembs

People would be skating right here if it was winter. The Ian Fowler Oval at the Avenir Centre in Moncton. For the last few months I’ve been heading downtown with my BMX bike after going to the market on Saturday mornings. I ride the waterfront skatepark for a bit. Then, when it gets more crowded, I head over to the Avenir Centre Oval. The smooth concrete surface is super nice. But it holds water after it rains, so it’s best on very dry days. You can see in the video a small puddle in the middle. Still plenty of room around it for some old school flatland freestyle. Still relearning. Still enjoying this process. A bit of progress on my Fire Hydrants. Still need to figure out how to swing the back end of the bike around again and ride out of them… . . . #bmx #bmxlife #bmxfreestyle #bmxallday #bmx4life #gtbmx #gtbikes #80s #pkripper #bmxlifestyle #freestylebmx #gtproperformer #vansbmx #ridebmx #dopebikelife #bmxaction #bikelife_mob #sebikeslife #oldschoolbmx #bmxplus #bmxtricks #freewheelers #raiseitup #canadianbmx #avenircentre #moncton #rad #tailwhip #mikesbikeshop #wearembs

I’ve been riding BMX two or three times per week including the downtown skatepark every Saturday right before noon for the last three weeks. Well, except for last week. Five ride days on the gravel and mountain bikes. But zero time on the BMX. I missed the skatepark. The smooth concrete. The flowing transitions. Even if all that I mostly can do are fakie variations. I thought about going for a brief moment. But then I remembered that it’s also often very crowded. Especially in the evenings. So I opted for the new school close to my house. Smooth pavement. Large empty parking lot. And a gorgeous evening with no wind. Ideal for an hour of flatland. Tailwhips are coming along. Boomerangs are very much still a work in progress. And fire hydrants, well I’m not even really close. Still having tons of fun enjoying the relearning process though. And in the end, for me, that’s really all that matters… . . . #bmx #bmxlife #bmxfreestyle #bmxallday #bmx4life #gtbmx #gtbikes #80s #pkripper #bmxlifestyle #freestylebmx #gtproperformer #vansbmx #ridebmx #dopebikelife #bmxaction #bikelife_mob #sebikeslife #oldschoolbmx #bmxplus #bmxtricks #freewheelers #raiseitup #canadianbmx #endo #werideasone #rad #tailwhip #mikesbikeshop #wearembs

When I started my search for a 20” BMX bike last month, I wanted something with an old school look and feel, both front and rear brakes but with modern technology and geometry. I didn’t want something to hang on the wall and just look at. I wanted something to ride. 54 years old this summer. My last chance. It literally is now or never. Nothing to prove. Just for fun. As much as current street riders are impressive, grinding wasn’t really my thing. I also didn’t want to be trying anything that involved me being high in the air or upside down. Relearning old school flatland tricks was my newfound motivation. I jotted down a list. Rollback rollouts. Rock walks. Endos. Tail whips. Infinity rolls. Boomerangs. Fire hydrants. Some tricks that I had mastered back in the day. Other new to me tricks to play around with today. No pressure. No timeline. Again, just for fun. This is my progression after about 5 hours of riding. Highlights from yesterday’s ride. Tail whips are getting better. But it’s still very much a hit or miss and I still need to work on consistency. I also landed my first boomerang but didn’t get it on video. Such a simple trick. But for some reason still one of my old school favorites. Should I add Decades and Cherry Pickers to my list? Maybe? Maybe not? No pressure. No timeline. Again, just for fun. . . . #bmx #bmxlife #bmxfreestyle #bmxallday #bmx4life #gtbmx #gtbikes #80s #pkripper #bmxlifestyle #freestylebmx #gtproperformer #vansbmx #ridebmx #dopebikelife #bmxaction #bikelife_mob #sebikeslife #oldschoolbmx #bmxplus #bmxtricks #freewheelers #raiseitup #canadianbmx #endo #werideasone #rad #tailwhip #mikesbikeshop #wearembs

We used to do these on our wedge ramp back in the 80s. Ride up. Lift the front wheel. Up to the edge. Stall for a bit. Then hop backwards into a rollback or fakie as they call them these days. I had been trying to relearn them for a few weeks now on various inclines. This week it finally clicked. I love the feeling during that momentary stall. Grounded weightless balance. Priceless. These big BMX bikes aren’t just for wheelies. They’re also time machines for middle aged dudes who didn’t know how much they missed this type of riding until they tasted it again. Nothing to prove. No pressure. Just half a century old kids having fun riding bikes like they did day in, day out back in the day. . . . #bmx #bmxlife #bmxfreestyle #bmxallday #bmx4life #fatripper #bigbikebmx #skatepark #pkripper #bmxlifestyle #freestylebmx #sebikes #vansbmx #ridebmx #dopebikelife #wheelie #bikelife_mob #sebikeslife #bmxaction #fakie #bmxtricks #freewheelers #raiseitup #frontwheelup #seracing #werideasone #rad #mikebuff #mikesbikeshop #wearembs