BMX Jihad

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ryan

Radministrator
This piece of tripe was originally printed in 'Thrasher' skate mag in the U.S.A. It's dealing specifically with BMX but is pretty much about bikes in parks in general. Interesting to see people trying to re-start a fight that's all but non-existent these days...

BMX Jihad
"keep it in the dirt"

BMX. You don't need to say much more than that. Those three letters are the unholy trinity that will set off a round of grumbling among skaters and
conjure images of dented coping and chunked cement. And, of course, let's not forget the real kicker: cranium-crushing, rib-rattling, shin-splicing
collisions, far worse than any skater-on-skater slam dance.

Skaters and BMXers haven't historically had much beef with each other but now the situation is heating up. Battle lines are being drawn at skateparks across the country. A few months back we referred to it as 'The Gathering Storm.' Well, the thunderclouds are no longer on the horizon. They're upon us. And it's about to pour...blood, that is. There's only so many decent cement pits out there to ride. They need to be defended with your life. Show no quarter!

-----------------
Know thy foe
-----------------

Show no quarter? That's a bit much. The reality is things aren't so hot right
now between skaters and bikers but who really gives a shit enough to do
anything about it? We rode dirtbikes when we were filthy kids. We see these dudes at the park all the time and even give the occasional head nod and "What's up?" Things aren't that bad. You have to wonder if bringing the ruckus would even be worth it. After all, they just want to ride and do their thing.

Maybe we should cut our losses. Bygones be bygones, right?

Not so fast.

This is our gig. The terrain is for us. It's made for us. What about them?
Frankly, that's their problem. They're in their own world, we're in ours.
They're perfectly capable of taking care of their own business and doing
whatever it is they do. They can build dirt tracks, hit the streets, and,
sure, it'd be hard to blame them for poaching a skatepark now and then.

Hell, if they had something we wanted to ride we'd do the same thing. But they don't have squat except some mud mounds in the woods. Keep it in the dirt, boys. IF a mob of sky-hook dirtboarders started fouling up your scene you'd give 'em the boot. Same goes here. We're not being dicks for no reason, this is a legitimate beef.

Basically, skaters worldwide would love to have this collective conversation with skatepark BMXers- "Hey man, we used to cruise around on dirtbikes, too. Yeah, we did jumps and all of that. IT was fun, whatever, but the deal now is that we skate, got it? This is a skatepark. Maybe you guys could get your own special hours or ride somewhere else or something. We don't really care."

If you want to go anywhere beyond that sentiment, you better know what you're getting in to. When you step up and start yapping it could be like 'The shot hear around the world' in Lexington, Massachusetts that set off the Revolutionary War. There could be repercussions between skaters and bikers for generations to come, at least as far as your local park goes. These guys aren't just going to play nice. You puncture one of their tires, they'll puncture one of your lungs. If this feud progresses it will be the real deal with able foes. Just letting you know.

-----------------------
Transfers of death
-----------------------

General skatepark damage is problemo numero uno that most skaters have about BMX but we're going to deal with the T.O.D.'s first 'cause these really suck.

We don't mean 'transfers' in the strictest sense, either. It just seems that
90% of the time (when they're not sitting and lurking) BMXers are either
whipping around, building up speed to do a transfer or they just did one and are rolling away at the speed of sound. Yes, BMXers are fast. Probably because they're on friggin' bikes. Great. Good for them. Bad for us.

You criss, they cross- Boom. A full contact, blood-gushing collision and you're on the losing end. Your limbs get tangled, your shins get mangled. "Sorry, bro." The endless 'near misses' that happen every day suck in their own way. After you've eyed your line and scoped your surroundings you drop in only to get a set of handlebars whooshing by your ribcage or a peg missing your shins by an inch.

"Fuck!" It's unnerving. You're rattled, pissed. You knew what you were doing. You saw your line and it was clear. BMXers cover so much ground so quickly, especially when they're pedaling frantically to blast a transfer, that it's particularly hard to gauge these collisions. Near misses are the cause of the most unsavory verbal exchanges between skaters and bikers.

-----------------------
The damages done
-----------------------

You know what, we're not even going to get into this one too deeply. It's not necessary. Coping gets bashed, cement gets crunched and wood gets gouged and all slippery. It bites.

----------------------
Tricks of the trade
----------------------

Busting tricks on bikes or skateboards is just a way of demonstrating control. It's cool to see what you can pull-off without getting served. With that said, it's pointless to compare or judge the tricks of skating and BMXing, two vastly different activities. Nevertheless, BMXers do some goony stuff.

Blasting airs is understandable, no mystery there. But some of their five-minute-long wheelie displays, complete with handlebar twirling, are more like a circus routine. And those blunt things where they hop around on the coping are a real drag. Ledge peg-grinds are weak and are curiously reminiscent of 'blader boot slides. It's not clear why, they just are.

360s are OK but after watching a few of those its naptime. It seems that once BMXers are in the air, there's not a whole lot of options. Worst of all, they have the gall to call crankspins 'kickflips.' Ugh. However, credit must be given to some of those vert BMXers. They're bananas.

--------------------------
Forever and ever land
--------------------------

BMXers land everything. You could go an entire day at a skatepark festering with BMXers and not see one good slam. What gives? That should be part of the deal. Are all these guys super good? Not likely. We're not saying BMXing is easy or hard, either. We don't give a shit if it is or not. We're just saying everybody lands everything. The only time things get interesting, and when they actually gain skaters' respect, is when a BMXer gets served raw.

The 3,816th consecutively landed transfer may be tedious, but when things go bad for BMXers it can be pretty disastrous. Now we're talking. Nah, we're not rooting for you to get hurt but now we can see that you're at least playing the game.

Perhaps BMXers look at us clowns flopping around, missing more than we make. Well, our gig is the hardest thing in the world. Try it. Just let us know when you're going to do your first roll in. Do you have a good dental plan?

------------
Summary
------------

In all likelihood ain't a damn thing gonna change. They'll poach, we'll
grumble and life will go on. We were just stirring things up a bit here,
that's all. Of course, many of these BMX dudes are all right and get along
fine at your local cement obstacle park. Cool, no problem there. But if things aren't cool, it's up to you to handle the problem as you see fit. Think of it as a warfront on a park-by-park basis. Where we go from here depends just as much on our decisions as it does on theirs. Maybe they can just have altogether some of the shittier parks and we'll take the gems. Or maybe frontier justice will take hold. A survival of the fittest environment. Broken bikes. Broken bodies. Thunderdome. Are you in?
 

Turley

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Maybe they can just have altogether some of the shittier parks and we'll take the gems

Lol, obviously someone wasn't taught to "share" when they were a little kid...
 

josh

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ryan said:
But if things aren't cool, it's up to you to handle the problem as you see fit. Think of it as a warfront on a park-by-park basis. Where we go from here depends just as much on our decisions as it does on theirs. Maybe they can just have altogether some of the shittier parks and we'll take the gems. Or maybe frontier justice will take hold. A survival of the fittest environment. Broken bikes. Broken bodies. Thunderdome. Are you in?
I think we can safely say, that this guy is a twat.
 

jays_5000

Likes Bikes and Dirt
lol, hopefully they will both take themselves out on the "warfront" while us mtbers are just quietly breezing around the park minding our own business and in the end IT WILL ALL BE OURS!!!

lol but on a serious note, i dont get shit all from sk8ers, its the bmxers who dont like the "big wheels" and "gears"..
 

bryn

Likes Dirt
you guys should maybe try and see stuff from a skaters point of view. i'm not siding with them but the fact is that at my local skatepark where i skate, some of the bike riders (some not all) do tarnish the reputatation by acting like complete dickheads. that's just my 2 cents
 

lupine128

Likes Bikes and Dirt
first let me point out that the following is a purely personal view, and my person at that.
if some skate head comes up and gets in my face because of an article like that, they deserve whats going to happen to them.
think of it as chlorine in the gene pool.
i have only ever had a problem once in a skate park, and that was many years ago. the skate head seemed to think that because he was on a deck, and local, i should bow down before him, and allow him rule over the entire place.
sorry, i learnt my park ettiquette at some of the oldest and largest parks in the world, and your little cement pond doesn't worry me. i will wait my turn, do my run, and wait my turn again. however if you drop in on me, expect me to have a problem with this.
no blood on the streets shit because i ride and you skate. no battle lines because i'm on 2 wheels and you 4. just a problem because you are a twat, and deserve whats going to happen to you if you act like one.
i don't damage the park. in fact, i pay for the park, because it's almost guaranteed that i have paid more in taxes then the skate head, unless he's 35, and has paid an obscene amount of tax.
i have exactly as much right to be there as they do.
if tthey don't want to get hit by bikes, then enforce an equal ruling about dropping in on people. i lost count of the number of times i'd be doing a run and some idiot on a plank fell in in front of me. skate in L.A. and see what happens to you if you do that, no matter what you are on, or who you drop in on. it's not pretty, and it only ever happens once per customer.
a little common sense, and a dose of politness is the best way to keep the parks running best for all.

howewer, having said that, i do so hope that the author of that little missive is sternly spoken to by someone.
for creating problems where there need be none.
for creating friction where it isn't neccessary.
for talking a group of spotty skate heads into being stupid near me. especialy within reach.
for all these things, i think he needs a little talking to.
 

Ride_Guy

Likes Bikes and Dirt
jays_5000 said:
lol, hopefully they will both take themselves out on the "warfront" while us mtbers are just quietly breezing around the park minding our own business and in the end IT WILL ALL BE OURS!!!

lol but on a serious note, i dont get shit all from sk8ers, its the bmxers who dont like the "big wheels" and "gears"..
Same here, even tho i know most of the bmx'ers casue they come into our store, we still get more shit from them, compaired to the skaters, and you know what really shits me? When a bmx'er bags us then asks for a ride of my bike and reckons its cool :? whats up with that?
 

DeathByMauMau

Likes Bikes
Yeah, this crap is just the same old "I don't like you 'coz you're different to me" stuff. Join the KKK already ya freakin' Commie Nazi.

But seriously, I think skaters are just going to have to learn to share and stop being jerkwads.

And while I'm still temporarily insane, I'll get stuck into BMX'ers who don't like MTB's. I have some friends who are seriously into BMX and they don't like MTBs, even though they used to ride them. I'm not sure they even know why they don't like them. And they pride themselves on being so ethical and open minded. I think the last laugh's going to be mine though. They're getting older and thier knees are starting to hurt. It's suspension or nothing.
 

Mahoney_007

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Standup Surfers vs Boogers

Skaters Vs Bladers

Everyone Vs Bladers

BMXers VS Skaters

We've seen it all before, I dont ride alot of parks (still getting used to being on a bigger bike around all that concrete) but I never had a problem regardless if I've been skating or BMXing. MOst people respect your lines and take good care not to drop in unless its there turn. I'd say this guy's problem lies in the fact he has to actually share his park cause bike riding is getting popular, and alot of the 'newbies' wouldnt know the general unwritten rules.

Well get used to it bucko cause the Mtbers are about to start storming your territory to hahahahah

Yes skaters do come of worse for wear in a collision but your a skater your used to eating concrete ALOT (hence why i stopped skating, its VERY FUCKING hard and concrete is to). I can still pull a decent stand still ollie and I can fakey to 180 pretty good, droping in is a fucking risk but totally doable, so heres my side ill ride your skatey around the park you ride my bike and we'll see who eats shit first hahaha
 

Konaman

Likes Dirt
I have no problem with skaters, its bmxers that piss me off. some of them are cool and think mountain bikes are cool others are hardcore wankers that seem to just wanna pick a fight but not by themselves.
 

notb4dinner

Likes Dirt
Konaman said:
Some of them are cool and think mountain bikes are cool others are hardcore wankers that seem to just wanna pick a fight but not by themselves.
I think you'll find that this applies to the entire human race, not just BMXers.
 

Rik

logged out
Oh silliness, what a fucken tool... I'd like him to come to my 'burbs, where the ones that got the parks built are BMX'ers! :roll:
Now who's on home turf?

ALL his arguments can be reversed back on skaters, and skaters are guilty of alot of the "evils" he's harping on about, plus his lame comments about tricks and circus' is just making things personal.
Sounds like a spoilt little bitch to me, poor diddums should jump on the next "extreme" sport trend so he can mouth off about how cool he is, as long as he gets the hell away from skate parks.
 

chucK

Likes Dirt
or if hes that pissed off he can make something quality in his back yard n only let the boards on
but then he'll probably complain then too
 

curtisrider

Eats Squid
Mahoney_007 said:
Standup Surfers vs Boogers

Skaters Vs Bladers

Everyone Vs Bladers

BMXers VS Skaters

We've seen it all before, I dont ride alot of parks (still getting used to being on a bigger bike around all that concrete) but I never had a problem regardless if I've been skating or BMXing. MOst people respect your lines and take good care not to drop in unless its there turn. I'd say this guy's problem lies in the fact he has to actually share his park cause bike riding is getting popular, and alot of the 'newbies' wouldnt know the general unwritten rules.

Well get used to it bucko cause the Mtbers are about to start storming your territory to hahahahah

Yes skaters do come of worse for wear in a collision but your a skater your used to eating concrete ALOT (hence why i stopped skating, its VERY FUCKING hard and concrete is to). I can still pull a decent stand still ollie and I can fakey to 180 pretty good, droping in is a fucking risk but totally doable, so heres my side ill ride your skatey around the park you ride my bike and we'll see who eats shit first hahaha
haha that is soo true yet somehow funny
 

wombat

Lives in a hole
It's stupid, it's all so stupid, but I see numerous people on here mouthing off about "gay bmxers" and how they suck, and it makes me a little shirty.
I've done a bit of BMX in my time, I've done quite a lot of skating (probably still would be if it wasn't for injuries) and I'm still riding a mtb, they're all good sports.

That writer however was a wanker; unfortunately his type are all too prominent in skate mags, they seem to have the attitude that they are holier than everyone else just because they're on a deck. Don't get me wrong, skating is hard, DAMN it's hard! But I don't know what the guy was on about with bmxers not bailing. I used to bail all the time on the deck (like waaay too much) and it's very easy to roll out of most slams without incuring much injury, simply because it's so easy to eject. Sadly when you're on a bike with handlebars and seats and other assorted paraphenalia, it's much more difficult to get cleanly away from the thing, so more often than not you'll go down in a big tangled, screaming heap.
Eh, I'm just rambling anyway, conclusion: he's a tosser, and so is anybody who goes "bmxers are all tossers" or anything similar.
 

bazza

look at me
you could basicaly opposite these works bmx and skaters. and you would have the other perspecitves. from a bikers point of view it pisses me off how skaters set up in one area that i want to ride and just keep trying to get it, crash, go again, crash, go again, crash, go again, crash. meanwhile you are waiting to ride this section. or you go in between there 'runs' and they cut sick at you. its like fuck off he want skating so im riding. skate parks are made to cause hell. our council should just build dirt jumps beside these concrete shitters so at least you will start to get less bmxers in the park because you gotta admit they are more suited for skate boards then bikes.
 

zen_rider

Likes Dirt
Whinge whinge whinge! The fact that people whinge about such meaningless crap is a sure sign of 1st-world- mediocrity-syndrome.


be thankful for what you got!
 

bassmonkey

Likes Dirt
That article is extremely juvenile, and I've gotta wonder whether it was written from such an immature standpoint intentionally to appeal to the mostly juvenile reader base of a skate magazine, because it was a very well articulated article. I pretty much grew up skateboarding and that article would have spoken to me like nothing else when I was around 12 to 15 years of age. I did eventually wise up, but there was hardcore rivalry going on when I was a grommy skater as there obviously still is.

The writer of that article needs to either seriously grow up or to stop selling himself out to the fanbase of Thrasher magazine.
Maybe both.

wombat said:
it's very easy to roll out of most slams without incuring much injury, simply because it's so easy to eject. Sadly when you're on a bike with handlebars and seats and other assorted paraphenalia, it's much more difficult to get cleanly away from the thing, so more often than not you'll go down in a big tangled, screaming heap.
Yep, that's what I hate about bikes. At least you don't slam as often though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top