Why Street Riding Became Such
a Dominant Force in BMX Culture
by Mike Hinkens
December 2, 2018
December 2, 2018
You don’t have to try hard to hear someone lamenting the “street-focused” nature of modern BMX culture. Instagram-warriors passive-aggressively commenting about ramp clips being “the way BMX used to be, when it was awesome,” as well as not-so-subtle shots in podcasts about how “it’s too bad it’s not acceptable to film a part on ramps anymore” are pretty easy to find in BMX media. In addition, there has been a whiff of resentment in the air for almost ten years now when it comes to many people’s perspective that “street riding culture” has “taken over” BMX. The following piece makes some arguments for why I believe that perspective can be viewed as true, but first, a rhetorical question: Is BMX culture stilldominated by street riding or does it just appearthat all of BMX is dominated by street riding? Think for a moment about how you ride, how your friends ride, and about the experiences you have had as you have traveled and interacted with other BMX riders. While you think about that, let me update the title of this piece:
Why street riding became such a dominant force in BMX culture…
and how that may be changing.
Accessibility and Relatability
Without diving too deeply into a historical wormhole, it seems to me that BMX has always been “street” at its roots because of where the majority of humans with bicycles live. Before kids even launched their bikes off the dirt lumps in the field behind their houses, they rode full speed at bumps on the sidewalk and sent it. For almost anyone with a bike who lives anywhere besides “in the wilderness,” the “streets” are the most accessible and natural thing to start riding on. There is almost always a bump on the ground to launch off of, some stairs to ride down, an embankment to carve, or something to grind. Human civilization, especially the infrastructure-laden United States, has ensured that kids on bikes will always have “stuff” to utilize. And to me, that basic utilization epitomizes the act[1] of street riding: taking what you are given within existing human infrastructure and using a bike to make something unique happen with it. Thus, the earliest people on bikes, as well as the new riders of today, all have some sort of basic street “roots” they draw on.
In addition, for much of the life of BMX culture, a majority of riders did not live anywhere near something designed for them to ride, i.e. a skatepark.[2] Until the recent skatepark-building-boom in the late 2000’s, public parks were few and far between, especially outside of hotspots like California. Privately owned parks were none-too-common either as it is notoriously hard to keep them in the green or to keep them open at all. And if you were/are lucky enough to live near a skatepark of some sort, it may cost money to get into, it may be covered with snow half of the year, or it simply might not allow bikes. As such, street riding has always been a popular option because it may have been the only option. After all, you only need human infrastructure (basically omnipresent on this planet) to find something to ride. Street has been, for the most part, the most accessible form of freestyle riding because it is free, open whenever you want it to be, and features plenty of things to ride if you are willing to pedal a little bit further than you did before.[3]
Moreover, street riding has remained such a popular form of riding due its relatability. Regardless of rider location or skill level, street riding is often times easier for a rider to envision working for them after their initial exposure to BMX. At the beginner level, most riders have little understanding of BMX infrastructure such as skateparks and trails, and thus the idea of “all things being a spot to ride” is easier for a new rider to relate to. To this day, even the highly technical and specialized modern street riding we see broadcasted by the best riders in the world is still accessible to most bike riders. Your ledge may not be as nice as the LA Courthouse ledges, your rail may not be as perfect as the Hollywood High Rail, and your tricks may never be as insane as those done by the top pros, but it is likely that you can find something in or near your hometown that looks close to those obstacles and then apply your skills, your style, and your expression to that spot. For many riders, it has been easier to find some sort of ledge, rail, or other “street obstacle” nearby and accessible and then to use that spot in a way appropriate to their style and skill rather than to be able to find hard-to-come-by and possibly too-advanced ramps or trails. Remember though, this argues for why street riding becamepopular more than it does for why street riding remains popular. The basis of this particular argument is still true in many places today, yet, we do know that every day more public skateparks are popping up all over the world and as such, access as well as relatability issues are less important now than they were 15-20 years ago.
Creative Limits of Built Obstacles and Backlash
Conversely, I’ll be the first to admit, a lot of what can count as “stuff to ride” out in the streets can actually suck as well as be limiting until you find the “right setup.” Thus, very early on in BMX, people with resources began to build better things to ride.[4] There was a bit of experimentation (and some heavy borrowing from skateboarding), but certain types of obstacles became standardized: the quarter pipe, the mini-ramp, the spine, the box jump, etc. And though there were/are variations of these basic forms, those variations are often only minimal adjustments to the size and angle of the existing design of ramps. This isn’t a bad thing. After all, a ramp is designed to be ridden. Its purpose is to be used for freestyle BMX. And there is no denying that without the construction of things designed for us to progress on, i.e. ramps and jumps, BMX may have never survived or become as rich and complex as it is today.
That richness and complexity really blossomed as things like teeter-totters, loops, and other “silly” or “unacceptable” ramps disappeared from most mainstream scenes. As ramp designs solidified, BMX was able to focus less on the development of obstacles and more on the development of tricks.[5] That development was really an explosion of progression, but also, an explosion of codification. We created things on bikes that had never been done, but by becoming “tricks” they also came with a set of “rules” about how they worked and where they were applied. For example, a “grind” was when pegs slid across coping, not when they slid down the transition of the ramp. And just like that, the concept of grinding on ramps started on a path towards only being a “grind” if it was on a specific part of a specific built obstacle. Hundreds of tricks were discovered, codified, and solidified in this fashion. All the while, other “things” done on a bike were discarded or deemed “not real” or “not pulled.” Again, that is not necessarily a bad thing, just a reality; but more on that in a moment.
At the same time, this is when freestyle became a little less “free” and a little bit more of a “sport.” Once the “playing field” was designed, it was time to move on to mastering the game. The amount of tricks (and the creativity it took to invent them) grew. Yet, terms like “trick ferret” were born and people debated whether “style or tricks”[6] mattered while a culture of one-upping and trick-accumulating in parks and on jumps began to dominate BMX. These years are often looked at as the golden age of ground-breaking and technically-difficult ramp riding and justifiably so; BMX and tricks as a whole really matured in this era. But, at its core, much of freestyle BMX has always been about creative and independent progression as opposed to standardized competition. That freestyle spirit motivated some creative and independent riders to continue to push boundaries. At first, ramps changed. They grew in size, changed in angles, and sometimes departed from traditional forms, but remember, ramps are designed to be ridden, thus these new obstacles mostly remained within the accepted ramp paradigms.
Predictably, those minor changes in built obstacles did not fully address the fundamental issue of true creative freedom and authentic expression in BMX. In reaction, perspectives on what and how to ride began to evolve, eventually spawning a different style of riding outside of the purposefully built environments of skateparks and trails: street riding. That new style of riding didn’t just ride “in the streets” because of the accessibility, but rather because of the “opportunity” for expanded creative expression. That style of riding expressed the idea that: “ramps are cool, tricks are cool, and both are a major part of doing BMX, but they can also be a limiting way of looking at freestyle BMX.” The ramps themselves and the tricks possible on them can only deviate so far from the standard, but the outside world of unconstrained infrastructure offers virtually unlimitedly diverse obstacles (“ramps”) which means, tricks done on them can also be virtually unlimited. In such a rich and fertile area (the actual streets), the spirit of creativity and progression that guides so many bike riders was able to flourish. Take the above example regarding grinds. At first, riders looked for railings—similar to coping—in order to perform grinds. Yet, there was more out their than just coping. Bent over poles, complex messes of steel and cement, and even curbs saw the birth of the pole-jam, the 60-40 grind, and peg bonks. Street riding was (and is) reacting to the constraints of the necessarily standardized and usable world of ramps and jumps by aiming to creatively ride everything in the global environment—even when seemingly impossible. This isn’t to say that riding ramps and jumps cannot be creative and progressive. As a matter of fact, it was where creativity and progression were born for BMX. Nor that riding street is always creative and progressive. Many people ride street as cookie-cutter versions of other street riders before them and on the same obstacles ridden many times prior. But, in my opinion, the unlimited nature of street riding as part of the massive world of human infrastructure allows for more diversity of obstacles, more diversity of tricks, and thus more creativity. And because of this connection to the roots of freestyle, much of the impetus to ride street—and the related growth of street—has come from a backlash against the constraints and limits of built obstacles.
Influencers and the Feedback Loop
Freestyle BMX is a very interconnected community and as such the growth in the popularity of street riding certainly is connected to the influence of other riders, the works of videographers and photographers, the content of media outlets, and the ever-present brands who make the parts we ride. I would argue, however, that the bike riders are where it all started. The list of influential street innovators is huge and starts all the way back in the 80’s. One only needs look at the multiple podcasts[7] and newly minted “history books”[8] popping up in BMX to find scores of names of people who invented this or that trick or pushed this or that style. But as influential and integral as those many people were, I believe that the explosion of the popularity of street riding in mainstream BMX culture as a way of riding unto itself took place in the early 2000’s. Directly prior to that turning point, the East Coast of the U.S. in the late 1990’s was simmering with unknown riders embracing the idea of riding and filming exclusively on street. No longer just a “thing” done alongside other forms of riding, many riders began to argue that the “street perspective” of finding a spot not meant to be ridden, making it work for their artistic expression through tricks, and then hunting for a new place to make a mark was the next evolution of freestyle BMX. These ideas boiled over into the mainstream of BMX in the early 2000’s as, in tandem with brands like Animal and videographers and photographers like Bob Scerbo and Jeff Zielinski, riders like Edwin Delarosa and Vinnie Sammon were introduced to the world.[9] Though many riders before them had ridden street and done it amazingly, riders like Edwin and Vinnie not only had a style and skills that were relatable, but they used those things on spots that were accessible. Almost anyone could find a small ledge and do a feeble grind. It may not be as smooth or to as complex of a combo, but that grind and that style of riding was more attainable and more realistic than what much of what BMX looked like in this era in videos, magazines, and on TV. That world was one of giant X-Games ramps, complex cement bowls, exotic locales, and exclusive sets of trails. That world was also one where riders needed to train to compete as athletes. On the other hand, these new “street riders,” were everyday guys in everyday clothes on everyday spots and they embodied the new street perspective; not to mention, they and their styles were creative and interesting as well as relatable and accessible.
And from there, a self-perpetuating feedback loop began; one that made street riding “the thing” in BMX for years to come. It was not caused or pushed by one certain rider or crew or brand or video, but rather it was a living and breathing organism comprised of many interconnected parts. In general, it functioned as follows:
Why street riding became such a dominant force in BMX culture…
and how that may be changing.
Accessibility and Relatability
Without diving too deeply into a historical wormhole, it seems to me that BMX has always been “street” at its roots because of where the majority of humans with bicycles live. Before kids even launched their bikes off the dirt lumps in the field behind their houses, they rode full speed at bumps on the sidewalk and sent it. For almost anyone with a bike who lives anywhere besides “in the wilderness,” the “streets” are the most accessible and natural thing to start riding on. There is almost always a bump on the ground to launch off of, some stairs to ride down, an embankment to carve, or something to grind. Human civilization, especially the infrastructure-laden United States, has ensured that kids on bikes will always have “stuff” to utilize. And to me, that basic utilization epitomizes the act[1] of street riding: taking what you are given within existing human infrastructure and using a bike to make something unique happen with it. Thus, the earliest people on bikes, as well as the new riders of today, all have some sort of basic street “roots” they draw on.
In addition, for much of the life of BMX culture, a majority of riders did not live anywhere near something designed for them to ride, i.e. a skatepark.[2] Until the recent skatepark-building-boom in the late 2000’s, public parks were few and far between, especially outside of hotspots like California. Privately owned parks were none-too-common either as it is notoriously hard to keep them in the green or to keep them open at all. And if you were/are lucky enough to live near a skatepark of some sort, it may cost money to get into, it may be covered with snow half of the year, or it simply might not allow bikes. As such, street riding has always been a popular option because it may have been the only option. After all, you only need human infrastructure (basically omnipresent on this planet) to find something to ride. Street has been, for the most part, the most accessible form of freestyle riding because it is free, open whenever you want it to be, and features plenty of things to ride if you are willing to pedal a little bit further than you did before.[3]
Moreover, street riding has remained such a popular form of riding due its relatability. Regardless of rider location or skill level, street riding is often times easier for a rider to envision working for them after their initial exposure to BMX. At the beginner level, most riders have little understanding of BMX infrastructure such as skateparks and trails, and thus the idea of “all things being a spot to ride” is easier for a new rider to relate to. To this day, even the highly technical and specialized modern street riding we see broadcasted by the best riders in the world is still accessible to most bike riders. Your ledge may not be as nice as the LA Courthouse ledges, your rail may not be as perfect as the Hollywood High Rail, and your tricks may never be as insane as those done by the top pros, but it is likely that you can find something in or near your hometown that looks close to those obstacles and then apply your skills, your style, and your expression to that spot. For many riders, it has been easier to find some sort of ledge, rail, or other “street obstacle” nearby and accessible and then to use that spot in a way appropriate to their style and skill rather than to be able to find hard-to-come-by and possibly too-advanced ramps or trails. Remember though, this argues for why street riding becamepopular more than it does for why street riding remains popular. The basis of this particular argument is still true in many places today, yet, we do know that every day more public skateparks are popping up all over the world and as such, access as well as relatability issues are less important now than they were 15-20 years ago.
Creative Limits of Built Obstacles and Backlash
Conversely, I’ll be the first to admit, a lot of what can count as “stuff to ride” out in the streets can actually suck as well as be limiting until you find the “right setup.” Thus, very early on in BMX, people with resources began to build better things to ride.[4] There was a bit of experimentation (and some heavy borrowing from skateboarding), but certain types of obstacles became standardized: the quarter pipe, the mini-ramp, the spine, the box jump, etc. And though there were/are variations of these basic forms, those variations are often only minimal adjustments to the size and angle of the existing design of ramps. This isn’t a bad thing. After all, a ramp is designed to be ridden. Its purpose is to be used for freestyle BMX. And there is no denying that without the construction of things designed for us to progress on, i.e. ramps and jumps, BMX may have never survived or become as rich and complex as it is today.
That richness and complexity really blossomed as things like teeter-totters, loops, and other “silly” or “unacceptable” ramps disappeared from most mainstream scenes. As ramp designs solidified, BMX was able to focus less on the development of obstacles and more on the development of tricks.[5] That development was really an explosion of progression, but also, an explosion of codification. We created things on bikes that had never been done, but by becoming “tricks” they also came with a set of “rules” about how they worked and where they were applied. For example, a “grind” was when pegs slid across coping, not when they slid down the transition of the ramp. And just like that, the concept of grinding on ramps started on a path towards only being a “grind” if it was on a specific part of a specific built obstacle. Hundreds of tricks were discovered, codified, and solidified in this fashion. All the while, other “things” done on a bike were discarded or deemed “not real” or “not pulled.” Again, that is not necessarily a bad thing, just a reality; but more on that in a moment.
At the same time, this is when freestyle became a little less “free” and a little bit more of a “sport.” Once the “playing field” was designed, it was time to move on to mastering the game. The amount of tricks (and the creativity it took to invent them) grew. Yet, terms like “trick ferret” were born and people debated whether “style or tricks”[6] mattered while a culture of one-upping and trick-accumulating in parks and on jumps began to dominate BMX. These years are often looked at as the golden age of ground-breaking and technically-difficult ramp riding and justifiably so; BMX and tricks as a whole really matured in this era. But, at its core, much of freestyle BMX has always been about creative and independent progression as opposed to standardized competition. That freestyle spirit motivated some creative and independent riders to continue to push boundaries. At first, ramps changed. They grew in size, changed in angles, and sometimes departed from traditional forms, but remember, ramps are designed to be ridden, thus these new obstacles mostly remained within the accepted ramp paradigms.
Predictably, those minor changes in built obstacles did not fully address the fundamental issue of true creative freedom and authentic expression in BMX. In reaction, perspectives on what and how to ride began to evolve, eventually spawning a different style of riding outside of the purposefully built environments of skateparks and trails: street riding. That new style of riding didn’t just ride “in the streets” because of the accessibility, but rather because of the “opportunity” for expanded creative expression. That style of riding expressed the idea that: “ramps are cool, tricks are cool, and both are a major part of doing BMX, but they can also be a limiting way of looking at freestyle BMX.” The ramps themselves and the tricks possible on them can only deviate so far from the standard, but the outside world of unconstrained infrastructure offers virtually unlimitedly diverse obstacles (“ramps”) which means, tricks done on them can also be virtually unlimited. In such a rich and fertile area (the actual streets), the spirit of creativity and progression that guides so many bike riders was able to flourish. Take the above example regarding grinds. At first, riders looked for railings—similar to coping—in order to perform grinds. Yet, there was more out their than just coping. Bent over poles, complex messes of steel and cement, and even curbs saw the birth of the pole-jam, the 60-40 grind, and peg bonks. Street riding was (and is) reacting to the constraints of the necessarily standardized and usable world of ramps and jumps by aiming to creatively ride everything in the global environment—even when seemingly impossible. This isn’t to say that riding ramps and jumps cannot be creative and progressive. As a matter of fact, it was where creativity and progression were born for BMX. Nor that riding street is always creative and progressive. Many people ride street as cookie-cutter versions of other street riders before them and on the same obstacles ridden many times prior. But, in my opinion, the unlimited nature of street riding as part of the massive world of human infrastructure allows for more diversity of obstacles, more diversity of tricks, and thus more creativity. And because of this connection to the roots of freestyle, much of the impetus to ride street—and the related growth of street—has come from a backlash against the constraints and limits of built obstacles.
Influencers and the Feedback Loop
Freestyle BMX is a very interconnected community and as such the growth in the popularity of street riding certainly is connected to the influence of other riders, the works of videographers and photographers, the content of media outlets, and the ever-present brands who make the parts we ride. I would argue, however, that the bike riders are where it all started. The list of influential street innovators is huge and starts all the way back in the 80’s. One only needs look at the multiple podcasts[7] and newly minted “history books”[8] popping up in BMX to find scores of names of people who invented this or that trick or pushed this or that style. But as influential and integral as those many people were, I believe that the explosion of the popularity of street riding in mainstream BMX culture as a way of riding unto itself took place in the early 2000’s. Directly prior to that turning point, the East Coast of the U.S. in the late 1990’s was simmering with unknown riders embracing the idea of riding and filming exclusively on street. No longer just a “thing” done alongside other forms of riding, many riders began to argue that the “street perspective” of finding a spot not meant to be ridden, making it work for their artistic expression through tricks, and then hunting for a new place to make a mark was the next evolution of freestyle BMX. These ideas boiled over into the mainstream of BMX in the early 2000’s as, in tandem with brands like Animal and videographers and photographers like Bob Scerbo and Jeff Zielinski, riders like Edwin Delarosa and Vinnie Sammon were introduced to the world.[9] Though many riders before them had ridden street and done it amazingly, riders like Edwin and Vinnie not only had a style and skills that were relatable, but they used those things on spots that were accessible. Almost anyone could find a small ledge and do a feeble grind. It may not be as smooth or to as complex of a combo, but that grind and that style of riding was more attainable and more realistic than what much of what BMX looked like in this era in videos, magazines, and on TV. That world was one of giant X-Games ramps, complex cement bowls, exotic locales, and exclusive sets of trails. That world was also one where riders needed to train to compete as athletes. On the other hand, these new “street riders,” were everyday guys in everyday clothes on everyday spots and they embodied the new street perspective; not to mention, they and their styles were creative and interesting as well as relatable and accessible.
And from there, a self-perpetuating feedback loop began; one that made street riding “the thing” in BMX for years to come. It was not caused or pushed by one certain rider or crew or brand or video, but rather it was a living and breathing organism comprised of many interconnected parts. In general, it functioned as follows:
Figure: The Growth of Street Riding Feedback Loop[10]
And as with many cycles, this continued on, feeding into itself and thus magnifying itself. The result of this was more of all of this.And, most importantly to the argument of this paper: more people rode street. Yet, defining this process simply as an internal cycle misses a few important things.
On one hand, though this explanation may appear to argue that this is all just a “system” that is acting to perpetuate itself, we--BMXers—did this. We rode this way and revered these riders and styles. We ran our media by filming, shooting, and sharing this style of riding. We designed parts and pushed them through ads and sponsored riders. We created this “street revolution.” Maybe not everyone was on board at first, but once the wheels started rolling, it was hard to stop. On the other hand, we—BMXers—are not alone in this world.
Outside Influences
It would be foolish to think that BMX culture was an island. Though the above arguments mostly focus on the internal structure and politics of BMX, outside mainstream culture—namely western capitalism—plays a huge role in almost all things happening in and around it. A look at mainstream society at these critical turning points in BMX culture suggests that street riding grew in popularity at the turn of the century also because of factors outside of BMX. Think about this quote from Richard Mungall from a conversation about capitalist structures in all aspects of our lives.
“We are often enacting some version of dominant cultural archetypes
that capitalism perpetuates in order to maintain its own existence.”
In other words, the things we do in life are often not completely independent actions, but rather, our own take on acting out common storylines in modern human existence within an ordered society. Those storylines (archetypes) may seem to break from the mold, but are still part of—and contributing to—the greater story of consumption and production that is capitalist society. For example, the subversive and rebellious nature of the act of street riding (seen in the way it flouts the law by trespassing and destroying property on a daily basis) is often cited by BMXers as a way of achieving freedom and exhilaration. Many riders partake in street riding to achieve those benefits because their daily and mundane life does not provide them.[11] Yet, many philosophers and sociologists claim that human rebellion and subversive action in all of western culture is common and is a “symptom of/reaction to” the “sickness/breakdown” of modern society (think of failing religious institutions, collapsed communities, broken families, changing workplaces, and technologically-addicted and lonely individuals). From this perspective, one man’s tire marks on a building’s fresh paint are no different than another man’s fresh tag on that same building or another man’s improper use of company materials inside of that building. All are subversive and rebellious activities, just played out with a person’s own take on the archetype of the “rebel.” And at this time of transition in the 1990’s there was a boom in counter cultures and we in BMX had plenty of examples of “rebellion” to learn and draw from when it came to creating a flavor for our rebellion. While the “street perspective” of East Coast street riding legends was being formed and shared in our culture, skateboarding, graffiti writing, urban dance, hip-hop music and other cultural movements that focused on the “streets” were also simultaneously coming into their prime. It’s not clear “who did what, first,” but it seems probable that BMX street riding was influenced in part by this broader cultural movement.
Along with the growth of these “rebellious” movements, mainstream culture (and its archetypes) was changing. The days of the “alternative” aesthetic of Kurt Cobain, punk rock/alternative music, and grunge styles of dress that were popularized in the Northwest US were fading from the fore. Growing, was the music and style of people coming from the inner city (particularly those in poverty). This new “grimy” aesthetic was popularized on TV and radio through music, movies, slang, and clothing styles. The associated archetype of being a gritty, tough, and a “hard” individual permeated much of American youth and pop culture. The parallels in BMX culture are obvious. At the same time as these changes were occurring, the Animal video hit the BMX community like a tidal wave. It blended the past alternative/punk rock/grunge vibes of the 90’s with the newly forming grimy culture of the early 2000’s (see the music and clothing in each section for easy indicators).[12] BMX riders were ripe for latching onto this new aesthetic as much of mainstream culture was leaning that way already and because it fit so neatly into the rebellious street riding aesthetic. In both of those aesthetics you can act and dress like you are “from the streets.” And, just like the main cultural story (archetype) of “surviving the streets,” street riding was both tough and character building: you were out in the streets, battling the dangers of American society, getting what you could, sometimes losing to outside forces like the cops, but always getting back up and trying again regardless of what people told you. Sound familiar? How many movies, songs, and famous biographies in the early 2000’s read the same? Though many internal factors in BMX caused street riding to become the dominant form of riding in BMX culture for many years, we must remember, we—in BMX—are still often a microcosm of the greater society around us.
The Mystical Nature of Street Riding[13]
Though the above arguments are made based on anecdotal evidence, that evidence has been collected by someone immersed in the culture of BMX for over twenty years as well as someone who has done diligence in learning about BMX prior to his own involvement. It is my hope that the above arguments as interpretations are still based on facts and information that is generally agreed upon in the BMX community and that could—theoretically—be proven with real quantifiable research.[14] This final section however, is based on arguments that are a bit more subjective, but in my eyes, more powerful. Gleaned from personal experiences as a BMX rider as well as from two decades of ingesting and thinking on the ideas, feelings, and words of other BMXers, I believe that street riding has become so dominant in BMX culture due to the massive and rich cultural experiences it helps to facilitate. Simply put, people love all of the peripheral benefits that come along with the act of riding street.
To make my point, first look at some of the reasons that the BMX lifestyle in general is so appealing to so many people. The lifestyle is often touted as one that “frees people.” It frees them from the narrow constraints of everyday expression (or lack thereof). It frees them from the pressure to work towards life goals that they may never have chosen to pursue. And it frees them from traditional ways of looking at life and the world. Yet, in addition to these opportunities, street riding, and the way it is experienced through exploration and travel, offers an even more appropriate vehicle and method with which to truly exercise those freedoms.
For many who consider themselves “street riders,” it is not about the bike riding or the tricks, the style or the image, but rather, it is about something harder to define: a state of mind. And that state of mind is a bit mystical in nature. It is fueled by the process of looking beyond what we are taught, shown, or told in order to help us search for and discover new things in this world. It may begin as a way of looking past traditional BMX norms of what and how to ride, but for most it eventually transcends that. It becomes a drive to expand in all aspects of life that manifests as a constant search for the new, the unique, and the unexperienced. From what’s around the corner to what’s on the other side of the world, the street riding mentality pushes people to expand their physical, as well as mental horizons. It opens the mind to searching out and learning from other people, other places, and other ideas. From meaning and purpose to pleasure and fulfilment, this mindset allows riders to experience life in a way that most may never understand. And there lies the mystical nature of it: The act of street riding and its related perspective allows one to transcend the constraining mundanity of daily life.
However, these very metaphysical descriptors may just be a fancy way of saying: street riders love being out in the streets and exploring, experiencing, and learning from the unpredictable, exciting, and random world. Either way, the transcendent experience that street riding can facilitate is both enlightening and exhilarating and as such can be very enticing to people. I would argue that street riding became such a dominating part of BMX culture because of, more than any other reasons, the draw to this mystical cultural experience.
Things are Changing
Regardless of these explanations for the causes of the dominance of street riding in BMX culture and in regards to the second title I proposed for this piece, we need to remember that like most people in mainstream society, BMXers often believe that what they see on websites, social media, and even hard copy media like DVDs and magazines, is all that there is now. In this instance, we all have begun to believe that street riding is all there is, even if that is not true as evidenced by the many riders, various media producers, and diverse brands who partake in, support, push, and document other styles of riding. To quote myself in an earlier piece: “The reality is, all disciplines are alive and well because there are thousands of kids out there riding bikes in so many different ways, yet some people focus on certain aspects of our culture and blind themselves to the reality that BMX is more than its media representation.”[15] I haven’t forgotten that as this “street revolution” was playing out in the multiple ways I mentioned above, trails were still being dug and shredded, skateparks and ramps were still being built and sessioned, and flatland was still rolling and progressing.
Furthermore, the general “whiff of resentment” that I referred to in the introduction is, to me, a good sign. Just as I argued that street riding was a natural reaction to the dominance of trick-based ramp-riding and codification of tricks and styles, I believe that the modern backlash growing against the “street dominated” BMX culture is evidence that freestyle wants to again be free. BMX, or rather riders, may want to be free from the bias that almost all parts of our culture have exhibited towards street riding since the early 2000’s. Just like in the late 90’s, riders today want to express themselves through their own creative progression, yet they are being stifled by a dominating and often-times singularly focused style of BMX. In addition, this resentment is tied to a hidden truth about our present state of being: the creative authenticity that was once street riding’s strength in the face of the standardization of BMX no longer exists in many cases. Street is still presented as the hardcore and “true” way of riding, but, in reality, it has been co-opted and thus devalued. It has been co-opted by skatepark designers who build similar obstacles to those commonly found on the streets and thus “standardize” street spots. People now “train” for street riding at readily available street-style plaza skateparks, bringing back the concept of the trick ferret, but now to pseudo-street spots instead of ramps. It has been co-opted by brands and riders wishing to appear to be “with it” in order to sell anything on the back of the image of street riding. They build “hardcore” teams based on created images and personalities that don’t reflect the true nature of the riders who often “give up” other styles of riding in order to be more marketable. It has been co-opted by media producers—filmers, photographers, editors—who have allowed themselves to be beholden to the whims of the “paying” masses instead of showing them other authentic visions and avenues of BMX. The mainstream portrayal of street is just that, a portrayal, dramatized in order to be more easily sold.
More and more people are starting to feel and see this. The online complaints, the misguided dislike of riders and brands, and the mistaken blaming of various scapegoats for the ills of BMX are all evidence that our culture is crying out for a revolution; nay, an evolution. The formulaic “street” image is just as inhibiting as other past forms/styles of riding were. BMX culture has always functioned best when creating and progressing and our attempt to maintain street riding as the dominant force no longer jives with those characteristics. As such, it has left much of the culture stagnant and turned many of its riders into inauthentic clones or bitter old grouches. Both of which are either riding street for the wrong reasons or not truly riding street at all. Remember, the core of street riding is that it is a perspective. It’s not about the act, but rather the perspective of how and what to ride. Anecdotally, from my travels around the globe as well as through my consumption of a large amount of BMX media, it does not appear that most riders who “ride street” actually prescribe to the perspective of street: find a spot not meant to be ridden, make it work for artistic expression through tricks, and then hunt for a new place to make a mark. Thus, how can street be “the dominant form of riding” when it isn’t really an authentic form of riding for most people? It’s not that people aren’t enlightened enough to “get” the street perspective, but rather that the perspective does not connect with or speak to a majority of riders in recent generations. Thus, the act of “riding street” becomes just going through the motions. Many riders were raised to think that street was the primary way to express themselves on a BMX bike and even though they are trying to do just that, the old form does not match the new expression. People, society, and cultural archetypes have changed and evolved, yet our culture still looks the same as it did 15 years ago. Things cannot continue this way if we hope for BMX to remain a healthy and positive culture.
This does not mean the end of street riding, just as street riding’s rise did not mean the end of ramp or dirt riding. Rather, this means, it’s time for people to forge forward again and do what speaks to them and what feels right to them. It’s time that riders do what they want to do in a creative and independent fashion, free from the constraints of a style of riding that spoke to and connected with one generation, but may not be appropriate for this new one.[16] It’s time for riders, our media, and the brands in BMX to be open to any style of riding that arises so that all riders can take part in and benefit from being part of our community. And from someone who probably will remain a “street rider” until the end of hisdays, this author sure as hell doesn’t know what’s next for the rest of BMX, but hopes that there will always be a “next.”
ENDNOTES
[1]More later on the difference between the actof street riding versus the street riding perspective.
[2]https://publicskateparkguide.org/vision/brief-history-of-skateparks/
[3]Note that I am not including flatland BMX as an option here. History has shown us that though it is the simplest form of BMX in that you only need a bike and flat open pavement, flatland did not thrive in the mainstream imagination like street riding did. One can speculate as to why Flatland remained smaller than street riding, but in the early years I believe it may not have been “relatable” as it was simply too difficult for most riders (see section: Accessibility and Relatability). In addition, one can argue flatland did not have the rebellious/subversive flavor that may have made street riding more appealing (see section: Outside Influences).
[4]Note, I said people “with resources.” This implies that there are people who may want to ride ramps, but cannot since they cannot afford to make them. This connects to the above “accessibility” argument in that some people choose to ride street because they can’t actually afford to build their own ramps like many BMXers do.
[5]Notable counterexamples, though the exception, include: Mat Hoffman and his huge vert ramps (https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/sports/29bigair.html)and Mike Escamilla and his homemade rails (https://youtu.be/3nA4mxlM9eU at 5:13).
[6]These two examples are cited to demonstrate that a focus on creating and doing tricks took over much of BMX culture. The term “trick ferret” refers to someone who doesn’t care about things like style and creativity, but rather cares about tallying learned tricks as if BMX riding was simply a competition of who could check off the most boxes. The debate of “style or tricks” was actually discussed in magazines at the time as people grappled with the reality of BMX becoming less about artistic expression and more about quantifiable trick accomplishments.
[7]Amongst many reasons, it seems that recording the oral history of BMX through interviews with BMX icons, founders, celebrities, and more has contributed to a sudden rise in the amount of BMX podcasts available. Examples:
[8]Phipps, Dominic. The Birth of the Freestyle Movement: First Edition. Bend, Oregon: Self-Published, 2017.
[9]This piece is not designed to be an exhaustive historical accounting of all of the riders, brands, and media producers who contributed to street riding. I have chosen the most commonly cited examples in order to help make a point, but understand, as should the reader, that a culture as complex as BMX certainly was influenced in ways both large and small by a multitude of known and unknown actors. Listing all of them here would be both impossible and irrelevant to the point of the piece.
[10]As mentioned in the prior footnote, listing all the contributing actors to these complex cultural changes is futile, but, in the case of media outlets, it is important to note that one outlet, thecomeupbmx.net, played an outsized role in making street riding a dominating part of BMX culture. Whether or not the site’s creator chose to focus on street riding because he “liked it” or because he saw it as popular and as a way to ensure the success of his site is up for debate, but what matters is that this site was almost exclusively focused on street riding through the media it chose to share, host, and sometimes create. The extreme reach this site had during its heyday in 2008-2014 undoubtedly played a large role in exposing many riders to street riding as well as maintaining the popularity of street riding.
[11]See next section on The Mystical Nature of Street Riding for a further explanation of this additional reason for the dominant nature of street riding in BMX culture.
[12]The first Animal Bikes Video mentioned numerous times in this piece can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWlZ8KNj8uLvAnDZf29qrPbVvsOxR8G9A
[13]I am borrowing the term “Mystical” from Richard Mungall from his podcast hosted on www.imprimaturBMX.com. In that discussion between him and I, he lays out his perspectives on the freestyle mindset in BMX and how it “mystically” affects those who take part in the culture. This section is a basic application of some of those ideas and I feel it relates to the topic of this piece. Please see the link for the entire podcast: October, 2018 - http://www.imprimaturbmx.com/podcast-bmx-breakdown-richard-mungall---exploring-freestyle.html
[14]Though that does not yet exist, it is my hope to start down that path myself as well as to spur others to action with this type of work and more found on www.imprimaturBMX.com.
[15]Specialization and the Myth of the All-Around Rider,Mike Hinkens, October 2016. http://www.imprimaturbmx.com/specialization-and-the-myth-of-the-all-around-rider-part-2.html
[16]Yet again, these changes may be influenced by evolving interpretations of “cultural archetypes.” It is very possible that, in addition to the internal BMX politics arguments made here for why street riding may be on its way out, we need to yet again take into account the reality of our connection to greater capitalist society. For example, I don’t see it as a coincidence that BMX riders suddenly have so much interest in supplements and healthy living, when at the same time many people in the same age bracket in mainstream culture are into the same thing. But, that’s just an anecdote—a snapshot—with little time and evidence to truly understand much as of yet. In the same way, my assertion that the period of BMX being dominated by “street” is coming to a close is also partly predictive and partly guesswork. We are still too deep within this period to categorize and fully understand it. Only with time, distance, and hindsight, will we be able to view the larger trends that may or may not be happening in BMX culture at the moment. Until those are available, I can only make an assumption (based on my years of experience) that the cultural shift I feel happening at this moment is tied to the changing interpretations of larger cultural stories (archetypes).
And as with many cycles, this continued on, feeding into itself and thus magnifying itself. The result of this was more of all of this.And, most importantly to the argument of this paper: more people rode street. Yet, defining this process simply as an internal cycle misses a few important things.
On one hand, though this explanation may appear to argue that this is all just a “system” that is acting to perpetuate itself, we--BMXers—did this. We rode this way and revered these riders and styles. We ran our media by filming, shooting, and sharing this style of riding. We designed parts and pushed them through ads and sponsored riders. We created this “street revolution.” Maybe not everyone was on board at first, but once the wheels started rolling, it was hard to stop. On the other hand, we—BMXers—are not alone in this world.
Outside Influences
It would be foolish to think that BMX culture was an island. Though the above arguments mostly focus on the internal structure and politics of BMX, outside mainstream culture—namely western capitalism—plays a huge role in almost all things happening in and around it. A look at mainstream society at these critical turning points in BMX culture suggests that street riding grew in popularity at the turn of the century also because of factors outside of BMX. Think about this quote from Richard Mungall from a conversation about capitalist structures in all aspects of our lives.
“We are often enacting some version of dominant cultural archetypes
that capitalism perpetuates in order to maintain its own existence.”
In other words, the things we do in life are often not completely independent actions, but rather, our own take on acting out common storylines in modern human existence within an ordered society. Those storylines (archetypes) may seem to break from the mold, but are still part of—and contributing to—the greater story of consumption and production that is capitalist society. For example, the subversive and rebellious nature of the act of street riding (seen in the way it flouts the law by trespassing and destroying property on a daily basis) is often cited by BMXers as a way of achieving freedom and exhilaration. Many riders partake in street riding to achieve those benefits because their daily and mundane life does not provide them.[11] Yet, many philosophers and sociologists claim that human rebellion and subversive action in all of western culture is common and is a “symptom of/reaction to” the “sickness/breakdown” of modern society (think of failing religious institutions, collapsed communities, broken families, changing workplaces, and technologically-addicted and lonely individuals). From this perspective, one man’s tire marks on a building’s fresh paint are no different than another man’s fresh tag on that same building or another man’s improper use of company materials inside of that building. All are subversive and rebellious activities, just played out with a person’s own take on the archetype of the “rebel.” And at this time of transition in the 1990’s there was a boom in counter cultures and we in BMX had plenty of examples of “rebellion” to learn and draw from when it came to creating a flavor for our rebellion. While the “street perspective” of East Coast street riding legends was being formed and shared in our culture, skateboarding, graffiti writing, urban dance, hip-hop music and other cultural movements that focused on the “streets” were also simultaneously coming into their prime. It’s not clear “who did what, first,” but it seems probable that BMX street riding was influenced in part by this broader cultural movement.
Along with the growth of these “rebellious” movements, mainstream culture (and its archetypes) was changing. The days of the “alternative” aesthetic of Kurt Cobain, punk rock/alternative music, and grunge styles of dress that were popularized in the Northwest US were fading from the fore. Growing, was the music and style of people coming from the inner city (particularly those in poverty). This new “grimy” aesthetic was popularized on TV and radio through music, movies, slang, and clothing styles. The associated archetype of being a gritty, tough, and a “hard” individual permeated much of American youth and pop culture. The parallels in BMX culture are obvious. At the same time as these changes were occurring, the Animal video hit the BMX community like a tidal wave. It blended the past alternative/punk rock/grunge vibes of the 90’s with the newly forming grimy culture of the early 2000’s (see the music and clothing in each section for easy indicators).[12] BMX riders were ripe for latching onto this new aesthetic as much of mainstream culture was leaning that way already and because it fit so neatly into the rebellious street riding aesthetic. In both of those aesthetics you can act and dress like you are “from the streets.” And, just like the main cultural story (archetype) of “surviving the streets,” street riding was both tough and character building: you were out in the streets, battling the dangers of American society, getting what you could, sometimes losing to outside forces like the cops, but always getting back up and trying again regardless of what people told you. Sound familiar? How many movies, songs, and famous biographies in the early 2000’s read the same? Though many internal factors in BMX caused street riding to become the dominant form of riding in BMX culture for many years, we must remember, we—in BMX—are still often a microcosm of the greater society around us.
The Mystical Nature of Street Riding[13]
Though the above arguments are made based on anecdotal evidence, that evidence has been collected by someone immersed in the culture of BMX for over twenty years as well as someone who has done diligence in learning about BMX prior to his own involvement. It is my hope that the above arguments as interpretations are still based on facts and information that is generally agreed upon in the BMX community and that could—theoretically—be proven with real quantifiable research.[14] This final section however, is based on arguments that are a bit more subjective, but in my eyes, more powerful. Gleaned from personal experiences as a BMX rider as well as from two decades of ingesting and thinking on the ideas, feelings, and words of other BMXers, I believe that street riding has become so dominant in BMX culture due to the massive and rich cultural experiences it helps to facilitate. Simply put, people love all of the peripheral benefits that come along with the act of riding street.
To make my point, first look at some of the reasons that the BMX lifestyle in general is so appealing to so many people. The lifestyle is often touted as one that “frees people.” It frees them from the narrow constraints of everyday expression (or lack thereof). It frees them from the pressure to work towards life goals that they may never have chosen to pursue. And it frees them from traditional ways of looking at life and the world. Yet, in addition to these opportunities, street riding, and the way it is experienced through exploration and travel, offers an even more appropriate vehicle and method with which to truly exercise those freedoms.
For many who consider themselves “street riders,” it is not about the bike riding or the tricks, the style or the image, but rather, it is about something harder to define: a state of mind. And that state of mind is a bit mystical in nature. It is fueled by the process of looking beyond what we are taught, shown, or told in order to help us search for and discover new things in this world. It may begin as a way of looking past traditional BMX norms of what and how to ride, but for most it eventually transcends that. It becomes a drive to expand in all aspects of life that manifests as a constant search for the new, the unique, and the unexperienced. From what’s around the corner to what’s on the other side of the world, the street riding mentality pushes people to expand their physical, as well as mental horizons. It opens the mind to searching out and learning from other people, other places, and other ideas. From meaning and purpose to pleasure and fulfilment, this mindset allows riders to experience life in a way that most may never understand. And there lies the mystical nature of it: The act of street riding and its related perspective allows one to transcend the constraining mundanity of daily life.
However, these very metaphysical descriptors may just be a fancy way of saying: street riders love being out in the streets and exploring, experiencing, and learning from the unpredictable, exciting, and random world. Either way, the transcendent experience that street riding can facilitate is both enlightening and exhilarating and as such can be very enticing to people. I would argue that street riding became such a dominating part of BMX culture because of, more than any other reasons, the draw to this mystical cultural experience.
Things are Changing
Regardless of these explanations for the causes of the dominance of street riding in BMX culture and in regards to the second title I proposed for this piece, we need to remember that like most people in mainstream society, BMXers often believe that what they see on websites, social media, and even hard copy media like DVDs and magazines, is all that there is now. In this instance, we all have begun to believe that street riding is all there is, even if that is not true as evidenced by the many riders, various media producers, and diverse brands who partake in, support, push, and document other styles of riding. To quote myself in an earlier piece: “The reality is, all disciplines are alive and well because there are thousands of kids out there riding bikes in so many different ways, yet some people focus on certain aspects of our culture and blind themselves to the reality that BMX is more than its media representation.”[15] I haven’t forgotten that as this “street revolution” was playing out in the multiple ways I mentioned above, trails were still being dug and shredded, skateparks and ramps were still being built and sessioned, and flatland was still rolling and progressing.
Furthermore, the general “whiff of resentment” that I referred to in the introduction is, to me, a good sign. Just as I argued that street riding was a natural reaction to the dominance of trick-based ramp-riding and codification of tricks and styles, I believe that the modern backlash growing against the “street dominated” BMX culture is evidence that freestyle wants to again be free. BMX, or rather riders, may want to be free from the bias that almost all parts of our culture have exhibited towards street riding since the early 2000’s. Just like in the late 90’s, riders today want to express themselves through their own creative progression, yet they are being stifled by a dominating and often-times singularly focused style of BMX. In addition, this resentment is tied to a hidden truth about our present state of being: the creative authenticity that was once street riding’s strength in the face of the standardization of BMX no longer exists in many cases. Street is still presented as the hardcore and “true” way of riding, but, in reality, it has been co-opted and thus devalued. It has been co-opted by skatepark designers who build similar obstacles to those commonly found on the streets and thus “standardize” street spots. People now “train” for street riding at readily available street-style plaza skateparks, bringing back the concept of the trick ferret, but now to pseudo-street spots instead of ramps. It has been co-opted by brands and riders wishing to appear to be “with it” in order to sell anything on the back of the image of street riding. They build “hardcore” teams based on created images and personalities that don’t reflect the true nature of the riders who often “give up” other styles of riding in order to be more marketable. It has been co-opted by media producers—filmers, photographers, editors—who have allowed themselves to be beholden to the whims of the “paying” masses instead of showing them other authentic visions and avenues of BMX. The mainstream portrayal of street is just that, a portrayal, dramatized in order to be more easily sold.
More and more people are starting to feel and see this. The online complaints, the misguided dislike of riders and brands, and the mistaken blaming of various scapegoats for the ills of BMX are all evidence that our culture is crying out for a revolution; nay, an evolution. The formulaic “street” image is just as inhibiting as other past forms/styles of riding were. BMX culture has always functioned best when creating and progressing and our attempt to maintain street riding as the dominant force no longer jives with those characteristics. As such, it has left much of the culture stagnant and turned many of its riders into inauthentic clones or bitter old grouches. Both of which are either riding street for the wrong reasons or not truly riding street at all. Remember, the core of street riding is that it is a perspective. It’s not about the act, but rather the perspective of how and what to ride. Anecdotally, from my travels around the globe as well as through my consumption of a large amount of BMX media, it does not appear that most riders who “ride street” actually prescribe to the perspective of street: find a spot not meant to be ridden, make it work for artistic expression through tricks, and then hunt for a new place to make a mark. Thus, how can street be “the dominant form of riding” when it isn’t really an authentic form of riding for most people? It’s not that people aren’t enlightened enough to “get” the street perspective, but rather that the perspective does not connect with or speak to a majority of riders in recent generations. Thus, the act of “riding street” becomes just going through the motions. Many riders were raised to think that street was the primary way to express themselves on a BMX bike and even though they are trying to do just that, the old form does not match the new expression. People, society, and cultural archetypes have changed and evolved, yet our culture still looks the same as it did 15 years ago. Things cannot continue this way if we hope for BMX to remain a healthy and positive culture.
This does not mean the end of street riding, just as street riding’s rise did not mean the end of ramp or dirt riding. Rather, this means, it’s time for people to forge forward again and do what speaks to them and what feels right to them. It’s time that riders do what they want to do in a creative and independent fashion, free from the constraints of a style of riding that spoke to and connected with one generation, but may not be appropriate for this new one.[16] It’s time for riders, our media, and the brands in BMX to be open to any style of riding that arises so that all riders can take part in and benefit from being part of our community. And from someone who probably will remain a “street rider” until the end of hisdays, this author sure as hell doesn’t know what’s next for the rest of BMX, but hopes that there will always be a “next.”
ENDNOTES
[1]More later on the difference between the actof street riding versus the street riding perspective.
[2]https://publicskateparkguide.org/vision/brief-history-of-skateparks/
[3]Note that I am not including flatland BMX as an option here. History has shown us that though it is the simplest form of BMX in that you only need a bike and flat open pavement, flatland did not thrive in the mainstream imagination like street riding did. One can speculate as to why Flatland remained smaller than street riding, but in the early years I believe it may not have been “relatable” as it was simply too difficult for most riders (see section: Accessibility and Relatability). In addition, one can argue flatland did not have the rebellious/subversive flavor that may have made street riding more appealing (see section: Outside Influences).
[4]Note, I said people “with resources.” This implies that there are people who may want to ride ramps, but cannot since they cannot afford to make them. This connects to the above “accessibility” argument in that some people choose to ride street because they can’t actually afford to build their own ramps like many BMXers do.
[5]Notable counterexamples, though the exception, include: Mat Hoffman and his huge vert ramps (https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/sports/29bigair.html)and Mike Escamilla and his homemade rails (https://youtu.be/3nA4mxlM9eU at 5:13).
[6]These two examples are cited to demonstrate that a focus on creating and doing tricks took over much of BMX culture. The term “trick ferret” refers to someone who doesn’t care about things like style and creativity, but rather cares about tallying learned tricks as if BMX riding was simply a competition of who could check off the most boxes. The debate of “style or tricks” was actually discussed in magazines at the time as people grappled with the reality of BMX becoming less about artistic expression and more about quantifiable trick accomplishments.
[7]Amongst many reasons, it seems that recording the oral history of BMX through interviews with BMX icons, founders, celebrities, and more has contributed to a sudden rise in the amount of BMX podcasts available. Examples:
- The BMX in Our Blood: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bmx-in-our-blood/id1296495175
- The Rollback: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rollback-a-bmx-podcast/id1387580707
- ImprimaturBMX: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/imprimaturbmx/id1164314967
- Snakebite BMX: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/snakebite-bmx-podcast/id1049258510
- Space Brothers: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/space-brothers-podcast/id1363202754
- Feeble Talk: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ride-bmx-feeble-talk/id1215742172
[8]Phipps, Dominic. The Birth of the Freestyle Movement: First Edition. Bend, Oregon: Self-Published, 2017.
[9]This piece is not designed to be an exhaustive historical accounting of all of the riders, brands, and media producers who contributed to street riding. I have chosen the most commonly cited examples in order to help make a point, but understand, as should the reader, that a culture as complex as BMX certainly was influenced in ways both large and small by a multitude of known and unknown actors. Listing all of them here would be both impossible and irrelevant to the point of the piece.
[10]As mentioned in the prior footnote, listing all the contributing actors to these complex cultural changes is futile, but, in the case of media outlets, it is important to note that one outlet, thecomeupbmx.net, played an outsized role in making street riding a dominating part of BMX culture. Whether or not the site’s creator chose to focus on street riding because he “liked it” or because he saw it as popular and as a way to ensure the success of his site is up for debate, but what matters is that this site was almost exclusively focused on street riding through the media it chose to share, host, and sometimes create. The extreme reach this site had during its heyday in 2008-2014 undoubtedly played a large role in exposing many riders to street riding as well as maintaining the popularity of street riding.
[11]See next section on The Mystical Nature of Street Riding for a further explanation of this additional reason for the dominant nature of street riding in BMX culture.
[12]The first Animal Bikes Video mentioned numerous times in this piece can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWlZ8KNj8uLvAnDZf29qrPbVvsOxR8G9A
[13]I am borrowing the term “Mystical” from Richard Mungall from his podcast hosted on www.imprimaturBMX.com. In that discussion between him and I, he lays out his perspectives on the freestyle mindset in BMX and how it “mystically” affects those who take part in the culture. This section is a basic application of some of those ideas and I feel it relates to the topic of this piece. Please see the link for the entire podcast: October, 2018 - http://www.imprimaturbmx.com/podcast-bmx-breakdown-richard-mungall---exploring-freestyle.html
[14]Though that does not yet exist, it is my hope to start down that path myself as well as to spur others to action with this type of work and more found on www.imprimaturBMX.com.
[15]Specialization and the Myth of the All-Around Rider,Mike Hinkens, October 2016. http://www.imprimaturbmx.com/specialization-and-the-myth-of-the-all-around-rider-part-2.html
[16]Yet again, these changes may be influenced by evolving interpretations of “cultural archetypes.” It is very possible that, in addition to the internal BMX politics arguments made here for why street riding may be on its way out, we need to yet again take into account the reality of our connection to greater capitalist society. For example, I don’t see it as a coincidence that BMX riders suddenly have so much interest in supplements and healthy living, when at the same time many people in the same age bracket in mainstream culture are into the same thing. But, that’s just an anecdote—a snapshot—with little time and evidence to truly understand much as of yet. In the same way, my assertion that the period of BMX being dominated by “street” is coming to a close is also partly predictive and partly guesswork. We are still too deep within this period to categorize and fully understand it. Only with time, distance, and hindsight, will we be able to view the larger trends that may or may not be happening in BMX culture at the moment. Until those are available, I can only make an assumption (based on my years of experience) that the cultural shift I feel happening at this moment is tied to the changing interpretations of larger cultural stories (archetypes).
Responses
Brett Downs - 12.3.18
In my opinion, two of the driving forces behind the rise of street riding were the technical minded rider and the learning curve.
There have always been the riders that don't want to huck themselves way into the air. When I started riding, these guys mostly settled themselves into flatland riding. They were safely on the ground and enjoyed the intricacies of manipulating their bikes and bodies into a creative outlet. With the level of flatland shown in the media outlets, most of it is beyond the grasp of the average rider and not even considered.
Technical street riding has filled that void with the rider's OCD, creativity and desire for relative safety of lower altitudes being fullfilled.
Secondly, the barrier to vert, park riding and trails accomplishment is formidable. Before a rider can 360 a set of doubles, he must first learn to clear the doubles. That foundation can take years and several hospital visits to get to the point in which someone can not only blast, but throw tricks mid air.
With tech street, a rider can do a feeble to smith grind on a ledge a foot high and feel that he has accomplished something that his rider heroes do. It's also something that can be learned without months of slams. Not unlike the way any of us could hop on a scooter and do a tailwhip in a few tries, the instant gratification of street is obtainable to the entry level rider.
As a rider who has done every subset of BMX riding, street riding is perhaps the purest form of BMX, as you stated, up until the point it becomes trick riding on obstacles. While there is a difference between blasting down a street jumping curbs and kicking out into trashcans versus sessioning a rail for an hour to get your insta-clip, it's all in the pursuit of the rider's gratification for the moment. All BMX has to be is what ever we want it to be.
In my opinion, two of the driving forces behind the rise of street riding were the technical minded rider and the learning curve.
There have always been the riders that don't want to huck themselves way into the air. When I started riding, these guys mostly settled themselves into flatland riding. They were safely on the ground and enjoyed the intricacies of manipulating their bikes and bodies into a creative outlet. With the level of flatland shown in the media outlets, most of it is beyond the grasp of the average rider and not even considered.
Technical street riding has filled that void with the rider's OCD, creativity and desire for relative safety of lower altitudes being fullfilled.
Secondly, the barrier to vert, park riding and trails accomplishment is formidable. Before a rider can 360 a set of doubles, he must first learn to clear the doubles. That foundation can take years and several hospital visits to get to the point in which someone can not only blast, but throw tricks mid air.
With tech street, a rider can do a feeble to smith grind on a ledge a foot high and feel that he has accomplished something that his rider heroes do. It's also something that can be learned without months of slams. Not unlike the way any of us could hop on a scooter and do a tailwhip in a few tries, the instant gratification of street is obtainable to the entry level rider.
As a rider who has done every subset of BMX riding, street riding is perhaps the purest form of BMX, as you stated, up until the point it becomes trick riding on obstacles. While there is a difference between blasting down a street jumping curbs and kicking out into trashcans versus sessioning a rail for an hour to get your insta-clip, it's all in the pursuit of the rider's gratification for the moment. All BMX has to be is what ever we want it to be.