When did you get into BMX? I desperately wanted a BMX in 83. But my parents were kind of traditional and saw it as a passing fad.......so I ended up with a 10 speed racer!!! In 86 my parents separated and we moved to a new area (I was 13) and the first person I met was a kid called Dave Lee who raced and rode freestyle. The first time I met him he rolled into a car park and did a 20 foot roll back off a bank. My mind was instantly blown and I knew this was what I wanted to do. He sold me an old frame and that was it, I was hooked immediately.
First BMX? Mongoose supergoose 3 (the 2nd hand frame I mentioned above).
Current BMX? For Park I have a S&M ATF, Ive got a S&M MOD for trails, and for racing I ride a S&M Steel Panther.
Favourite place to ride? I love the Track at Portreath when its sunny!!! But there’s tons of indoor parks I really like also - Mount Hawke is my local so thats always fun to ride. I also like riding Corby when I get the chance, and I used to love riding Zone 74 in Scotland but its now closed.
Top 3 BMX-related memories? Ooh thats really tough.
My time riding with the G Sport crew in Sheffield will always be a period of my life that I look back on and cherish. It was the early 90s and BMX was really on its arse, but we didn’t care. We had a crew of flatlanders, street riders, dirt jumpers and we all hung out at the G Sport house. We were filthy, broke, and unpopular but I had such good times and created memories that will be with me forever.
I think some of the early Ride On Roadtrips and events are also great memories. The Scotland one was awesome and we had such a fun crew of people. Our end of year jams at Flo were also tons of fun.
I started racing a few years back and last year was my first crack at riding the British Cycling National Series. It was an amazing experience and I rode better than I expected all year so I guess I have to put riding in last years National Series as one of my favourite memories even though its quiet a recent one.
I should also add that many of the KOCs created some of my best memories.
Influences? Ive always been massively influenced by media over the years. Especially video. I used to watch stuff like the cheeky monkey videos, the baco films and anything else I could get my hands on over and over again.
I’ve always been a massive fan of Chad De Groot in the way he rides everything (and kills everything) - his massive shorts were defo a style influence on me in the mid/late 90s!!
During my Rehab Skatepark period Id say John Taylor was big influence on my riding, he’d been spending some time in the states and came back with all his tricks polished and fast. I always wanted to ride a bit like him.
I also remember seeing Grant Smith riding the mini ramp at Barrow in the very early 90s. Mini ramp riding was pretty popular around this time and although Grant had the same tricks as everyone else, he did them at Warp speed and it looked great. Seeing him ride there still influences me to this day.
Who are your perfect people to share a deck with? Im gonna pic 3 from different eras of my riding.
Firstly from my early days Id say Ben White (or Lorenzo Fandango as he’s known). Always had fun riding with this dude and he was also rad to watch.
Next Im going to say Mike O Connell who brought me back from the dead BMX wise and has always been a great friend, riding buddy and a massive part of Ride On.
Finally my current riding buddy is the one and only Pill. Ive defo unwrapped many tricks that I thought were either left in my past or out of reach since Ive started riding with him. He always pushes me and my riding has got better because of him.
Music? Massively wide ranging but I can often be found listening to Pulp, Ben Folds, Fleetwood Mac, Arctic Monkeys, REM, Green day, and the Smiths.
Favourite BMX Video Section? I guess I should probably say something like Miron on American Muscle but if Im honest, the 2 video sections that always get me to want to ride are both from Standard Style Cats. The first one is the opening section featuring Sandy Carson. I absolutely love this section! The music and filming bring so much energy and he’s riding with a backpack on in some of the clips which just gave the whole section a feeling of movement - its lie they were just riding around hitting spots then moving on.
The 2nd section is the Paul Osika section which I could watch on loop forever. Brilliant choice of music, great filming and the coolest bike riding Ive ever witnessed (to this day).
Favourite single clip from BMX Video? Aw this is another tough one! So Im gonna list a few.
Throwing that massive box of bottles of the bridge in Baco 4. The “Bastard son of Andy Ruffell” Backflip in “A kind of Life” Zak’s 360 backflip in Angus because of the “appropriate amount of celebration” (just a manly handshake). The “Can you leave please” argument in et your tricks out. “Ronies Log” (blink and you’ll miss it) in Zero Tolerance
Oh and the Easter Egg on Zero Tolerance!! Ha ha.
You run the legendary Ride On BMX Facebook group/community which we all appreciate. For anyone who may be unfamiliar can you please give a brief overview of what the group is about?
So the idea behind Ride On is to create a place that connects older riders around the world and gives them a platform to share clips and photos of their riding. I think as you get older as a rider the “oven ready local riding crew" that you once had may start to disappear. People move, or get injured (or stop riding) so you can end up being quite isolated as a rider and spend quite a bit of time riding on your own which isn’t for everyone. So Ride On tries to give riders a digital crew I guess to try can keep people motivated, stoked, and riding into older age.
Over the years its grown and today we have around 9K members. We run events, jams, and sessions for older riders but I guess the main thing we do now is the Ride On Video comp. The video comp is basically a 60 second riding edit contest and we have groups for 30’s, 40’s and 50’s age brackets. Its been so rad to see this grow and to see just how far you can push your riding into later life (some of the over 50s entrees we get are insane!!).
Other interests? Due to my youngest showing no interest in BMX at all but choosing to spend his every waking hour playing Rugby Ive kind of been forced into developing a weird interest in Rugby Union (I know......dont judge me). I also love shooting photos and making videos (although these are both mostly related to BMX).
Last words? Don't waste time. This has kind of been my mantra now for a good few years. Especially as I get older. I think making the most of the time you have and always trying to do good stuff with it (whether thats on the bike or off it) is the best way to live. There’s always an excuse you could find to not do something. And lets be honest, as older riders we’re great at excuses!!!! I try and pass this mantra onto my kids as well. Time, and what you do with it is pretty much everything.
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