What dose riding mean to you?

[ReCkLeSs RiDeR]

riding = a big part of my life.

for some people riding is a job

[Banshee Beast]

Riding, for me is simply getting away from "life" for awhile. I don't have to think about workin' 10 hr days, mortgage payments, fighting with the g'friend or whatever. Being in the bush and just "listenening" to the sounds of silence brings a smile to my face. The push/ride up is ALWAYS worth the effort.

That being said, I just suffered a comminuted spiral fracture of my tib/fib and Talus. (July 31) Was at the surgeons office today for more x-rays. I have 22 screws and two massive plates holding everything together. Not quite sure when I might be able to ride again. Kinda makes me sad to possibly be out for 6-8 months. At first I said I would NEVER ride again, but after most of the pain has subsided I can't imagine not ever riding again. I'll miss the freedom. There's nothing I can imagine that will make me feel that rush/excitement of biking with my bro's.

[AnTi-TrAiL_nAzI]

same riding is a way to get away form it all. i envy pplz who get paid to ride

[Grimace]

its kinda fun, till you grow up and have to work

[just ride]

Originally posted by AnTi-TrAiL_nAzI
i envy pplz who get paid to ride

why? you shouldnt. thats not a good way to look at it at all. be happy to be you, your how old? you got a long time to get the experience to be good enough to make money doin it.. just sitting there going "i wish i got paid to ride" , when you can go out and be practicing and going to races and going in comps etc, and building a good resume.. if you want something you gotta work for it, dont envy other people - look up to them.

[Shaft]

I think it means alot more to a person when they stop riding and reflect on their lives without it. Backing away and coming back really creates an understanding on how much it really means.

Every waking moment I spend thinking about how things used to be and how I didnt realize they were that way. I get up and remember what I did last summer about this time and what I did the rest of the time I was awake. I remember the routine was the usually the same, get up, eat, go out in the garage and hang out for a bit. I remember my favorite part of the day came about eight o'clock when time just clicked and it was time for the usual ride at the construction site. I loved heading up there, even the climb up the hill wasnt as bad as I always thought it was. We would just ride ride. Starting at the gate we would go around to the top and then come down just sessioning everything in site. The street lights would come on and we would session everything under them becuase we couldnt see any thing else. Just riding. Nothing really mattered when everything clicked and it was just riding. Looking back on it now I would trade anything to go back to the days when things were right. Fuck. I have all or, most, of things I wanted. A car to drive, new hardtail, another bike to ride when I had problems. What I really wanted doesnt really matter anymore, what really meant something was what I had. Something that felt good doing, a good friend to hang out with. I would give my life to go back to the old days.The days when I didnt gamble with my life. I'll get up tomorrow and watch court shows and maybe write. But when the time comes for me to ride there isnt any anticipation to what will happen when I get there or if anything new is happening with anyone else. I wont look forward to what new moves I can throw or how late I ride. I ride, but I dont really ride. the bike moves and so do I, but there is nothing else that happens to make it a ride. Often times I will gaze around and conjure up memories from long ago about how what happened that night when I was over there, or that time when it started to snow but that stopped no one. But I look to reality and see the emptiness that is not only the campus, but me as well.

You never know how much riding means to you until it loses meaning. Keep riding guys and cherish the connection you have with everything that has to do with it.

[ThE NoRcO]

deep.

[AnTi-TrAiL_nAzI]

Originally posted by just ride
why? you shouldnt. thats not a good way to look at it at all. be happy to be you, your how old? you got a long time to get the experience to be good enough to make money doin it.. just sitting there going "i wish i got paid to ride" , when you can go out and be practicing and going to races and going in comps etc, and building a good resume.. if you want something you gotta work for it, dont envy other people - look up to them.

why do i envy people who are good, and get paid to ride? because i know this sport is never going to be any more of a hobby to me due to the age that kids are riding i have a buddy who is the same age as me 14 and he has hit diggers rock no footer'ed it and nothing'ed off of side show a few times and i am no where near his skill.. also my body build is holding me back (im over weight by a long shot) and that i do not have much confidence in my riding and it takes alot for me to advance my ridng skill level becsue i dont have much confidence.. i mean there is that chance i could get paid for riding but its defently a long shot. But i think if i got paid to ride it would change my reason for ride. i wouldnt be so inclined to rip every seccond i get..

very very deep thoughts shaf good on you ..

[patrolskid]

shaft , whoa dude , that is heavy . tell us the story behind that story .
anti trail , there are all kinds of ways to get paid to ride a bike . i got a job that involves a lot of time on a bike , there are the bike guides up here who get paid , bike messengers .
as for the skill / weight thing , remember that old saying : give me the humility to accept the things i can't change , the strength to change the things i can , and the wisdom to know the difference .

[patrolskid]

a long time ago , when i was road racing , i sliced my knee open with a machete . i was pretty addicted to cycling back then , and couldn't imagine not riding , so i just took the injured side pedal off my bike and rode with that leg hanging there for two weeks . that was a bit of a challenge , but , hey it kept me riding , and i developed the best stroke / spin i ever had . . . . .
now i use that same technique to teach people how to pull up on the pedal and develop a round stroke

[AnTi-TrAiL_nAzI]

yeah true man. but i dont think ill ever get paid for free riding.

[just ride]

Originally posted by AnTi-TrAiL_nAzI
why do i envy people who are good, and get paid to ride? because i know this sport is never going to be any more of a hobby to me due to the age that kids are riding i have a buddy who is the same age as me 14 and he has hit diggers rock no footer'ed it and nothing'ed off of side show a few times and i am no where near his skill.. also my body build is holding me back (im over weight by a long shot) and that i do not have much confidence in my riding and it takes alot for me to advance my ridng skill level becsue i dont have much confidence.. i mean there is that chance i could get paid for riding but its defently a long shot. But i think if i got paid to ride it would change my reason for ride. i wouldnt be so inclined to rip every seccond i get..

Im 18 and there are 10 year olds who can dirtjump better then i ever will, and guys my age and younger ripping shit up, i dont envy them, i give mad props to them for working so damn hard to get to where they are. If i let go, and let myself learn and progress (on that note -thanks cam and seb and ron for taking me down DM and schleyer for the first time, i wouldnt have done it if it werent for you guys ) i can do things i never knew i could, and im not learning and progessing cause i think one day im gonna make it big and get rich, i do it cause of how it makes me feel.. and i think its that mindset that gives me more confidence and i am proud of where i am with my riding and my progression, no matter how slow it is

[AnTi-TrAiL_nAzI]

yeah i ride cuse i wanna ge the best i can be. n i guess i relli dint mean i envy them i jsut think its toaly insane how hard there goin for it n actualy gettin some where.

[Shaft]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by patrolskid
[B]shaft , whoa dude , that is heavy . tell us the story behind that story .
QUOTE]

The story (if you can call it that) isnt quite as intellectual as the result but its slightly incomplete without it I suppose.

As I progressed in my attitudes towards riding I had begun to yearn to ride all the time and usually did. I remember heading out even if it was raining and not even caring how wet I got, as long as I was riding. At the time I didnt realize how much it meant to me or how much I would one day wish things had never changed. Whatever happened I knew I would be flowing later in the day and counted on my bike to pull me through things that I arrogently thought would always be there (love). So the balmy summer days of Washington came and went with like there was no end. My riding buddy and I started to log more time with the bike and started trail building in the day and then riding when it got cooler. We didnt have a car so we would walk there with hatchets swinging on our belts and just build and build. The street riding just got better and better as we discovered more and more moves we could do. It was the nearing the end of summer and the days were getting shorter and shorter until one day it was time for a change of pace and some dirt jumping. Broken frame. That was tough to deal with, but I still held out hope for a new one and kept building more and more trails. The experience in my mind cemented that I would be riding for a long time to come and not even the lack of a bike would stop me for long. What seemed like forever I finally found a frame, when all you do is ride, life slows down. Anyways, I bought my Planet X and couldnt wait for my first ride in two months. It was better than Christmas when it showed up at my house. I was complete again. It seemed like I couldnt put it together fast enough. I started to ride again with all the people I used to ride with, but something seemed different, I couldnt quite put my finger on it then and I still have trouble now, but something was definetly not the same. That was November 6, 2003. Six days later I went to bed and when I woke up I was tired of being alive. I didnt care what happened anymore. Life didnt matter to me like it had before. I still rode, but people started riding with me less and less. Everday. Twice a week. Once a month. Never. I was left alone in the time I needed my bike and the people I needed most. I used to ride with about 10 different people, I rode with zero after that. I was devestated that everyone had just left me like that. I slipped into a non-riding state and rode probably once a month. I still enjoyed it once in a while but one day I lost the pleasure of just riding it. I bought a BMX bike in hopes that it would somehow fuel my love for two wheels. I forced myself to ride it but found it hard without thinking of the days when everyone would just get together and ride. The days when we were all happy to be on the bike and nothing could change that.


This is by no means a feel-sorry-for-me story, I just thought it would be good to share my love for the bike with all of you in hopes that it will give you fuel for your passion in riding. Keep flowin.

[pike119]

it's a way of life w/o it I would die... I can't live w/o it... I need to bike If I don't bike I eventually start goin downhill...