From : The SUN , January, 1981.
It was all coming back to me.
School holidays in the 60's, when
we weaved our bikes (no fancy names then) around
a roughly-hewn
bush track,
occasionally nose-diving as wide handlebars clipped on unyielding
pine tree.
We were quick — and adventurous, too.
Not like these pampered progeny of the gimmick generation with
their helmets, thigh pads, even gloves, riding
multi-coloured concoctions of alloy, nylon and tubular
steel.
“I'll
show them how we rode bikes when kids had spirit,” I thought,
as bike shop owner Brian Sullivan
offered me a BMX
cycle at the Mornington BMX track
yesterday.
BMX
— Bicycle Moto Cross. I brooded that it should be Bike Madness
eXclamation.
These kids looked reasonably fast across the humps and banks
of the 350 metre dirt track, even performing mid-air
tricks, but an old ‘bikie’ could still street
them in a race.
Brian Sullivan gave me a helmet with chin guard, would you believe,
and recommended a jacket to protect the arms in
case of a fall. “Fall!” I scoffed.
“This T-shirt will be fine.”
Without having ridden the tiny BMX machine. I strutted
my bike to the top of the steep hill where the starting gate
releases
up to 10 riders in each moto (their word,
not mine) down the bank on to the circuit.
The kids waited expectantly ... then down the bank the overweight
BMX-er screeched.
I don’t remember the next
few seconds.
My
first recollection of the race is landing on my hospitality
five metres past the first hump —
just 30 metres after the
starting gate.
My hip was stinging from thigh muscle to breakfast time, and
the gravel rash on my left arm caused instant regret for the
haughty refusal to wear a jacket.
And those wretched humps.
It’s a good thing that BMX bikes are fitted with bar protectors
to ensure that little boys grow into
men.
BMX really is a demanding sport — tough on both boy and bike.
The bikes, which sell from $170 to $500, are specially built with reinforced front forks, onepiece cranks and the expensive
brands have nylon wheels which spring back into
shape.
They need to be rugged, too.
With these bikes, boys do all the brutal things that they’ve
always wanted to do to a two- wheeler.
They even have bicycle aerobatics — with manouvres
such as the rock walk, where riders flick their bikes
around then
move forwards without turning the wheels, helicopter jumps,
table lops, turn downs and one-hand-one-footers.
No wonder this sport, which was brought from the U.S. two years
ago, is already a craze amongst Australian boys and
girls.
This country boasts 5000 registered BMX-ers,
almost half of them based around Victoria's
two major tracks, Mornington
and Lalor.
A third track, at Brighton, will open on
January 25
According to Brian Sullivan, " BMX is a natural thing for boys."
“They’ve been jumping their dragaters
across ditches for years." wrecking
wheels, breaking frames
— now they can do It without the bike falling apart.
“Also they can pick their own bike gear,
in all colours, and assemble the bikes themselves.”
BMX bikes fly... well
almost.
The illusion of Mornington’s Gary
Sullivan hurtling through the air was taken by Paul Woodland.
In a 350-metre lop, riders
bounce over humps into the air more than a dozen times.
Pride comes before a fall. Neil Kearney (nearest camera) lines
up with the young BMX riders seconds before he landed
hip-first at the foot of the
first hump.
