Last night while I was out doing tricks in my parking lot, I met a guy named Chris. Like me, he had also just turned 53. Like me, he rode BMX as a kid. Unlike me, he stopped when he got his driver’s license. We talked about motomags, Redlines and Perry Kramer as he loaded his groceries into his car. He said some of his best memories were on his BMX bike. I explained the new, modern retro-inspired big BMX bike since his ancient Pro-Line is now too delicate and he is too big. As he pulled out of the parking spot and drove away, I got to thinking how that could have been me if I had quit.
As I was riding home, I got to thinking about this lifelong thing I have done. I’ve had the successes and failures, pleasure and pain. Great rewards and losses have come from the countless hours spent on the bike. Riding is what I’ve done with my life and continue to do.
Sometimes I liken it to a musician who had a successful band in his youth. Over the years, the band broke up and the members went their own separate directions in life while one of them keeps playing. Time has obscured the notoriety and opportunities but he keeps making music because he must, even if nobody ever hears it. He simply plays because he is a player.
I have to get out to ride. At this point, BMX is a creative outlet giving me something to produce besides the regular day to day chores of life. My riding is my art and I need to fill that empty parking lot the same way an painter is compelled to the blank canvass. We all need something beyond the daily grind of work/home/family. Something we do for our personal fulfillment. That’s what my riding has been for my entire life. The best way to explain it is “It’s just what I do”. After every session, I feel fulfilled if only because I went out and rode at an age way beyond what I ever dreamed was possible. That is the silver lining to the cloud of mortality hanging over my riding career.
Chris drove off in his expensive car and I went back to my tricks based upon a decision we both made at 16 years old. I hope he has had a life as rich as mine. I also hope he thought of me and was checking out new bikes online last night.
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