october 2012

I just left a bar on 17th and San Jacinta or something, in Austin, TX. I was beyond fortunate enough to witness a historical moment tonight, in a beer garden packed wall to wall with bmxers from all walks of life; some i had never met and ended up sharing a table with, some i used to want to emulate as a teenager and into my early 20's, some childhood heroes and even some low key long island legends. A mob this eclectic was as doomed as it was engineered in perfection, and I was among few who were aware as to what was in store for this seemingly hand-picked cluster fuck. The people in on the surprise were electric with anticipation, the others thought it was a premiere for a brand new video about to drop, but all were focused on their confusion as Darryl took the stage. In true Nau fashion, he gave a praise-filled introduction that gave me chills; for the premiere of a documentary type short film on living legend Brian Foster by famed bmx videographer Stu Johnson.

But that's not what this is about.

Darryl came up to my friend Brian and I, with whom I had just braved the 28 hour drive on no sleep and absolutely no warning. He gave us a three way hug, then the rather largely built super enthusiastic man took a step back and asked me when my next internet rant would be. I since had hung up my angsty ways, and wasn't hesitant to be embarrassed of them when explaining it to him. He went on to say that no matter what the energy, the bmx community should have any one's say present, that it needed my voice as it needed everyone's. (paraphrased, of course.) I began to think out loud when he cut me off, made a hand motion towards me, paused, and said "marinate on that for a minute."

when I started this stupid blog, i was fed up. most of my main riding friends had moved onto other facets of life, mostly negatively oriented, and i began riding with a younger crowd. i was in a situation that disallowed travel for quite some time, so i was basically surviving solely on riding long island with this said "new wave" of kids. the everyday scene that i stumbled into was sad. people were more likely to be seen scowling at each other when tricks were pulled instead of the classic yelling, throwing shit, and bum rushing your friend when he pulled something for the first time. no one said whats up to each other, not even on the deck of the ramps. i still wanted to get the good old days back, so i threw a jam one November that i thought people would be into. i had 19 sponsoring companies that graciously supplied me with a trunk full of bmx parts to give away. shortly after that jam i took a bunch of old friends and some new cats i met at the contest and started "the front." the idea was to transcend a bit of the old school vibe that formulated my life and outlook on such, to a new generation of kids and to finally start showing the bmx community that there was more to long island bmx than the trail scene. unfortunately nothing always works out how you may plan, and pretty soon instead of people doing right by the companies who were generous enough to put us on grassroots hookups (matt coplon especially, I'm eternally grateful) they were just selling their bikes when they needed money for cars and the like and asking me to order parts for them after the fact. basically, the blog that followed my attempts to inspire a kinship again in the local bmx scene turned into a full blown attack on the rap video attitude-inspired reality of young kids on long island. a shit storm of lashing out on everything they were so convinced was bmx, the "sport" itself, and what a bmx'er should be took place of me just telling the ones that had attitudes i didn't agree with to simply fuck off and find another naive dude to poach off of. after all the shit talking on both ends, and after my initial agenda completely backfiring on me, the front ended up being unnecessary to continue; and after all the years riding together, everyone i knew fell into everyday life, and bmx held a huge place in my heart rather than my days. it sucked.

the surprise premiere at the bar had people all mixed together, talking about riding, being stoked on BF, Austin, and the fact that we were all there. Simple as that. Taj's Texas Toast jam felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to hang out and enjoy what we all love more than our girlfriends, some more than our families. There was so much going on at once that it was completely surreal. The ramp layout, the dirt course with a huge S&M shield as a vert wall, the choice of music during the contest, the food trucks on premises, the level of riding that was going on, the vibe of the crowd and the riders, it all was perfect. I am, as well as everyone that witnessed this, considered absolutely lucky to have been there to see it go down.

"bmx is a huge family, we spend our darkest hours and our brightest moments all together in the woods."- D. Nau

its true. if it weren't for jim j, jim b., brian m, kyle h, mario m (rip), chris n, rob b, sean d, and the positive reinforcement from the older cats we had in our lives and at our trails, or street spots, yelling at us to give it one more go after taking it time and time again on the same trick, showing us how to fix our bikes, or telling stories about trips to far away lands and overseas riding their bikes, my life would never have been as rad as it is right now.

coming to austin in april of this year and again for this event helped rekindle a desire to ride everyday again, as i turn the real life age of 30. to everyone that has read this site and hated every word, or shook their head in disgust, or maybe even agreed at one point, im sorry i lost sight.

my best friend jim and i constantly reminisce about the rarity it was to pass someone, sometimes a lone wolf, riding a bmx bike through your town. we'd shoot the shit, take him riding through our spots, sometimes it would be us in their shoes. it was such a sense of brotherhood and connection that should never go away in the scene. i hope it never does.