17 Years of Absence... I Have Returned.

back when i was 12 years old (1986), i discovered the joys of bmx riding once i mastered the art of bunny-hopping. i was able to clear side-walks, small obstacles, or just simply hop in one place to see how high i could go. it seemed just a simple concept, and yet not many of the neighboring kids could do it. the most some could do was lift the front tire up. then, one day that summer, a group of guys rode through the neighborhood on these wicked cool bmx bikes pulling some amazing tricks. it was called flatland freestyle, and i was hooked. i tried to emulate those tricks, and as a result of constant stress on my bike's frame it cracked completely.

my dad realized how much i enjoyed bmx riding, so for my 13th birthday he bought me a Colombia Freestyle bmx from Toys R Us. i knew back then it wasn't a "real" freestyle bmx bike like GT or Haro, but my dad couldn't afford one of those. no matter. the bike was well equipped, and i was looking to start freestyling right away. so during my high school years i rode throughout my neighborhood and around town doing street and flatland tricks, i made a few new friends in the process, and always thought i'd never get out of it. i went so far as to upgrade from the Colombia Freestyle to a GT Aggressor in 1990 after saving $500 working at McDonald's after school, weekends, and during the summers.

but after graduating high school, joining the military, attending college (then dropping out), joining the workforce, getting married, and going back to school, i found myself with little time and/or little to no motivation to pursue my enjoyment of bmx. i did make an attempt to get back into it after selling the Aggressor and getting a GT Tour 2 in 1999, but it wasn't long after purchasing it the bike ended up in the basement collecting dust.

these days i'm still working full-time and attending school, but now i'm divorced and living on my own. this school semester will end in a matter of weeks. the summer approaches and i need an out-door activity to enjoy the coming of sunny days, and not spending them within the confines of my apartment. i have seen 80's films on bmx (Rad, BMX Bandits) and watched tons of videos on YouTube of old-school and todays bmx riders. it's these reasons i decided to return to bmx for nostalgia and as an activity.

at the risk of embarrassing myself, i have shot and edited a video of one of my practice sessions. i'm so rusty, but i have to start from somewhere. this video will serve as my base-line. i can only get better from here.

17 years of absence since my last good session, but i have returned, and i have a lot of catching up to do.

peace,
@riel

Trying out Blogo

so i was looking to see what twitter clients were available that may extend it's functionality. i've noticed how other's twitter posting include links and even images. i can't seem to do this with web-based twitter client from Twitter.com, so i visited the site remembering that they posted apps and widgets.

this one particular app called Blogo caught my attention, because not only did it post on Twitter, but it was originally written to post on blogs. so i downloaded the trail just to check it out. i have to say that so far i like what it can do. i can connect to my Blogger account and create new post & re-edit older posts as well, add images & links without having to deal with HTML codes, and has a preview function so you can see what your blog entry will look like before you post it. i can even schedule postings, and there's even this full-screen function to allow you to focus your attention on your writings. oh yeah and it does Twitter postings as well.

it took a of bit trail-and-error just to set it up to my Blogger account, but now that i got it running it's pretty neat. it may just be worth the asking price of $25.

go check it out.

this entry edited using Blogo.

peace,
@riel

My New Playground: Green Hill Park Skatepark

i recently found out that Green Hill Park has a skatepark. i never knew. apparently it's been there for the past 5 years. so i made the attempt to ride it this past sunday, but unfortunately i didn't get much out of it because the rear tire on my bike kept deflating. i brought with me a small hand-pump, but it wasn't working out all that well. i have brought my bike back it's retail home, Barney's Bicycle, for a quick tune-up and tire & tube replacements. i'm going with a pair of 100psi tire which should be good enough for jumping and flatland riding. looking forward to that update. hopefully i'll be ready by next week to ride again.

peace,
@riel