Saul Hudson was born in July, 1965. He's a year older than myself, or Dennis McCoy, to put him in a BMX perspective. But he's known to all of us as Slash the legendary guitar player. About 4:00 minutes into this 131 minute documentary he talks about his time as a BMXer.
Yes, he was a BMXer, and he could JUMP. He got seriously into it around ages 12-13, while living in the Laurel Canyon area of L.A., between Hollywood and The Valley. Both of his parents were involved in the music industry, so he grew up around known musicians and industry people. There's one photo of Slash jumping in the documentary above that I've never seen before. You'll have to watch it to see it.
In the documentary above, he gets into his BMX riding about 4:00 minutes in, right after a bit by Alice Cooper. It's a short bit, but he talks about how BMX was his thing until he got into guitars. There was an old BMX industry urban legend in the late 1980's that Slash and Duff (or someone) met while riding BMX bikes at a bank. It turns out that, Like many legends, there's some truth to that.
Slash was a BMXer, and Steven Adler was a skater at his junior high. Later in this doc they talk about Steven eating shit on his skateboard, and everyone ignoring him. Slash thought he might actually have been hurt, and walked over and said something like, "Dude, you OK?" That struck up a friendship, and they started hanging out. It was Steven who later showed him a guitar, which changed the direction of Slash's young life around age 14-15. Nearly a decade after meeting on bike and board, Slash was the lead guitarist, and Steven was the original drummer for Guns n' Roses. This doc also explains where the nickname Slash came from. Welcome to the jungle...
I watched this documentary last night, and while there's very little actual playing in it, it's really interesting if you're into Guns N' Roses, Slash's later bands, or music and guitars. Check it out if those things are up your alley.
Free meme for making it to this blog. Share all you want.
Balancing on my first quality BMX bike, a Skyway T/A, rocking red Z-Rims. Boise Fun Spot, where I was the manager, summer of 1985. Photo by Vaughn Kidwell
My name is Steve Emig, if you don't know, and I'm the guy who publishes this blog. Like many kids of Generation X, I learned to ride a bike at age 5 1/2, in 1971, it was a Schwinn Scrambler clone that my dad pieced together from garage sale bought parts. In today's world, we'd call it a rat bike. My first new bike was a red, white and blue banana seat bike, which cost $50. That was the first bike I jumped, brick and piece of wood jumps. Then I had a 26 inch ten speed, as we called road bikes back then, I jumped that bike, too, on little vacant lot jumps.
When the bike thing changed for me was in the summer of 1982, when my family moved to a trailer park outside Boise, Idaho. There wasn't much to do there, several miles outside of town, out in the desert. So us teenage boys got more and more into jumping our BMX bikes. Jumping turned into BMX racing, and then into the brand new, emerging sport of BMX freestyle. That became the driving force in my life for the next 20 years. BMX freestyle gave me a place to focus my energy, and my creativity, which shaped my whole life.
As pathetic as it sounds, I've been fighting to just get back to where I can go out and ride a little daily, for several years now. Life's been really weird for a long time, but I'll get there eventually. Here's most of the few photos I have of me riding over the last 35 years.
Shingle shuffle during a flatland session under the Huntington Beach Pier, 1987. I'm on my Raleigh Ultra Shok, technically I was "factory sponsored" for about a year.
Carving tile in the Nude Bowl, 1990, on my Aurburn.
One of the weird little tricks I invented, footplant to 180 on flat, in a 2-hip Meet the Street contest in Lo Jolla, CA, 1989 or 1990. This was a trick the skaters did in H.B., called a no comply, that I took to BMX.
Wall ride over my sister's head, 1990, at the Blues Brothers Wall in Huntington Beach.
Riding backwards on my Schwinn BMX cruiser, 2009, trying to get back riding again.
Trying to get my infinity rolls back, on a borrowed Eddie Fiola Former Pro, One Love Flatland Jam in Newport Beach, 2020 (right before the craziness shut life down).
What's it like at a Boozer Jam? This video by pro skater/rapper Chris Gentry, from Boozer Jam 2014, will give you an idea. OK, the T&A is from downtown Huntington Beach, but the rest is all Sheep Hills. You can see Mike "Boozer" Brown in his wheelchair at :52, real quick, at that event. Boozer Jam 2021 was held on Saturday, May 29th, 2021, at Sheep Hills.
"Boozer" Mike Brown was a lifelong BMX racer, and a Sheep Hills local rider and jump builder from the earliest days of the 1990's. He was paralyzed in a racing accident in 2012. The Boozer Jam was put on as a fun day of real BMX, and a fundraiser to help out Mike and his mom, Cathy, who lived on a real tight budget. Mike died in 2019, and that year's jam turned into the Boozer Mike Memorial Jam, held in his honor since. A raffle at the end of the day helps out Cathy Brown, originally with funeral expenses in 2019, and just in general ever since. This year some money also went to help get bikes for underprivileged kids, as well.
Here's Mike in his heyday, doing his favorite trick, the bowlegged X-up. Photo loaned to me by Jason "Dogger" German, who is the driving force behind Boozer Jam each year.
Boozer Jam is a jam, so the vibe is much different from a major contest. It's a day for 300 or 400 people to all show up at Sheep Hills at once, ride the trails, talk to old friends, make some new ones, and just have a good time. Jason "Dogger" German does the leg work, putting the event together, and he kicked ass as usual. Mike's mom Cathy comes out, and hangs out all day. A bunch of T-shirts and stickers are sold, and a ton of BMX product is donated and raffled off to help Cathy out, and it's also helping underprivileged kids as well.
Tucker Smith (@tuckersmithbmx on Instagram) stretches a double seat grab Superman.
There are a load of guys in black T-shirts. There's a huge S&M and Fit Bikes presence, since Sheep Hills has been S&M Bikes country since it was built in 1990. But us geezers from the early 90's are old now, and most have families. So Boozer Jams are family events for many. Sometimes the parents watch the kids ride. Sometimes the kids watch dad ride. Sometimes the whole family rides.
Mike "Hucker" Clark with his trademarked corked out 360. In addition to these, Mike threw tailwhip flips, and was trying to jump this huge step-up and land in a hang-5, at one point. That's not physically possible, but he damn near did it anyway.
Yes, I said "us" geezers above. I was a freestyler in the 80's, doing tricks for crowds at the Huntington Beach Pier, while the racers were chasing points at races. I actually worked on the edge of the Costa Mesa mesa, a few hundred yards from Sheep Hills, from late '87 to early '90. I rode the jumps that used to be off of 19th street, where the condos above Sheep Hills are now. Some people called those jumps Hollywood, because former pro racer, and Vision Street Wear BMX team manager, "Hollywood" Mike Miranda rode there a lot. He's the one who showed me those jumps, a big hip and a ditch jump, at a Vision photo shoot.
I also rode Sheep some the first couple of years, in the era of the three berms. Then the racer jumpers built everything bigger, and I sucked to much to clear the jumps. But I rode by and hung out now and then, through the early 90's. I even helped with shovel some dirt on occasion. Being roommates with Chris Moeller around '93-'94, the young bucks of the day often came to our apartment to play video games. I'd be watching a rock climbing video, and Timmy Ball would come in, followed by Barspinner, Chulo, Stricker, and the Popes, and kick me off the TV so they could play video games. So while I never could jump a decent set of doubles, I was around those guys some in the early days.
It's always cool to go hang at Sheep, see some old friends, and shoot photos, until I can get my shit together and get a bike again. On my end, it was cool to talk to Dogger, Randy Russell and his wife, Sean Duncan, Ricky Rat, Timmy Ball, and Brooks Manbeck, from the P.O.W. House days. I also met Facebook friend Molly Opps for the first time in person. It was just a fun day all around.
Cathy Brown, Mike's mom, hanging out at Boozer Jam 2021.
While these events are largely just a big jumping jam, there's a little bit of order to the chaos. Dogger leads the pack through a skid contest, for distance and style, and a bowlegged X-up contest, Mike's favorite trick, on the Boozer line he built almost 30 years ago. The highlight of the day is the best trick contest, which was won by Cory Nastazio this year, with a corked out 720, or 360 flip, whatever you want to call it.
Tailwhip flip attempt. This rider kind of came out of nowhere. Some people said he was from Phoenix. He said he lives near Temecula now, but moved there recently, I think. He was hucking some serious moves. I think his name is Topal, or something like that. #steveemigphotos
The weather started hazy, with June gloom all morning. But the marine layer burned off, and it was a beautiful sunny day, and not too hot, perfect for the jam. Riders from ages 5 or 6, up to riders in their mid 50's were riding hard all day. Others hung and watched, and most shot photos and selfies with friends throughout the day.
It's 2021, and there are plenty of talented women riders these days. Jesse Gregory twists one in the bowlegged X-up contest. #steveemigphotos
Dogger, handed the mike over to longtime Sheep Hills local, and current Hawaiian aquaman, Barspinner Ryan Brennan, and he kept the vibe going. He called out Chris Hughes, offering $100 bill if Chris could land a clean body varial. He tried a bunch of them, eating shit on several. Chris rode away, dragging a foot, on two or three. There were tons of nac-nacs, and no handers, plenty of 360's, and a handful of guys doing flips. Tailwhip flips and 720's were happening, and Hucker hucked a front flip that rattled him, but kept riding, of course. It was just a solid, fun day of real BMX with friends and family.
Cory Nastazio, talking to kids, right after getting the award for winning best trick. #steveemigphotos
Stealing's bad. We all know that. But nearly everyone has stolen something at some point. Mine is pretty much limited to free refills at fast food joints in desperate times, but stealing is stealing (unless you're Wall Street, then it's cool). I'm against stealing bikes bike parts, but I've had one or two stolen parts on my bike back in the early days, so I can't pretend I've always been above it. Besides, this is a great song by Jane's Addiction.
As I've written several times, I got into BMX riding in a trailer park we called Blue Valley, outside of Boise Idaho. It was the summer of 1982, there were about a dozen of us teenage guys in the park, and not a lot to do. We all had cheap BMX bikes, and a little "track" on the edge of the park. It had two berms, roosted by a motorcycle rider couple years earlier, and 4 small jumps. We just started spending more and more time in the evenings riding our bikes, and less playing football, basketball or throwing rocks at each other.
As we got more into BMX riding, we started breaking bike parts. Goosenecks, as we called stems back then, were often the first to go. When we broke something, like a gooseneck or a pedal, or bent a sprocket, that created the problem of replacing it. For things like pedals, we could often find somebody who had a rubber-style pedal off an old ten speed or kid's bike, to buy for $2 or something. But the more expensive parts, like the goosenecks, forks, handlebars, and rims, cost $40 or more. That meant we had to come up with a fair amount of actual money.
There were three main ways to make money as a teen, in a trailer park, outside of town in 1982. Mowing lawns, babysitting, or selling drugs. The drugs were mostly sold by the older guys (20-somethings) in the trailer park, or by kids at school. None of us were really into drugs then, a few kids smoked a bit of weed, but that was mostly it. It was a trailer park, in the desert, where the grass was dry, yellow, and grew really slow. Blue Valley was mostly lower middle class working people, with some poor trailer park-stereotype White Trash people mixed in. Nearly everyone mowed their own lawns. Sometimes you could mow lawns for one of the older couples and make $5 a lawn. But getting more than 2 or 3 lawn mowing jobs a week was the best anyone could manage, and that was only if one of us was trying to make money that week. None of us had our own cars, and we were 7 or 8 miles outside of Boise itself. Getting a "real job" for $3.35 an hour wasn't a viable option for most of us.
So that left babysitting. The standard pay for babysitting kids at Blue Valley in 1982 was $1 an hour and all the government cheese you could eat, no matter how many kids. Seriously, that's what we made. I only liked cheese on pizza, and the government wasn't giving out free mozzarella. The whole government cheese program was to help struggling dairy farmers. Anyhow, the couples who went out usually were gone for 2-3 hours. So it took a lot of babysitting jobs that paid $3 and a chunk of cheddar, to buy a new set of handlebars or even a sprocket. Like broke kids everywhere, we improvised.
At first we bought many of our bike parts at Payless. That was a drug store, similar to a Walgreens, CVS, or Rite Aid today, but they had a little more everyday merchandise. There was a toy aisle that had really cheap bike parts at one end. There were also no security cameras in those days. I was way to scared to steal bike parts, I was always afraid of getting into any kind of trouble. I was in enough trouble from my mom day after day for normal teenage stuff, like forgetting to take out the garbage. But a couple of the guys at the trailer park didn't mind snagging free stuff, like in the Jane's Addiction song above. I honestly forget who stole what, but a cheap gooseneck or two, and quite a few inner tubes and patch kits got snagged from the Payless our families all shopped at.
One kid realized that you could take a 26 inch, thorn proof inner tube out of the box in the store, and pack about 12 normal, 20 inch tubes in the box. The 20 inch tubes were $1.99 or something, and the thorn proof tube was $3.99, I think. So a couple of the kids would pack the big, thorn proof boxes, and get twelve $2 inner tubes for $4, saving $20. Those guys quickly became the inner tube suppliers for all of us.
I think every one of us from Blue Valley had parts from Payless drug store on our bikes at some , most of them bought, in 1982. When we went to our first race, as a group, at the local Fort Boise BMX track, some local rider asked where we came from. Suddenly there we were, this sketchy group of 9 or 10 young guys, in Levi's, T-shirts, and with paper plate number plates. But we were all pretty fast for new riders. One of our crew told the Fort Boise locals, "We're Team Payless." The funniest part is that a few kids actually believed that we were sponsored by a drug store.
As we kept breaking cheap Payless parts, we upgraded to what became our local bike shop, Bob's Bikes (and lawnmower repair), on Overland Road in Boise. A big trend in BMX components at the time was "anodized" aluminum parts. This was colored aluminum sprockets and chain rings, pedals, hubs, and stems. Anodized parts came primarily in red, blue, black, and gold. In this Old School BMX bike clip, you can see anodized parts on bikes #1, 2, 6, 7, 8, and 10. Red and blue anodized parts were the most popular, and black was a bit less popular then. But nobody (who actually had money) wanted gold anodized parts. So one of the guys from Blue Valley went to Bob's to get a sprocket. He came back and told us he got $3 off on the disc (inner part of the sprocket, that you bolted the chain ring to), because it was gold anodized. Immediately, gold anodized components became a theme at the Blue Valley jumps. We bought the ugly gold parts nobody else wanted, usually for 10% to 30% off. I had my gold anodized Diamondback gooseneck for 2 or 3 years. My dad later took it to the shop where he worked, and had it bead blasted, which left it a raw, silverish, aluminum color, which looked cool, way better than anodized gold. A couple riders asked me about it at the track, I old them it was a rare, silver, limited edition stem or something. But it was the same gooseneck I had the week before, just with the gold color blasted off.
The sketchiest cheap bike part story from Blue Valley came when a new family that moved in. They bought the trailer right next to the basketball court, where we all met up to go ride, after supper each evening. Summer days were hot in Boise, so we watched TV or played video games all day, and ventured outside in the late afternoon or evening.
The new couple had two young boys, about 6 and 7 years old. Both kids had brand new, K-Mart bought, BMX bikes. So we spent a few days riding out at our jumps, all with cheap bike parts on our crappy bikes, while the two new little kids rode in front of new mobile home on brand new bikes. In typical trailer park fashion, one or two of our crew got jealous, those bike got stolen out of their unlocked shed one night. Two nights later, their dad came out to talk to us teen guys, while we were riding our bikes around the basketball court.
We all came together, sitting on our bikes, as he told us that his kids' bikes just got stolen a couple nights earlier. "Man, that sucks!" one of our group replied. We talked about having bike parts stolen, from time to time. We told him he should lock the shed, and we thought high school kids from in town came out to steal stuff every once in a while. None of our bikes had the bright chrome frames his boys' bikes had, so he said he knew we didn't steal them. But he asked us to keep an eye out for their bikes, and let him know if we heard any rumors about who stole them. Obviously, they guy thought one o fus had stolen the bikes, and someone else would soon rat them out.
We assured the guy we would keep an eye out for the bikes, and he thanked us and walked back into his trailer. Every single one of us had parts of those stolen bikes on our bikes as he was talking to us. I had one of the pairs of pedals. Honestly, I felt really bad about that one. But he bought his kids new bikes about a week later, the guy had a good job. I don't actually know which guys in our group stole the bikes, but the parts were sold by 3 or 4 guys the next couple of days. The frames for those two bikes are still at the bottom of the Blue Valley pond, covered in muck and duck poop, as far as I know.
By the time spring melt happened in 1983, and we could ride our jumps again, we all still had cheap frames, but they were built up with decent quality components. One day Rocky and Scott decided to ride all the way into Boise to check out a new video arcade. It was about an 8 mile ride each way. They made it back after dark, and told us about it the next day. They told us it was a really cool arcade. They also told us they met a couple of guys there with brand new, name brand BMX bikes. They asked the guys how they made enough money to buy such expensive bikes. Buying a $400 bike with the typical, $3.35 an hour job would take a long time. Those kids, who lived in a poor neighborhood, told our guys that their old bikes got stolen. Because their parents had renter's insurance, they got a check to replace their old bikes, and were able to buy brand new bikesmore expensive than the first ones. That was the first time I heard about trailer park economics, I think.
Not surprisingly, looking back, Scott and Rocky got their bikes "stolen" at the arcade a couple weeks later. In those couple of weeks, they just happened to have listed all the parts on their bikes (with a few serious upgrades), and found out that their parents also had renter's insurance. Sure enough not long after, the insurance bought Scott a Panda with Araya 7X rims, Redline Flight Cranks, and other top name parts. I never could figure out why Scott bought a Panda frame, of all things. But it was a good bike. Rocky went totally first class, getting a brand new Diamondback Harry Leary Turbo, the coolest race bike out, as far as we knew. Here's Harry Leary doing his his thing on his Diamondback in the UK, coming in 3rd behind Tommy Brackens.
After seeing, and riding Scott and Rocky's bikes, several guys talked about getting their bikes "stolen" for a while, but no one did. Scott and Rocky always swore their bikes actually got stolen, but that arcade was right by the Boise River. None of knew for sure what happened. But those bikes may have wound up in the river, so they'd never be recovered. None of us ever knew for sure, except those two, and they kept to their story.
At the time, the idea of scamming insurance to get a free bike didn't seem like a big deal. In the many years since, I've seen how prevalent scamming of all kinds is in poor communities (and wealthy ones, too), and that's why many insurance premiums are so high. It'd be cool if nearly everyone could make a decent living, and this type of scamming would largely die out. But I'm writing this during the Covid-19 pandemic, when tens of millions of Americans are simply struggling to survive, pay rent, and eat, and most major corporations are alive today because of record setting bailouts last year, and in 2008-2009. About 30% of the American public get some kind of help form the government at the moment, myself included.
My parents moved back into Boise in early summer of 1983, and I was able to mow a few lawns, and do odd jobs, to keep my bike running from then on. I wound up buying my Skyway T/A frame and fork set with my high school graduation money, in the spring of 1984. But in the summer of 1983, the Blue Valley guys quickly faded from the BMX racing scene, and I rode largely by myself day to day that year, and started getting more into the emerging thing called BMX freestyle.
I just wrote a 250+ page ebook about getting into BMX in the trailer park, all the way up to when I stumbled into the BMX industry in 1986. I got a job at BMX Action and FREESTYLIN' magazines, which changed the direction of my entire life, for the better.
This story of struggling to get parts to keep our bikes running that first year is one of the chapters I left out of the ebook. I know nearly everyone had their struggles to buy bikes and parts in those early years. I wrote this post, reminding us all of those early sketchy days when most of us got a bit shady to keep riding, from time to time. Hopefully most of you have moved past that shadiness, and left it to the guys offering1985 Redline Flight Cranks for $7,000 a set on eBay now.
You can learn more about my Freestyle BMX Tales ebook, including how to order one, at this link:
I just found this photo in December, I think. I have no idea where he was supposed to land, but obviously, he didn't make it. And how 'bout the kink in the ramp, pretty gnarly. Early 1900's crazy man.
I'm pretty sure this is either a circus performer, or a daredevil who went around doing this loop. The circus idea comes from the rigging and rope nets to crash into, circus people knew how to do those things. There are 3 or 4 different photos of this loop and set up, and I think it's from 1910-1920 era.
Old School street riding, really old school. This is a safety bike, a penny farthing design, but with the little wheel in front to make it safer to ride. The inventor rode it down the U.S. Capitol steps, in the 1890's, I believe, to prove how much easier this bike was to ride, than the standard penny farthing.
I think this is from the 1930's to 1950's era, and I found it deep in some public domain files. Cool idea. Don't be surprised if someone brings this idea back to life, just on a beefier sprocket.
Ow. Just OW. Not only does this take strength and balance, but it had to hurt his head like crazy. Don't try this at home, especially if you're drunk. (Unless your friends are shooting video, anyhow).
Mega ramp, 1904 or 1905. This one actually had a date. This looks to be a 20 to 25 foot gap, and a pretty well built ramp. Keep in mind, though, that these bikes were all made with what we call "mild steel" not chromoly. He's hucking this gap on a bike that you could snap riding off a loading dock one time, and he's doing it without a helmet, without an emergency room to go to afterward, and without a Red Bull video budget. Gnarly.
This is from around 1910, I think. Look close at the back rim, there seems to be a flat spot. Let's put this nutcase in perspective: It took about 105 years, MUCH stronger bikes, and Morgan Wade, for this trick to be repeated. This guys balls must have clanged when he walked. In-freakin'-sane.
Hope you enjoyed this look back at the crazy bike riders of your grandparents and great-grandparents day.
I just finished my 363 page ebook about freestyle in the early 1980's. It's called Freestyle BMX Tales: Idaho Dork to Industry Guy. The ebook (aka digital file, not a dead tree book), has several of my most popular blog posts about the era from 1982 to 1986, when I got into BMX and freestyle, and freestyle itself was just turning into a sport. It's costs $3.43 (+ applicable taxes), and is available in my brand new online store. Check it out at the link below:
