At his Family Fun Fest on June 8, Kevin Robinson held an old school style BMX contest — the “Wisdom to Youth” contest — complete with quarter pipes and a kick turn ramp (plus a box jump for the newer schoolers). Also, he had actual old school riders: the contest was invite-only, so the riders were a who’s-who list of New England freestyle history, dating back to the late 70s/early 80s.
Being invited to participate was quite an honor (one that, unfortunately, I had to decline as I would be arriving late due to family events). But it was great to be there and see so many amazing riders, some who I haven’t seen in decades: Ron Stebenne, Chris Lashua, Joe Johnson, Paul DeLaiarro (above), Rich Upjohn, Jared Souney, Dave Alden, Keith McElhinney John Cote, Scott Denoncourt, Tommy Simpson, Gregg Macomber…so many people. Even Ron Wilkerson came out from California to ride (and win the veteran ramp class). Plus I got to see old friends from the King of Flatland days that I hadn’t seen in almost 25 years, including Josh Marsele (who is a lot taller than I remembered).
And if that wasn’t enough, that evening Scott Moroney debuted his documentary about the birth of New England freestyle, A Wicked Ride. This was a great history of the sport in the northeast, and even an old-timer like myself learned a bunch, especially about the riders that paved the way before me. It’s a really great movie, and if you have any interest in the New England riding scene or old school BMX in general, you’ll definitely want to see it.
Thanks again to Kevin and Scott for such an amazing day. Really, the word “amazing” gets thrown around a lot, but I mean this. Seeing so many people and friends in one place, riding bikes and hanging out, it was such a fun time I was still processing it into the next day.
Here’s a slideshow of some photos I took that day (view them here on Flickr if you’re on a mobile or Flash-less device):