Oh MY GOD! This was me to the "T." You didn't use to hang out with me, did
you!!? I'm there with ya man, all the way. BMX & freestyle was my life for
about 6yrs. Actually, I just sold my Redline about a year ago. It was almost
20yrs old, and better than new.
Greg Reno
Mazda MX-3 GS V6
#36 ES
----- Original Message -----
From: <dg50@daimlerchrysler.com>
To: <autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2001 9:47 AM
Subject: Fast and Furious
> I got about halfway through Roger's post, and was working up a suitably
> large measure of outrage, when it struck me that I had not yet seen
Roger's
> traditional April Fool's joke post.
>
> And there it was at the end; the keyword: "Lirpa Loof"
>
> Ha! Missed me! :)
>
> But you know, that movie has been causing me no end of unease, in part
> because of the very things Roger was lampooning, but also because of an
> experience I've already had with Hollywood.
>
> Back in the day, I used to be a pretty serious BMX competitor - at least,
> as serious a competitor you can be when 2000 miles away from the epicenter
> of the sport and on a 3-month race season. I LIVED on my bike, lovingly
> assembled a piece at a time from the money I made on my paper route.
>
> I did windsprints up hills to increase my leg strength.
>
> The abandoned construction site across the street became a practice track
> (when was the last time you saw a teenager with a pick, shovel, and rake
> NOT under duress?)
>
> >From dawn to dusk, I was out there, riding.
>
> I even went to the World Championships when they came to Whistler in '85
> (Got my ass KICKED! So much for my Pro career)
>
> Now BMX was a pretty new sport at the time. Freestyle had only just been
> invented, and the very first freestyle bike had been out for less than a
> year (GT made it, Eddie Fiola rode it) We were all so cool, and nobody
knew
> it yet - they (the other kids at school) just thought us BMX-types were
> weird and obsessed.
>
> Then we heard about a new movie that was supposed to be all about BMX.
Some
> guys I had raced against were used as extras. This was going to be IT!
> Everyone was going to see how great this sport was!
>
> Over time, some details of the plot leaked out. Local kid is a paperboy, a
> true natural-born talent. A big race comes to town, so that BIg Sponsor
can
> showcase Big Sponsor's rider. A few spots are open for locals. Local boy
> qualifies (over adversity; Big Sponsor rider is an asshole) and then goes
> on to win the big race and get the girl. In other words, typical Hollywood
> pap.
>
> So what! That movie was about US! It was going to be SOOOO COOOL!
>
> It was called "Rad!" Exclamation Point!
>
> When it finally made it to Quesnel, me and my BMX buddies were the first
in
> line.
>
> Movie starts. The opening sequence is Our Hero delivering his papers. He's
> taking all these weird shortcuts and doing all these tricks as he goes
from
> house to house - OK, so the tricks are a little over the top, but that was
> pretty well what I did every morning, just amped way up to the level I
> *wished* I was capable of. So far, so good. This is cool!
>
> We establish that the kid is an underdog. So far, this movie is REALLY
> speaking to me. That could be me up there!
>
> ...and then it goes all to hell.
>
> What happens next... well.. the rest of the movie had NOTHING to do with
> BMX the sport, or even BMX the lifestyle. The races weren't BMX races,
they
> were these weird cross-country bounds through parks and parking lots over
> these bizzare obstacles (like a giant cereal bowl - you drove around the
> bowl and got out via the spoon) And the races were really violent too - me
> and the boys were infamous for driving a really physical race style, but
> anybody who tried any of the blatently nasty stuff that was going on there
> would have been banned for life.
>
> They got it so, so SO WRONG! That wasn't us!
>
> We left the theater in total shock. As I recall, I pushed my bike home.
And
> the lot of us laid low for a while lest we be associated with that
horrible
> travesty of a movie.
>
> My expectations for "The Fast and Furious" are no higher.
>
> I have come to realize that a great many people out there in SCCA-land are
> completely unaware of just how big the whole sport compact scene really
is.
> I'm immersed in it, so I tend to take it for granted that everybody knows
> just how important these guys are to the SCCA. I've been finding that
> there's a rather large group of people who are just now starting to see
> what all the fuss is about.
>
> But Laird Thunderin' Jaysus, please DON'T base your impressions off this
> movie!
>
> DG
|