The Fountain of Youth

There was a big "Old School" BMX reunion this past weekend at Woodward West in SoCal. 200 old dudes on bikes at one of the greatest places to ride that is. I would have loved to have attended this, but it was unrealistic for me. I'm gone too much already, money is tight, travel hassles, etc. I have ridden Woodward West before and it is amazing. If you look through the great photos on Jared Souney's site, you'll notice a consistent theme. Almost everyone pictured, like Ron Wilkerson, shredding the vert ramp in the above pic, is 40-ish (Ron just turned 43). With the exception of a few laugh lines, all the riders look years younger than their actual ages would indicate. I've been on Fecesbook for the past couple of months and it's been interesting catching up with a lot of old friends from my neighborhood, school, punk rock and BMX. However, when I look at the pics of people I've grown up with, all I can think is that I'm looking at photos of their parents. Boring, middle-aged people, a lot of them over-weight and out of shape. I guess you don't keep playing football every week after Senior year? Can you imagine a full on tackle football game with Kelly Baker, Solan Foster, Chris Yankee, Jeff Venekamp, Phil Race and myself? Instead of going to the skatepark, we meet up every couple months to beat the shit out of each other on the field! Another vote for riding bikes and further proof that BMX is the fountain of Youth.