I remember jumping on my bike at 11, probably a 24”-wheeled Costco special, and meeting up with my friends. Together we would terrorize the neighborhood, roving the twisting suburban streets looking for trouble. Kick over a garbage can while riding – giggles. Ride down the steep grass bowl – screams of terror. Try and fail to bunny hop, ending up on the ground with big scrapes and tears in the eyes – peels of laughter from all the onlookers. These types of moments defined our childhoods and it seemed like bikes would always be the basic tools for providing unlimited enjoyment.
But somewhere between discovering masturbation and getting a driver’s license, the bike rides dwindled. They began to rust wherever they were last dropped after a grueling 4 hours of riding around town, only to discover Nick down the street had a car and could drive us there faster. Most of the kids never even took another look at was once an object of freedom.
Those of us who kept on riding kept it mum from the others. We’d steal away for a couple of hours of bliss, then pile in to our friends cars to actually get places. We’d meet other riders – groups of maybe 5 or 6 like-minded guys – and go off to discover the limits of our bikes, but never discuss them outside of the little trail cliques. Free time was devoted to tearing through all the bike mags and filling our heads with all the technical information they could fit:
“How does DW-link have good anti-squat but still eliminate brake jack?”
“What tire profile will roll fastest on my trails, but still let me make all those muddy turns on that one trail?”
“If Steve Peat went up against Brian Lopes in a dual slalom, who would be more likely to pull some dirty shit at the start line to win?”
Okay, maybe not just technical information, but definitely anything related to bikes. We’d store this up in our heads and talk at length with our fellow bike-nuts about it until Real Life brought us back in.
And that’s what life became: Real Life and Bike Life. Always trying to balance the two. Can’t embarrass yourself by talking about the newest DH offering from Intense to some bored girl at a party. Can’t let your frustrating schedule stop you from getting in a good ride every now and again.
I am one of those bike geeks who has tried to find a balance in the two lives. And, I’m goddamn tired of it. I want to talk about bikes and I no one can stop me. My name is Screamin’ Ilan and this is where I’ll explore the bike side of things. I hope you enjoy.
