I'm a BMX Bandit

Have you seen this movie BMX Bandits? What the heck were we all thinking in the '80s? Ah for the love of Pete. Whoa man was that a cool movie in the day. Everyone wanted to have a BMX bike to do those freestyle tricks on. And so it went. Loads of kids created bike gangs and cruised their neighborhoods trying their best to find the sweet jumps and the best gravel pits. Remember ET? Those were the days. Coming home with bloody scrapes and gravel embedded in knees and elbows. And helmets were of course not part of the attire. The helmet safety push came in the late 80's, or at least by then it came to my town.

I wanted a pink BMX. I asked for a pink, or any BMX and well, I got a 10 speed instead. Laaaammme. (My little sister got a knock off BMX from Kmart.) That 10 speed bike, in all its pink-ness, sort of made it difficult for me to participate in the gang fun. I stuck out like a sore thumb on a massive girl bike. I was able to out pace them on long rides which counted for something. Yeah, for nerds! If I wanted to do jumps I had to ride my heavy blue bike with the huge banana seat. At that time it was a dorky bike, because it wasn't a BMX. Yet now I think it was a cool bike. Dang it was cool. The handlebars were up high and with that banana seat I could motor around in comfort on that huge seat. I could scoot up to the front and ride like a granny or alternatively I moved all the way back and rode it like a bad-ass chopper riding kid. In a pinch there would be room on that seat for another kid. I, in my you ain't gettin' nutin' for free beliefs, would make those freeloaders pedal as I steered. That must've been a sight. Two kids on a blue banana seat bike one in front feet on the handlebars steering while the other sat behind pedaling like a maniac and holding on for dear life. It's making me laugh just remembering all this kid fun. I even had a basket on that bike, yeah I was awesome. I think I used to put some dolls in there but when I was too cool for playing with toys I removed the basket. After a while I passed the blue bike on to younger cousins. I really didn't need two bikes and the 10 speed was much more practical as I grew. Eventually my sister thought it'd be fun to take it apart and learn about bike mechanics. So the 10 speed became a pile of parts that was never repaired. Thus ended my bicycling days.

Kids and their bikes. What funny memories.

Comments

Librarian Girl said…
When I got my first new bike as an adult, I was SO EXCITED, like I was a little kid again. But then, when I actually rode it, it just wasn't the same. I guess some feelings have to stay little kid feelings.

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