Writing stuff for other people

Tim Sadler - Ride.io ( Photo by Tom Laws )

For those of you who don't follow me on Facebook or Twitter  firstly why not? Secondly, you might have missed my ugly mug up on the Ride.io website reviewing the kick ass Sweet Protection MTB range.

Been a few years since I wrote for another website, but those of you who can cast your minds back will remember that before Tim@Lowepro, Tim@Etnies, Tim@Pyranha and Tim@Outdoorgarage, I was originally Tim@playak. ( before you ask the Outdoorgarage domain has changed so many hands since i owned it that I have nowhere to link to )

It must have been around 98 or 99 when I first starting writing for the original Playak site. In those days I was using a University drop in room ( shhhh even back then I worked out how to bypass all their systems ) and it was before the 'bubble'. Fun days indeed and got to write lots of stuff and go to lots of events. Unfortunately ( and annoyingly ) all my articles were republished when the site had a face-lift and my name was taken off...such is the Wild West of web land. However, you could argue that in writing for them I started down the route to Pyranha ( as I wrote one of the first reviews of the S6 Kayak for the site ), but who knows what role each unique decision plays in a timeline ( and there is of course no such thing as fate ).

Since those early stoooodent days, I've been fortunate to work in a somewhat creative roles (cough), but regardless of that, I think it is important that everyone has some sort of outlet for their musings. Could be writing, could be snapping, could be painting. Who knows what is lost because someone didn't express it in some way? Granted the media is 99% rubbish, but that 1% can change the world.

And that is why this blog exists....( though might just keep it to my musings rather than trying to change the world ).

p.s. working on some follow up stuff for Ride.io so keep checking back.

I should have bought a BMX

Ok, I admit it, I have never owned a BMX. Even with a starring role in ET and whilst my school chum Simon had an awesome Silver Mongoose, I was still riding a trusty Grifter. Then, what seemed like years later, my other school chum, Tim, got a Puch Mountain Bike ( one of the first in the UK and yes made by the company who make those little moped things ) and any interest I had in BMXs went out the window.

The Mighty Raleigh Grifter

From the Grifter, I followed Tim ( yes, one of the original 'Tims'), into the world of Mountain bikes with a Peugeot 'Safari' and then through a succession of Marin's, British Eagles, Treks and other stuff. I used them to ride the trails along with commuting 10 miles to work ( remember when one bike did it all? ). I never really missed not having a BMX.

The Marin Hawk Hill - My first bike with Front Suspension

Many years later I started work at Afour ( which became Sole Technology UK ) and I was once again exposed to the world of BMX with the brand Etnies. But even with being involved in the UK premier of the mighty 'Grounded' BMX film ( as a side note this introduced me to the Black Keys, so I will always be grateful for that ), I stuck to Mountain Bikes, whilst Etnies, at the time, focused on it's skateboarding portfolio.

Grounded -find it on some download site?

Roll on a few years and I found myself a couple of weeks back at Manchester BMX track riding for the first time a small wheeled beast. Yes I am now 35. This I now realise was far too late. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but instead of hanging around New Deal Skates trying to be good at skateboarding through osmosis, I reckon I would have been better off learning to jump a BMX. Call it heresy, but I have never been that good on four wheels.

So why write about this now when clearly I am all about two wheeled action these days? Well last night on my little Blackberry screen I watched this video.


  Just check out the entry at the 2min mark. THAT IS INSANE!
Now I am not saying that I would ever have been able to ride like this, but I might at least have been able to learn how to bunny hop properly without SPDs!

So what can I do? I'm never going to be able to jump a big like these guys but with Sprog No.1 now riding her first pedal bike and Sprog No.2 not that far behind, I am going to make ruddy sure that both of them spend some time on BMXs....

....now I wonder if I can buy a Grifter on eBay?