Today I look at these kids castrating themselves doing rail jumps on
skateboards and all the other extreme sports out there, and I think to
myself, these morons are bent on their own extinction.....But then I
think back to all the crazy things I did when I was a kid and marvel at
my own survival.
Back in '58 my dad brought home an old springer Monarch with 3" balloon
tires. We lived right at the base of Pike's Peak, and I had a network of
dozens of trails in my backyard. That bike was the original 'fat bike'. It
really sucked going uphill, but coming down it was better than any of the
80s hard tail mountain bikes. Of course those longhorn cruiser bars could
really mess you up in fall, but then any fall on a 45 degree slopecan mess
you up, especially when you don't have a helmet and body armor.
Up on the Gold Camp Road on Cheyenne Mtn. there were loads of really
steep slopes covered with a deep layer of fine granite gravel . We
used to get our kicks running down those slopes. In places one could hop
50,60 feet in a bound. Sometimes we'd even jump over small trees. Sometimes
you'd land in one. I know flat out I've run way faster than any Olympic
track star. Then again, it's not all that difficult when in a near vertical descent.