Golden oldies circa 2002 2003

Tuesday 3rd Jul 2007 - Banbury

Sat in my room glancing around last night, I thought I’d have a look through some old photo Cd’s from films that I took many years ago. It’s really fun to have a look at how things were way back when things were a little easier. This is a real gem, bikeshowmaster.com Poll down the old big line at his place, Kiddy. This was at the time I was still learning to really ride bigger trails, and always looked up to Poll when I saw him ride there, bossing everything and riding super smooth and flowy. 2002 some time.

Most of these pictures are taken pretty haggardly, with really bad composition. They were all either taken on single use cameras or this old basic 35mm I used to have. Eddie Chaffe, who I’m heading to Aussy with later this year, was twisting his Curtis MTB way before almost anyone else in the MTB world, and over pretty big jumps too. He’s still the raddest kid ever.

Dave Alexander was always pretty much my favourite person to ride the trails with. I grew up riding at Hornton Hill, and Dave started riding there a load soon after me, and whilst most people practiced racing the majority of the time, Dave, Harry and I would never leave the trails. Miss timed no foot can with Ed from Oxford posing in the middle of a jump at one of our last ever sessions there. Dave rode an S&M cruiser for a while, and now rides a little BMX still and a lot of motocross.

Laibes used to ride for 24seven for a while, and was famed for MTB street stuff. He too has not ridden a big wheel in many years, and I occasionally catch up with him a little in Route One in Oxford’s covered market, which he manages. Pretty sweet table from summer 2003

Here’s an overview of the bottom of the trails. They were pretty fast and downhill, and always really easy to over jump. Although a lot of the sessions, they were not in the best condition possible, I for one had some of the best days of my life hanging out down there. A 9 or 10 Mile ride from my house, I was always spent by the time I arrived, but never once was it not worth it.

This was probably late 2003, not long after I first got a BMX. That Macneil Miron was the heaviest damn bike in the world, but I always loved it. This spot is one I’ve wanted to go back to for ages, random hump in Leamington Spa. If Nick Thompson is reading this (who incidentally took this photograph), let’s make it happen! Tabletop hipping the boob shaped brick mound.

Tuck the same line. This is one of the best spots I’ve ever ridden, from what I remember. Maybe not quite as good now, but I remember it being dialled.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as I have. Might do another similar update one day. Look out for some more recent content when this apparent monsoon season that we’re currently enduring finishes. Make the most of this rain, fix lumps or build new ones. Tallyho old chaps.

Posted by Chaz at 12:29 pm in the BMX > Banbury section. Permalink.

Recent Updates

• Ed is not dead - Blewbury
• One day of fun documented - Banbury
• Triffic time had by all - Cothill
• Macca Brighouse update - Brighouse
• Summer Cardiff video - Cardiff
• Biggest update ever - Cardiff
• Summary - Various