Here's a Pacific Currents news segment on Maurice Meyer, and the Golden Gate Park BMX freestyle scene, from 1986. Since my laptop got stolen a month ago, and the new (refurbished) one hasn't arrived yet, I can't share any of my own photos of me riding on this post. So I went with this clip, which is much cooler, anyway.
There are a bunch of things I love about this Pacific Currents segment from 1986. First of all it focuses on Maurice "Drob" Meyer, who never got near enough coverage as a rider in the BMX mags back in the day, (or in my blogs, for that matter). Drob is an all around solid human being, he was back then, and still is. I've written way more than I should have about Dave Vanderspek over the years. But in the year I lived in San Jose (1985-86), and rode and did a zine with these guys, it was Maurice, of the six BMX freestyle pros, that I actually talked to the most, and who helped me with my riding the most. I did really appreciate that. The other Bay Area pros then were Dave Vanderspek, Robert Peterson, Hugo Gonzales, Oleg Konings, and Rick Allison. Those guys were who I interviewed and wrote about in San Jose Stylin' zine, and who helped me to become a better rider, a known zine publisher, and hopefully a somewhat better human being.
Now, as a moderate egomaniac, the other thing I love about this segment is... that I'm in it, chasing my bike at 5:07. My goofy Idaho parade trick, the "chaser" got me in this segment. This is the oldest video of me riding, which is why I've used this clip too many times. Another great aspect of this TV clip is the rest of the Golden Gate locals posse, also in it. Was it just a really creative group of young guys who were drawn to BMX freestyle? Or did coming together as riders on Sundays help us become more creative people later in life? I think it was probably a bit of both. There's Karl Rothe at 4:22 (later a sponsored am and editor at BMX Plus!), Mike Perkins at 4:26, Chris Rothe at 4:35 (runs a ranch for E-Bikes in the Sierras these days), Marc McKee at 4:44 (became the single most influential skateboard graphics designer at World Industries later on), and not featured in this clip were John Ficarra (later ran a movie car rental business and is now an auto racing industry historian), among others. We were just a bunch of guys drawn to this new, weird, little sport of BMX freestyle at the time. But this was a really creative bunch, which became apparent as the years went on.
This blog came out of some recent Facebook chats with Sven in Norway, who had trouble trying to support my Patreon page, because of currency issues. The U.S. dollar has been beating up foreign currencies for a while now, though it's dropped back a little recently. He was telling me recently how he "went down the rabbit hole" into a bunch of my blog posts the other day, one post leading to another. I've heard that from other readers over the years.
Sven has done a ton to sell my drawing prints in Scandinavia and Europe, which really helped me survive the pandemic years. But I can't sign anyone into my Patreon page, where I do some exclusive content, unless they sign up for a monthly contribution. I wanted to at least collect a bunch of my better BMX posts in one spot, and thought about calling this "Sven Blog" at first. As I started thinking about the idea, I thought of a whole bunch of people who have helped me over the last several years. So the idea morphed into Club White Bear blog. This blog is for all of you who have helped me keep going in some way, over the last several years.
I'm not going to promote this blog, or add tags to raise its profile in the search engines, like I usually do. While anyone can find it by typing in the URL, it will sit here quietly, and I'm going to cut and paste several of my best BMX related posts here, as time goes on, and write some original posts, from time to time, as well. Those of you reading this blog can share it all you like, and link to it wherever you like. But its main purpose is to sit here on the down low, with a bunch of my best Old School BMX freestyle content, for those of you in the know.
When I actually tried to sell memberships to Club White Bear, a few years ago, Brian Reed, a zine publisher from the South Bay area of L.A., and friend since about 1986, was the original member. All of you I let know about this blog are the people I consider Club White Bear "members." I'd like to thank you all for your help, support, and encouragement over the years. I have a bunch of my own struggles, some of which I can't talk about, that have kept me from getting back on top financially, for many years now. These issues have also kept me from being able to get a bike, and to ride again, for many years, because I can't keep a bike safe while homeless, basically. But I can keep writing about riding, and the cool experiences I've had thanks to BMX freestyle (and a bit of skateboarding, as well).
If I sent you the link to this blog, welcome to Club White Bear.
All of you have helped me in some way, and I do actually appreciate it, even if I get overwhelmed by life, and seem like a dick at times. I'm going to add 2 or 3 of my best BMX posts below, and then start sharing this link. There will be a lot more here to come. Thanks again, and enjoy the blog.
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