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Author Topic: The History of Old Fools  (Read 15148 times)

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Offline generallee

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The History of Old Fools
« on: May 02, 2008, 09:32 PM »
OK... thought Id let you all know a short background to how and why Old Fools came about.


I used to ride in the South West of England during the late 80's and all the way through the 90's until I moved to London for the lure of being a kids TV presenter for CBBC. Although the new job was ace, i started to find it impossible to find the time to ride much, and apart from the odd bmx piece on the odd CBBC show, I pretty much lost contact with the majority of the guys I used to ride with.
I never sold my bike,just used to ride the odd solo session, but It wasnt the same.
Fast Forward a few years and Im married, im a father,  and living in Brighton... right next to the Level skatepark... and I decided enough was enough and it was time to find  my old riding buddies.
This was late 2005 when I was in Panto in Woking as Aladdin [!!!] and was utterly fed up with being surrounded by dreadful celebrity types and no bmx influence in my life at all. So may have 2006 was the decided deadline to get the first trip organised.

I had help!

Tim Ruck is an amazing rider  who runs The Boarding House in Exeter, he's been around sine the early days of bmx  and he and I never lost contact, and together we planned the very first reunion. Tim found evryone from Devon/cornwall and the Oxford boys Alex Leech and Geoff asnd Doug Cain, I tracked down anyone living in London/the south, and up north thanks to my continued friendship with Northern Jon who i first met when he was at uni in Plymouth.

tim ruck

Now.. the name Old Fools... Tim Ruck had for about 4 years previous to this been using the name Old Fools for some skate/bmx trips that he ran from his shop to local paks in the South West... they had just coined the phrase and used it loosely , so Tm and I decided to set it on stone and make it as official as we could.
There was a slight hoo ha on this very site as a few guys had made a video with the same title in 2006, so i tried to change the name to Old Age Pedallers but by then the name was too stuck in the minds of the south west fraternity of 40 dd riders, and it just stuck.


Geoff Cain

alex leech

paul foster - old fools video maker



So - Old Fools BMX Roadtrip #1 happened in may have 2006, with an attendance of around 30 riders. ALL the  people who I used to ride with still rode, doing the usual up and off to the park before work / before the younger riders get there', and most made it to this trip. It was amazing - and the whole intention was to make it feel like the 90's again.
No fashion, no rules, no seatpost height comments... just fun.
We rode Mount Hawke, Camborne, Newquay and Saltash... with a night at the Driftwood Spars pub in St Agnes, and a night camping with a huge bonfire in Tavistock...  even though I left a day early to go and auction for celbrity X-Factor - what a waste of time!

NJ - all crossed up

Then after a hectic year of work... I decided Old Fools should be twice a year.
The first trip would welcome in the summer insome place that we'd not ridden before, then the second would see the summer off in september in the spirtiual home of Old fools - Devon/Cornwall.

Old Fools #2 was atteneded by about 30 riders again, and was in  March 07 at Rob Ridges park in Dorset - and amazing weekend of riding, with even burning gas shooting out of the soping [rob is a gas engineer!]
Rob even let us sleep in the park! So we had a night ride, the a huge big screen slideshow of old school pics of us all - so cool.

Double R


Then Old Fools #3 happened [slightly later than planned due to the birth of my daughter daisy] in November of 2007. Word had spread and now about 40 riders were on the trip... which consisted of Mt Hawke, Camborne, Newquay, and one HELL of a night at the Driftwood Spars pub again.. this time with a live band playing the perfect mix of 90's Metal, hip hop and rock... amazing! Very messy...
Northern Jon wrote up that trip for Ride Magazine and it got a double page spread a few issues back.

how 90's? Helmet, bike, evrything. Brian Shell, 40 year old racing demon from devon. Also founder of AOB race 'zine.

A night to remember

And finally, after the mag coverage I started to get contact with many names I recognised from the 90's all saying how they like d the ethos of the whole trip and that they wanted in. At first i was slightly worried that it might become too big, but then, evrything has to grow and progress, and with my new found addiction of this website too, we decided to throw the doors open. And boy am I glad we did.
Old Fools #4 happened just a couple weeks back, with about 55 riders in attendance, some very old friends,some new friends made, some very well known names and just the BEST chilled atmosphere at Harrow and Romford.
And what amazes me is that there would have beenabout 70-80 riders if everyone had turned up, but here is always the cancelations and unforseen problems etc... It would have been a tight squeeze in Rom!


jay openshaw. wow.

hitchcox - what a dude!


And now... as I sit here preparing to pack for a film shoot in Sardinia, my mind is ticking over about Tim Ruck and I planning Old Fools #5 which will be in Cornwall in September, to see the summer off in style.
The trips are loosley organised - we decide where we are riding, then we book our own accommodation in the same town if we can, then we ride. Simp;e as that. I wont be hiring a venue/ramp builders/pa system just yet..... but the ways its growing , who knows!

Thanks for reading this, just wanted to get you all up to speed - hope some of you can make the nxt one - I will keep adding to this hitsry thread as each trip happens.. methinks this should be a sticky.
and let me tell you this. Once youve been on one Old Fools BMX Roadtrip - you'll be hooked! [plus youll get a free sticker - woohoo!]
Old Fools Rules!
Steve [ check the sticker on me lid - cheers Del!]



PS - the last trip will be in ride in a few issues time... Jon and I are planning the article now!


« Last Edit: May 02, 2008, 10:12 PM by generallee »

Offline harris

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2008, 09:37 PM »
 :)  nice one,interesting into the background this weekend just aint the same as last  :LolLolLolLol:

Offline superbikedan

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2008, 10:05 PM »
steve i have to say this, last weekend was one of the best bmx times i've had in a long while, harrow was a treat, first time ever for me,

to see the place was a very weird feeling, never been before but seen it endless times in mags and vids then rom saturday ;)

fooking hell was it going off, it was so busy, the riders where superb, and so many old boys impressed me :daumenhoch:

the highlights again where YOU with the abubaca ;D  jay openshaw, fook me can he ride, billy stupple our own hero :4_17_5:

northen john, so much skill, tech or going big, s&m alex, just a master class every time, and everyone else who was there, so so

good and last,  this has to be the best part of old fools, the sons of old fools, lil joe  billys lad ripping it with superb lookbacks airs

on the big quater pipe also the young brakeless lad with northen john, superb :)

and last billy-bmx going so big it was on another level,  his riding on the getto and quater pipe was the best i've seen,

how kool to have all these generations together, nearly 30 years of riders together ::)


thanks again steve, best weekend since i rode in the 80s :coolsmiley:
« Last Edit: May 02, 2008, 10:50 PM by SuperBikeDan »
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mi16kie

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2008, 10:22 PM »
Nice little writr up steve. Im proud to say i have been on every one and hope to keep it that way!
 I was a little unsure when you told me you were going to throw it open to loads more people but it has worked out really well and i have met some sound new people in the process. Roll on the next trip and i will see you all in cornwall at the next one :daumenhoch: :daumenhoch:

Offline billstup

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2008, 10:48 PM »
Best weekends riding since the 80`s for me, I loved every minute of it  :daumenhoch:

And I can`t wait for the next one, please let it be the first week in Sept like was stated before as thats one of the only weekends that I`m not racing  :daumenhoch:
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
 Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
 Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
 Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

perry

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2008, 10:56 PM »
love it  :4_17_5:

gives people like me in our mid 20s hope that we dont have to hang up our pedals and "collect" while just reminicing

im not a big fan of the riding the kids are doing now , ill always hold the times with my mates as the best times and what you old fellas  :P are doing gives me hope that even though i now live on the other side of the country to my old riding pals , that one day ill be able to get in touch and they will hold the memories as dear to them as i do

once your a bmxer your always a bmxer  :)

Offline superbikedan

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2008, 11:24 PM »
perry if you love bmx as much as us old boys then you'll meet up again in years to come and have

your new skool old fools ;D :daumenhoch:

going back to last weekend, these pics of billy-bmx taken by john dye, logun and me, being part of the weekend makes

me proud and glad we was part of the old fools :daumenhoch:

like i said the riding went off :)

once again, always a treat,







this shows the height on the getto, if he had to bail, this is a long drop ???

« Last Edit: May 03, 2008, 12:59 AM by SuperBikeDan »
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darkersomeday

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #7 on: May 03, 2008, 12:06 AM »
cool story and pics ;)

you fookers rock!

get in :daumenhoch:

Offline lazychubs

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #8 on: May 05, 2008, 10:11 AM »
nice one as i only popped by on the sat
im deffo going on the next one

bmxer4ever

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #9 on: May 06, 2008, 10:17 PM »
love it  :4_17_5:

gives people like me in our mid 20s hope that we dont have to hang up our pedals and "collect" while just reminicing

im not a big fan of the riding the kids are doing now , ill always hold the times with my mates as the best times and what you old fellas  :P are doing gives me hope that even though i now live on the other side of the country to my old riding pals , that one day ill be able to get in touch and they will hold the memories as dear to them as i do

once your a bmxer your always a bmxer   :)

Hence the name my friend....!

bmxer4ever

MORRIS

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #10 on: May 16, 2008, 10:21 PM »

noddybeard

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2008, 07:44 PM »
greatest weekend i've spent in... well probably ever!!!!
the evening soirees of drinkin, laughin an reminising with funny stories and getting to know people i never really got to know before b.i.t.d really made it for me!!!
Top Job!!

Lil Gashead

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2008, 01:35 PM »
nice bike steve!! dont know what it is but i like maroon coloured bikes!!

Offline generallee

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #13 on: July 31, 2008, 02:03 PM »
Lil Gashead - my bike is a candy red S&M LAF - glad you like it!
Cheers for the rolies youve posted on here too - CBBC seems like a long time ago now!

Linus27

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2008, 11:34 AM »
I just want to say that I think what you guys are doing is great. My riding is not good enough yet to even consider any of these trips having just got back into it after 23 years but maybe oneday. It might need to be renamed to "the really old fools trip" by the time my riding gets any good :)

Keep the stories coming, found it really intersting to read.  :daumenhoch:

Hellcat

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #15 on: April 02, 2012, 08:28 PM »
This is flipping ace. Sick pics btw.

Gives hope to 38 year olds who just dusted down a bike last week, replaced an inner tube this morning & spent the afternoon thrashing around the slag heaps.

I will fly.

Be very interested in one of these days out, once I can do some tricks again.

Reminds me of a pic in one of the mags bitd, when it was only kids on BMXs. A photo of someone pulling an air over a 1/4 with the headline 'What will you be doing when you're 30?', then a paragraph about this fella who refused to give up on bmx & was banging away into his old age. :)

Offline Bob_Acid

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #16 on: April 02, 2012, 09:21 PM »
Excellent little thread there Steve  :daumenhoch:

Offline pickle

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Re: The History of Old Fools
« Reply #17 on: April 03, 2012, 12:20 PM »
awesome riding and great read.....i can remember the Harrow bash and watching those guys in the pool was amazing!   :4_17_5:

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