The Covid era has influenced so many things this year.
Two big trends, the explosion of all things bike-related and the cancellation of major events, seems to have influenced an 80-year old to take up BMX racing and become a staple at Electric City BMX in Montana.
Charlie Rossell took up the sport to stay in shape for his favored pastime, vintage motorcycle racing. With the cancellation of his vintage motorcycle races due to Covid uncertainty, he is still able to scratch that racing bug with BMX racing.
Pretty rad (and inspiring) if you ask me!
And don’t get me started on that classic GT jersey….this guy is doing it style!
So before we ring in the new year, let’s check out the top ten things that went down in 2011.
10. Sunday and S&M kicked off the year by introducing two of the most of the popular frames out there right now: the Sunday Wave-C and S&M 24″ Dirt Bike.
9. This was quickly followed by news that a lot of people had been waiting for: 24″ forks with front brake mounts. S&M was first to market with their 24 “Pitchforks with 990 mounts which was quickly followed by Sunday’s 24″ forks with 990 mounts (although they were testing prototypes much earlier).
8. Some great 24″ flatland vids surfaced almost immediately after from Joe Cicman and Danny Sirkin. (Could this be related somehow to #9?) Heck, even flatland legend Bobby Fisher surfaced a few months later riding flatland on a Sunday Model-C.
6. “Older” guys continued to make their presence felt in BMX on their 24″ bikes. From the older cruiser classes in racing to a skatepark rider proving that age is just a number it’s great to see that there is no age cut-off for having fun!
4. Mongoose, Stolen and InDust introduced new 24s to the scene. Great to see companies responding to the demand for bigger wheeled BMXs.
3. Cruiser Revolution celebrated its 3-year anniversary this year. A great milestone and a testament to the great cruiser community that is continuing to grow.
2. The 4130 rides. I was lucky enough to participate in the 4130 Sin Series ride in Las Vegas back in September and it was one of the best times I have ever had on my bike. Bombing the streets with a couple hundred of your fellow BMXers is something everyone has to do at least once.
1. Having a good time on your bike. Sure, it’s fun to debate the pros and cons of how tall your handlebars are, talk about the latest parts and comment on the latest video edit but when it comes right down to it, when you’re out there riding none of that really matters. Whether its with your bros, your kids or just by yourself, you can leave your worries behind and let the good times roll as soon as you step on those pedals.
In a time when many 47-year olds are content to ride nothing more than their couch or a golf cart, Jon Faure (who just turned 47 today) continues to push his limits.
If you’re into 24″ BMX bikes, you’ve heard about Jim Cielencki, the driving force behind Sunday Bikes.
But how much do you know about his background and what keeps him motivated now that he’s an older guy and has been in the industry for decades, both as a rider and a bike company guy?
Old Guys who Ride caught up with Jim and asked him those questions and a whole lot more in an interview that they just posted on their site.
I especially liked this excerpt, where they asked how he deals with the fear of being hurt. Jim takes it one step further and talks about he works on an idea in a “safer” environment before going for it in another riskier situation:
It’s not so much the fear of getting hurt, it’s just dealing with how long will it take to recover and if it’s permanent. I’m not made of rubber any more. Usually I take baby steps towards something. I’ll work on an idea in a safer environment usually at a skatepark or something like that. I make it so I understand the trick and the only issue is that I am just doing it at a different spot. So in reality there’s just this little unknown part. I won’t really just go out and wing it because I want to continue riding.
It’s a great read…well worth checking out.
I also like it because it gives me an excuse to run this rad pic of Jim C. hitting this tight vert wall ride. Bad ass!
cruiser revolution 
