Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Freeway Jump

This story brought back a flood of memories for me. I remember absolutely hating car trips as a little kid. I just couldn't sit still that long. I would often imagine I was riding motorcycle at freeway speed on the terrain along the roadside, just to pass the time. Naturally I'd jump the top of every hill in my head.

I also remember as a kid later having a shortcut in our regular BMX routes that involved a bunny hop drop-in just past the guardrail at San Pedro and I-40. From the street it looked like we just disappeared over the edge. I think they have since significantly lengthened the guardrail, probably because kids did stupid stuff over the side. This photo does well illustrate the height and steepness. It was no big deal to us at the time, just a fun shortcut. I remember once an older man who was driving North on San Pedro made a detour into the apartment complex parking lot below because he thought we'd plunged to our deaths. John Q Public was not as desensitized to the crazy stuff people do on BMX bikes back then. I remember thinking he was a crazy paranoid pain-in-the-ass at the time. Several years more perspective make me appreciate more what must have gone through his head. It was cool of him to check on us. Getting chased away from riding this or that was a regular part of our daily adult interactions in those days. We always expected to get in trouble and that surely influenced my reaction. "BMX is not a crime." ;)
When I was still old enough know better I remember thinking it would be really cool to jump Washington near Cutler in Albuquerque, NM on an motocross bike. I used to ride there a fair bit before the area was developed. It just seemed built for it. Jumping passing motorists would be half the fun. It's a BIG gap though.
 Is it crazy I still still think of this stuff as an old fart?

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