Days of the Wildman 1995 - Bar Room Scuffle #162. Hoffman Contest- Daytona FL

Dec 14, 2007

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 4302 times

I started keeping a daily journal way back in 1987 when I was only 15 years old. Back then I was a just a freshman in high school. Since then, every single freakin' day of my life has been documented in these journals. If it happened in my life, then I wrote it down & documented it. And believe me; I've got some stories to tell! Looking back over the years, here is a journal entry that stands out and also my comments looking back now.
Hoffman Contest- Daytona FL November 18th, 1995
Actual Journal Entry
We went to the skatepark & rode for a while. Then I did my two qualifying runs & qualified in 7th. I rode better in the finals & got 5th. That's cool. At night, Dave Mirra, Sean Hargraves & I ate & then Sean dropped us off at a club. A zillion BMXers were there. All of us were acting real silly on the dance floor. Then they were trying to kick a BMXer out & I punched the bouncer & he got me in a head lock on his third try.

Then people jumped on him and (as usual) it got out of hand. They shut the club down & everyone was chanting "FREESTYLE BIKERS - FREESTYLE BIKERS!" –Too funny!

Back at the hotel, we all ran out onto the beach & I jumped over a wall & hit my head & it was bleeding everywhere. It was funny. Then I hung out in the Standard Bikes guys' room 'till 4am."

Looking Back Now
Man, contest after contest we caused SO much trouble! Who did we think we were? A bunch of "FREESTYLE BIKERS!?" I swear, when we were all together at night, we thought we were invincible. But I remember that the bouncers really beat up one of the BMXers on this night. That's funny that I wrote down that the bouncer didn't get me in a headlock "until his third try."

Man, we shut the WHOLE club down! I think that was a first. And afterwards we all stood out front chanting "FREESTYLE BIKERS - FREESTYLE BIKERS!" And keep in mind these were all of the pro riders! Dave Mirra, Jay Miron, the Hoffman crew, you name it. Man, we were stupid. But we had a blast nonetheless. And of course I can't believe that nobody was arrested.

TL