Re-UP: Greg Guillotte interview. UK Ramp riders special

Dec 05, 2014

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 11677 times

Name: Greg Guillotte
Hometown: Plano, TX

You have moved around quite a bit in your life, lived in Holland for a little while too, can you sum up the countries in short?
Greg: I lived in Holland from 10-14 and England from 14-18. Lived in the US before and after that.

Where was it that you started riding BMX?
Greg: I started racing when I lived in Holland and at one of the out of town events the hosting team had a quarter-pipe. I rode it all day and fell in love with the idea of vert. Then when I moved to England, I built a quarter in my backyard and helped build the ramps at Meanwhile 2.

What was the scene like?
Greg: I'll never have as good of times as I had with my friends in London. You could ride all day and hit several different spots without a car or public transportation. When it rained, we'd find parking garages to ride flat until we got kicked out. Those were the days.

Isn't it hard to explain that back then there wasn't something like the internet to see new videos from riders all over the world?
Greg: Yeah. All we had to go by were the magazines. The UK mags and BMX Plus were cool but when someone got the latest Freestylin', it became a session of it's own. Freestylin' was our Bible.

When you lived in England you soon got a lot of coverage because of your riding. Were you more of a halfpipe rider, a quarterpipe rider or did you also mix in with the street crew?
Greg: Nothing had labels back then. We did it all. In fact, in early competitions you had to do both flat and ramps to compete but we just considered the different disciplines to be "riding" and nothing else. I started on quarters and moved to halfs as that was simply the natural progression. Plus, halfs are just more convenient to ride.

What contests did you ride and do you remember some of the results?
Greg: Ugh. I never rode well at contests. I didn't enjoy the pressure of having to perform and wear a helmet. Only a few stand out in my mind. The Gloucester run on John Povah's bike which is on Youtube, The Colorado 2-hip when I first went pro and came in third out of, I think, twelve or so people, an AFA Austin event which must have been in 89, and maybe the Southsea contest around 87 or 88. I'm still looking for footage from the last two.

Why always without a helmet? Did you never hang up or something?
Greg: I just grew up that way. It wasn't like today where people put a helmet on everything including their dog because safety is so embedded into society. I started building little jumps when I was 5. Jumped curbs here and there. Just never really thought about it at all. When I was forced to wear a helmet for competition, it felt completely unnatural and I could never really get into the game mentally. I've had my fair share of slams but the only two times I've hit my head were when I was wearing a helmet. Go figure.

If I remember right you showed up at Jeff Phillip's park for the first Bicycle Stunt contest (1990?) and rode the vert ramp a bit. Did you compete in that contest?
Greg: I didn't even know there was an event that day. I hadn't been riding for quite awhile and I just decided to go there and have some fun. I sessioned with old friends and had a good time. I remember doing a big fly-out from a mini onto the top of the park's office. The roof gave way and I came crashing down into the office below. Jeff got so mad he punched the wall and broke his hand. Good times.

Do you still ride?
Greg: I recently got a Stolen Heist and have been messing around. I weigh 100 lbs. more than I used to though so I'm working on that. I tried it new school style with the bars alligned to the forks and the seat dropped down but it felt too odd. So I'm representing old school with my bars 90 degrees to the ground and my seat to where I can sit comfortably. Call me stubborn.

Have you had the chance to show up at a skatepark where a posse of BMX kids where hanging out, talking shit and shut them down with an air or two (on someone else's bike)?
Greg: One of my more selfish indulgences consisted of blasting airs on unsuspecting onlookers. I'd get a chuckle from the reactions.

What's a memorable story you have from the street riding days in London?
Greg: There are so many. The night of the pellet gun, food fights at Piccadilly, figuring out we needed to start passing a hat to the masses of tourists who would watch us ride flat at Leicester Square, soaking unsuspecting pedestrians with the Fiery Phoenix (and filming it), hitching rides on the gas caps of London taxis, the day of the Meanwhile canyon...man, it would take me a week to recount all of them in detail.

Who were some of the riders you liked to ride with?
Greg: Sooo many, I know I'll forget a few. There were Junior and Nick Elkan from Meanwhile, Lee Reynolds, Zach Shaw, Fraser Campbell, Jason Webb (help me find him!), Phil Dolan, Lincoln Blacksley, Canning, Beveridge, and Hudson from the circus days. And of course my close local friends...James Hornby, Stuart, Shaka, Condon, and Church. In the states there were Robert Rounsevall, Mondo Macmahon, Bill Schroeder, Brian S, Jimmy Nichols, and Joel Alamo. Joel and I did a lot of shows together. Crazy times.

Was scoring the cover of GO your highlight as far as media coverage is concerned?
Greg: No. Once again, I hadn't been riding for quite some time and I thought I sucked at that shoot. I really just wanted to watch Mat. My highlight would have to be the Radness Unlimited shot in BMX Action Bike. Not only was it my first pic ever but it was a move I invented. Two for one.

Do you have some videos floating around from back in the day?
Greg: There is one goofy video my friend Bill Schroeder put together for me to send to Hammer for sponsorship consideration. I was an idiot in it but it has some decent riding including my old half in Texas. I think my ex-wife has it but she can't be bothered to dig it out. Maybe someone can help persuade her. She responds to money and flattery quite well.

What do you think of BMX freestyle today?
Greg: As silly as it may sound, many years ago I had a vivid dream of people doing some insane stuff. Most of that has become reality but there are a couple moves I'm still waiting to see. I think the amount of bike control that riders have today is unbelievable. The one thing I have noticed is that there are tons of kids who can do some difficult tech moves but only a very very small percentage do it with style. Props to them.

Do you have anything to say to Dennis McCoy?
Greg: lol...why'd you pick Dennis? I always had a great time with Dennis when I had the opportunity to hang with him. He had a ramp jam at his house that I went to once and had a really good time. He also flowed me some of his On Edge gear which I thought was cool. I liked that shirt and hat especially. Dennis still rides like he always did. He rocks and is a class act.

Last words: You're not supposed to live with regrets but hardly a day goes by without me regretting the horrible choices I made soon after returning to the US from England. If you love something like I loved riding, don't let anything get in the way...ever.

Photos Greg Guillotte/20negative.com