2005 was a year to forget as far as riding my BMX bike goes. I only rode around a BMX track 3 times and that was it. In January I borrowed Robert de Wilde’s bike at the Bellflower track and when I was ready to jump the table top I popped out the shoulder and had to call it quits.
Sure, I took a bit of a risk riding as my shoulder had popped out the week before. I wasn’t sure though but the track looked too much fun to stay on the sideline during the early morning practice session with Afro Bob.
With echoes of cars above you and trains rattling past and the sounds of feet walking over broken glass, you are happier than ever at 6am in the cold waiting to drop into a homemade ramp with sketchy transitions and cracks in the floor. Underneath 95 covered in dirt and homemade concrete, at one of the southern most points in Philadelphia exists a cultural icon of public space built by the determination of young kids. Right now this is the only legal public place to ride a BMX bike in Philadelphia and it is FDR. BMX sessions there are from six in the morning until 9 in the morning.