Lil Bears 2008.

Leroy Doing It Well And Getting Captured Mid Tailwhip, Much Respect To All Lil Bears, Much Peace Bears.

BLF.

Lil Bears 2008.

Greazy Dave Up And Over With His Leg And Applying The Foot Brake On A nice Nosepick.

BLF.

Words With The Mike "pigeon" Coley Part 1.

Words with "The Pigeon" were done by Don Chromeleone and Mart At The Don's house In October 08,

Name...
Mike Coley,

Age...
34,

Years riding...
Riding 15+ years,
Inline skating 5 years That's Were my Heart Is at The Moment,


Why Did You Give Up Riding For Inline Skating, What Gave You That Change Of Mind...
Well The Reason For The Change Was That The Bearwood Riders Was Not Good Enough For Me To Ride With, As My Style Of Riding Was Second To None And All Else Riding Was Not To Great So I Had A Deep Thought And Decided To Move On,


What's The Best Thing You Like About Inlining...
The Uniform Is A Good Look, Lycra Feels Good,


Best Trick Pulled On Your Bike And Boots,
Bike Trick Would Be Anything Out Of My Catalogue Of Tricks And The Same For My Dear Boots.

If Anyone Has Met Coley They Will Know He Is A Dude Who Speaks From The Heart, Part 2 To Follow Shortly.

Much Peace And Blessings To Each And All.

BLF.

Stop The Train

It's been a while since the last post as to much of not much going on is the reason. We managed to get a few words with Mike Coley aka Pigeon but there is some problem with de cyphering what was actually said which is causing some issues.So bear with us and hope the words with pigeon will soon be up for all to read and learn a little about coley who is true a true bearwood superstar.

Much Peace and Blessings.

BLF.

History Of Sikhs/God's Warriors, Documentary In English.

Visit To Spinney Dirt Jumps.

A good place to ride back in the day was Spinney dirt jumps, this place was real good to ride with a good selection of dirt jumps, there was some real good times had down there. The Spinney jumps was in Kingswinford, just down the road from Dudley and the locals were all good guys and very good on the jumps. Bearwood's way of riding was to have a laugh first then have loads more fun riding, this and just a bunch of crazy dude's was a mixture and a half.
One memory about being at the spinney was there was loads of jumps dotted about all over the place, and the area it covered was quite big. The actual place was deep from the road level, and had plenty of trees which was a natural canopy on a rainy day. There was a little set of about 4 or 5 doubles going downhill, which were real good to ride, one day i was riding these and when you got to the bottom there was right turn, and being downhill and no brakes there was some speed being picked up, i made the right turn with the tyres just about gripping, after the right turn it carried on downhill and getting faster, i looked ahead just to see a big mound of dirt which was a take off to a dirt jump, i thought while speeding towards it nah, i dont want to do the jump, never seeing it before, i put my foot down to try and stop but it being a sandy/gravel surface, it's not happening i put my foot back on the pedal said a quick prayer and just pedalled towards the jump, not knowing where the landing was or even if there was one.
I just remember going up the take off at speed thinking "This Is It" and just flying threw the air alot higher than i would of choose to, looking down i could see all the landing going by below,i ended up clearing all landing and made it down on the back wheel at an angle i thought i was going to crash, by grace of god i made it ,i was quite shocked by it all and kind of shaken, i walked up to the rest of the boy's who were at the top riding, told them to try these little doubles out, as they were good, now a few of the crew had no brakes/ and some did, so i said follow me and off we go in a line down the hill, jumping the doubles and as we got to the bottom i just shouted turn right, (now i've not told them about the big mound at the bottom), as soon as we turn right all i can hear is shouts of "get out the way" "wtf" and all sorts, i was nearly falling off by laughing so much going threw the air, they all made it over safely but a little shaken and we had a good laugh about it, a good memoriable moment. Looking back, the gap between take off and landing was quite big.


Much Peace And Blessings To Each And All.


BLF.

God's Knowledge.

The falsehood is when the ears listen to others’ slander,
the hands steal others’ wealth,
the eyes look viciously at others’ beauty,
the tongue is obsessed with taste of food and other cravings,
the feet walk to do evil to others,
the mind is possessed by greed,
the body does not work for the good of others,
the nose is enticed by vicious fragrance.
All those who do not understand this, act in falsehood.
Human birth is successful if one remembers God’s virtues and Divine commands

Bmxing-Reaches-Bearwood-1983-84, Part 5

The arrival of the concrete transistion banks we have down the park today did not arrive overnight by any means. It took a few years of meetings with the police and council leaders, the main thing it came down to was money, the guy who took hold of the whole affair was Simon "jester" paton, he pretty much had a 2 handed say in the project. We (riders and skaters) all used to go to the meetings held down at Smethwick police station every time there was one scheduled to put over what we wanted to have to session, It all came about because we used to ride the car park at the back of safeways which was on Bearwood high street, we used to carry the fly offs we built down to the car park on the evenings to ride, as time got on and we learnt by trail and error how to build some good solid ramps, These ramps were placed up against the walls which were quite tall and long, making it a perfect place for wallrides.
You can imagine safeways management was not to happy with youth's riding and skating about while there was shoppers trying to go about there day, we was moved on quite a few times by the police and we would protest that there was no where for us to go, hence the police and safeways funding some money towards the anneka's challenge of building Bearwood a skatepark. There used to be a tree in the park just by the entrance to the bus station, this tree was about 2 feet wide and slanted back and became known as the fakie tree, all that rode the park would of once had a go to learn how to fakie on this tree. The fakie tree no longer stands anymore as it was cut down a few years back, some good sessions were had on that tree, as time got on and skills were a little bit better it was not unsual to see tree rides to 180 out instead of a fakie, now this was back in the late 80's. Can be said with confidence that the locals at Bearwood were a little ahead of time when it came to riding, Now take the start of the brakeless time of riding back in 1990, It was a few years after there was any news of riders going brakeless, nowadays there is a whole scene going where riders are riding real amazingly without any brakes.
There have been riders that have said Bearwood was the pioneers of Brakeless riding, but that alone is quite a heavy statement to accept, especially when the whole thing for us came about because of buckled wheels and lack of money to buy new parts, Bearwood was never set out to pioneer anything as we were just about having as much fun a possible on our bikes, So when i say being ahead of time that can be seen on the riding without brakes side of things, like i said in the previous blogs, there was many scary times with being brakless and would of not had it any other way, scary times = many a good times and laughs.
Much Peace to all the little Bears who keep Bearwood's spirit alive by smashing the place to bit's when they session, Really enjoy watching them Bear's session alot.

Much Goodness To The One KennyKen The Bear In Yorkshire, Peace Bro.

Til Next Time Much Peace and Blessings to each and all.

BLF.

Knowledge,Wisdom,Understanding.

Never Forget 1984

Chardikala Jatha Sikhs.

Bmxing-Reaches-Bearwood-1983-84, Part 4

As the years went on and we learnt how to build fly-offs, that was a turning point and a change from riding dirt jumps down the park,now this was before the concrete banks we got there now. we would place the fly-off in the paddling pool up against the edge so it wouldn't slip and move when jumping out of it.
The paddling pool where it was placed was a good spot to have it, so when you jumped out of it you would pedal across the pool and launch out of the ramp, across the outer path and onto the top which was all grass which meant a nice soft landing. You would probably clear between 8 or 10 feet in distance and be about 5 feet or so in height, which was scary as it was the early days of learning and there was much fun had none the less. The fly-off would be moved about around the pool as time went on and before you knew it getting 12 to 15 feet in distance and a little higher to, there was not much of a fear factor in the locals so seeing crazy things was kind of the normal sight.
I suppose bearwood riding brakeless so far back in the day was a great thing as you became alot more fearless and was getting more confident as the days went on, you learn alot quicker and there is a spiritual side to riding with no brakes. You learn to trust your feelings, energy, instinct.

Peace and Blessings til next time,

BLF.

New Things.

A few updates to look forward to on the blog coming to a store near you soon, Firstly the interview with the one Don chromeleone is in it's final stages, you would think that it would be straight forward but believe me it's far from it. Work in progress for a little few words with one of the Bearwood's Brakeless Stars from the day is no other than Derek aka Pigeon aka Mike Coley should be nice to read what he has to share. Also anybody seen Little Bear aka Dave, a true smoothie on his bike why this boy isn't been flowed any bikes, parts, etc, is a head scratcher. A big much peace to the little bears who are keeping the spirit alive down there at lightwoods park, a bunch of youth who hold nothing back when it comes to shredding the park to pieces, much respect lil bears.

Till next time much peace and blessings.

BLF.

Feed The Poor

Time has Come To Remember That We Should "Feed The Needy And Bypass The Greedy" Much Peace And Blessings.

Bmxing-Reaches-Bearwood-1983-84, Part 3

Ok lets fast forward a little to the late 80's now, There was not really a lot to ride back in the day when it came to places to session, Nowadays you have that much more of a choice as to were you can ride and that is quite mind blowing.
Back in the day you could probably count all the places on one hand if you were lucky enough to know were to go and ride that was good, it was what you made of the day with whatever you had to session, one of the places to ride was the dirt jumps down at billy's which is off the Wolverhampton road and Pound road junction, billy's was a real good dirt jumping place to go and watch the locals and try a little jump yourself, there was a good selection of jumps there.
Gary and Devon and a few older riders use to ride down to billy's from bearwood and somehow they had the patience to let me tag along with them well more like wait for me, which is nothing but much peace from me to them and respect, billy's still stands today but is a bit older now and worn down but none the less is still standing there to have a blast. Bearwood was a place were all the locals rode bmx back in the day out of the proportion of riders went onto skateboard and done so just as well as they rode, there was never any friction really from either the skaters or riders like you use to hear about at places. Birmingham wheels was a place back in the day that just blew everything away and was an amazing place, on the weekends the riders would ride into wheels to session for the day and been it about 8 miles from bearwood and the route took you through the city centre on a Saturday there was much fun had, loads of steps to jump off avoiding the shoppers about there day.
Truthfully the riders that ended up been local riders at Bearwood was all from neighbouring areas e.g. Oldbury, Smethwick, Tividale, Quinton, Harborne, which was crazy but the energy they put into riding the park and i suppose having love for the bearwood they became more a local rider than the riders that lived in bearwood, it was these traveling riders that made bearwood into what it became because alot of the locals with the exception of the odd few that were there from the day moved on to venture other realms. Now it is about 1989-1990 and i had to go to India for 3 months and when i get back anneka rice has been with her crew and built a modern day skatepark where the old paddling pool was ending the great days of the sessions had learning to bunnyhop out of the pool heading for the dirt jumps around the edges, you learn in life nothing on this planet will be here for ever.
The thing that a lot of riders learnt in and out of the paddling pool back in the day would most certainly be of use in the years to come no doubt, there came a time in the early 90's were due to sketchyness or bad judgement the wheels and bike parts were taking a bashing resulting in rear wheels getting buckled, money was tight back then for a few or 2 and not been able to afford new wheels the other parts were not really a problem but the wheels been buckled used to put a stop to your riding but to avoid this we started to take our brake blocks off as to give the wobbly wheel a little bit more of a movement to roll as you pedalled just so you could get a little bit more time to ride but as you rode more, the wheels got worse so the calipers were removed as to get the most out the wheel, once the calipers were off there you go brakeless and a truly wobbly bike that when you pedalled towards a jump or to do a jump or air it was an experience not to be forgotten.
When money was in the hand again and we was able to buy a wheel, the brakes never went back on and ended up been a brakeless destiny, there was a lot of fun with no brakes and a lot of times you thought the heart was going to stop, just been in a dilemma and not knowing how you going to stop other than ruining your new shoes, a little flashback comes to mind about a time when riding the old mini ramp at bearwood brakeless,i was airing the mini all was going smooth I'm coming in from a air which was of good height and i knew that if i do the next air after this one I'm coming in from i would be going higher than i would like to,and not having no brakes to stop with,so i just shot out of the opposite transition to jump out of the side of the mini ramp i left it quite late to exit the ramp and was quite high up the transisition flying out the side of the ramp through the air about 7 feet in the air and some distance i gather from the speed i had, then all of a sudden i see kennychrome below riding towards the banks we have down the park now, i shouted and shouted but having his headphones on he never heard a thing, next thing i have landed on him from my exit out the mini ramp and stopped him right in his tracks to say he unleashed a barrage of verbal would be an understatement to the least,he also cursed my bike as to how rubbish it was and if i had brakes i would of not landed on him, from my memory of the time in question i think i landed on his shoulders, Kennychrome was a little shaken but unhurt i think, can't remember really but he broke my fall, now that's what good mates are for.

Till next time much peace and blessings.

BLF.

Random BLF Pics.

Unknown, Pedal back air at Worcester.




KennyChrome Playing with the dirt at Birmingham Wheels.

Worcester Skatepark and a tin of paint and a brush, Much Respect to Eggy and the Worcester locals for opening up and allowing a secret session to go ahead, Don't think that this will happen again in the near future?

Pigeon nice 360 turn on the banks at Bearwood, Pigeon aka coley was one of the original riders back in the day to go brakeless but sadly all of the bearwood riders did'nt choose the no brakes route as they were scared of getting hurt, You have to give to receive in life, Bunch of wet leaves.

Unknown throwing the right leg about abit at Southsea. Candybar. If you look closely in the background thats reedy redline getting ready for his turn to attack the bowl/jump.

Birmingham 1999.

This picture was taken from the deck of the midi ramp back in 1999 at the indoor skatepark that was by Aston University, Just a cool looking picture capturing a nicely laid down tabletop.

Peace and Blessings.

BLF.

KennyChrome ol boy.

These picture is of no other than Bearwood's finest KennyChrome aka Don Chromeleone getting some good height over the jump box while crossing them bars at Liverpool sometime in 2001/02.

The Don is the head of the whole Bearwood outfit some call him "Dad" and comes from the early era of when bmx started back in the day, Has a book of tricks old school and new school that blows minds whenever he rides his bmx and deserves nothing but respect. I will be doing a interview soon for the blog with Kennychrome, so check back to see what the ol boy's got to say.

Peace and Blessings.

BLF.

bmxing-reaches-bearwood-1983-84, Part 2

The Early days of bmxing down the park were some good times, having the paddling pool back in the day as the main thing to ride was really good looking back, because the pool varied in height around its edges the shallow end was about 1 and half feet in height and the deepest end was about 3 feet high.
Around the edges of the pool was a path going right around and there was a stone wall that was the outer edges of the whole paddling pool, most of the time was spent trying to bunnyhop out the pool onto the paths and it was quite a task as well as many punctures along the way and buckled many a back wheel or 2 in the learning process. In places were the stone wall was there was parts where the wall had fell apart, leaving dirt that was behind the wall all exposed these dirt patches over the years along with riders on there bikes riding up and down the dirt ending up becoming dirt jumps naturally shaping for years of fun.
As riders progressed there bunnyhop skills out of the pool this became a good run up for the dirt jumps, you would get the locals tearing through the pool bunnyhop out the pool onto the path then pedal for more speed and just hit the dirt jump and just fly through the air. There was 3 dirt jumps around the edges , one was on the edge of the play area which sent you high and skywards and the other 2 jumps sent you more for distance than height, so there was a good selection of jumps and much fun to be had. The locals that were still learning to hop out the pool would just tear around the path to hit the jumps, this route was sketchy as the gravel that made the path up was loose and slippy and as well it being a S shape approach to the the jumps.
After Gary and Devon moved on from riding they left a foundation for generations to come that has only strengthened year by year til this present day. The local riders from back in the day were a crazy bunch of dudes, riders would travel from Smethwick, Quinton, Oldbury, West Bromwich, Halesowen, and from all over Birmingham as well. There a few old pictures of the old pool set up which i will post on the blog for all to see what it looked like.
So til next time peace be upon, Part 3 to come soon and more stories about Bearwood's early bmx days til present days riding to come.The One Kennychrome will be dropping a few thoughts of his memories of the early days which should be a good read so keep checking back.

Peace and Blessings.

BLF.

Bmxing Reaches Bearwood 1983-84

The year is 1983 and the location is an old paddling pool in Lightwoods park in Bearwood, Birmingham. This paddling pool varied in height around the edges no different to todays pools e.g. shallow end and deep end. Now we have to remember that these were the days of the bunnyhops and rockwalks and skids. My first ever memory of bmx riding and bearwood was going down the park at a young age of 12 and seeing these guys on bmx bikes doing front wheel hops and 100 or more front or back wheel hops was not out the question by any means, the riders that were doing these tricks go by the names of Devon and Gary and they used to have diamond back bikes that looked amazing just like anything back in them early days looked out of this world. It would be fair to say Gary and Devon was the 1st generation of bmx riders to start riding in bearwood and i bet they back then would of never of dreamt of it going as strong as it was in there day as it still is in 2008.

..... To Be Continued,

Peace and Blessings.

BLF.

Bearwood.

Please check back soon as the history of Bearwood and Bmx will be shared.

Peace and blessings.

BLF.

Greetings

Welcome to the Bearwood Bmx Blog.