I’ve never ridden BMX with my Dad…

When I was a kid, it was my Dad who taught me how to ride a bike. It was a red Raleigh Burner with a back pedal brake and a number board.

I remember the heavy-ass potty helmet that made my neck bend like something out of a cartoon show…
Pedal pedal pedal! Is what I remember, dad boosting me forward from my seat- little wobbly knees trying to make this bicycle go forward on an old grassy field. Before long, I was on my ace in the streets, hopping speed bumps and scraping dirt launches up pavements, those were the days!
I am forever grateful to my Dad for teaching me how to ride a bike. I have learnt and experienced much from it. Alot has happened since those days and BMX has come along way. It was not till I started writing this that I realized I have never ridden a bike or experienced very much with my Dad after he had taught me to ride so many years ago.

Now I am old enough to be a Dad and understand time is precious. I got speaking to a handfull of the BMX Dads in the South African scene. I think we have a unique scene here in S.A. Most of our BMX Dads were around during the hey days of dirt comps at the race tracks or they used to race themselves years ago before we had a legit freestyle scene. So, what is it like being a rider, having a family life, a career and everything else that goes with it? Let’s get into this…

Now days more and more Dads are riding BMX because it is becoming more acceptable as a sport, rather than a ‘kids pass time’ (a common misconception in years gone by as we know) – why? ’cause now some of those kids that were ‘passing time’ have matured into well seasoned riders as well as fathers themselves.
A great thing for the sport, I think. Just imagine having a passion for BMX and a father with a backyard ramp set up? WOW. Hell yeah! a generation with mentors that were exactly where you are twenty odd years ago, but they have the ‘inside story’ so to speak. Jacques Fourie, a BMX father of three has the following to say about being the all rounder that he is today……

Jacques Fourie

Tell us a little bit about yourself
Im 31 years old, live in Boksburg, riding for 13 years and not slowing down.

How often do you ride?
2-5 times a week. It pays to have a park at your house!

Do you feel that you still ride enough or have enough time to ride?
I think I ride more than enough for the time I’m given, I have to set a balance between everyday work, kids, marriage and riding bike. If you don’t and give in, you’ll hate your life one day.

What(or where) do you ride mostly
During the week; my house, every other day and weekends, Stoneridge, Festival(shit hole), Bokkie park trails and Durban, whatever…

What do you do for a living
I have 2 of my own businesses; a Transport Co. and sell welding and safety goods. Oh and move some bmx goods for bmxdirect.net

How many children do you have, names and age/s.
Morgan Dakota Fourie- my own 4 year old, Damion and Bradley Fourie my adopted kids. Blood or not- my three boys.

Do any of them ride bikes and get to ride with you?
All three of them.

Having sons that ride; Does  it motivate you to ride more?
Yes. I’ve watched my youngest take slams that should have seriously hurt; looks up at me, brushes himself off and keeps going, then whats wrong with me? Thats why I take it, he doesn’t have to but does.

Who was your BMX role model/hero when you were growing up?
Dave Mirra, Joe Rich, Nyquist. Still today!

Any old injuries that hold you back?
Nothing, and I’ve had them all. At the moment i am sitting with 2 broken wrists. 7 screws in each. 4 knee ops, a rebuilt ankle…. I would do it all again, makes for fun times at the airport!

Do you consider yourself a serious rider?
Yes and no. I don’t really care where I get in comps as long as I did something new and feel like I have progressed. Roadtrips; well anyone that knows me knows how much I travel. So yes and no.

Fill us in on your setup; Frame size, bar size and do you run your seat slammed or poled.
I ride an S&M WTF, 20.75tt, Perfect Ten bars cut down, seat at this stage raised, gyro(brakes, 1st time in 5years), no pegs(mad boring, but i put them on to film and then gone) couch for a seat. Perfectly set up for barspins and elasto man stuff.

BMX is always evolving; trends come and go, styles change. Are you influenced by any of the above or stick to your guns?
I pretty much stick to my guns, tried a couple of trends and got burnt. Thats why my bike is the way it is now, a working machine of art,haha.

“Age aint nothing but a number” Do you think this is true?
Yes, I bounce like I’m 17. Its mind over matter, I have seen kids half my age over think everything and die trying.

Any wise words for the younger generation
Ride for fun, don’t let it become a job(serious). Dont ever forget why you got on your bike in the first place. Hate less on each other and ride you bike more. Ride2live – Live2ride

And now for our second feature, Schalk Engelbrecht, a father of two that started on the track and has a ‘forever-young’ outlook on life that rubs off on most people he knows. Schalk has a ‘pigeon pair’ and his little girl was born 7 months ago – cant wait to see what happens there! Whoo hoo, perhaps the first girl freestyler in SA is on her way, we will just have to see…..

Schalk Engelbrecht

Tell us a little bit about yourself
I’m bald and im getting old for starts. Hitting the big 30 in December! Living it up in Waterfall with most of the local gents, I have been riding freestyle for approximately 3-4 years and still going strong!

How often do you ride?
Weekends only, or maybe when i get a gap…

Do you feel that you still ride enough or have enough time to ride?
No definitely not enough…

What(or where) do you ride mostly
Local beach park usually,but im amped on anything really!

What do you do for a living
Im a Sales Rep for Panasonic Welding Equipment

How many children do you have, names and age/s.
1 terrorist named Schuydon, he’s 2 years old now and my princess is 6 months old- named Capri.

Do any of them ride bikes and get to ride with you?
Yeah my lighty is busting his plastic machine already doing stunts down the driveway!

Does having a son that rides bike motivate you to ride more?
Yeah definitely! I want him to absorb everything and teach him the ways!

Who was your BMX role model/hero when you were growing up?
No one in particular hey.. But Ryan Nyquist and TJ Lavin have been amongst my fav’s!

Any old injuries that hold you back?
Nothing holds me back!

Do you consider yourself a serious rider?
Serious to a point, I love riding comps and making missions with the boyz! But riding is my escape in life, cleanses my soul and de-stresses me from life’s issues.

Fill us in on your setup; Frame size, bar size and do you run your seat slammed or poled.
21″ United Mothership, Inman Bars, Primo cranks, Primo VS rims and Mix back hub… Um… Fit stem… Um… I dont know.. But my ride is steezy!

BMX is always evolving; trends come and go, styles change. Are you influenced by any of the above or stick to your guns?
Nah im not really fazed.. I just go with the flow! Trying to be cool and keep up with all the trends are too costly!

“Age aint nothing but a number” Do you think this is true?
True!

Any wise words for the younger generation
Wear a Helmet and don’t do drugs!

Now here’s a dad I’ve known a long time! Toby is the proud father of a little boy. I remember jammin’ on Saturday afternoons in Toby’s back yard in Bloem – watching a bunch of guys sessioning the dirt jumps in his back yard, listening to good music and freeeezzzing in the winters. Toby is a multi-tasking business man of note, and still he manages to stay very active BMX-wise, wont be long before we start seing many more pics of Dad and son in the scene…….

Toby Groenewald

Tell us a little bit about yourself
I am Toby from the mother city. I have been riding for about 29 years(on and off). Since I have moved to Cape Town almost 10 years ago I have been focusing on riding trails. The best trails are here in Cape Town. I also picked up bmx racing again the last 3 years or so. I have done pretty good and have raced 3 different classes of which the latest class(25+ twenty inch class) the most challenging so far.

How often do you ride?
Saturday/Sunday only. Weekend warrior I guess.

Do you feel that you still ride enough or have enough time to ride?
I am grateful that I still ride as much as I do.

What(or where) do you ride mostly.
UCT trails is my spot because it is the closest to town and work. Luckily all the guys from the other trails around Cape Town will invite me to ride their hard work too so I get to ride loads of different lines and jumps here.

What do you do for a living
I run 4 businesses within the clothing scene here in Cape Town.

How many children do you have, names and age?
One little dude Reuben and another boetie or sista on the way. He is 2 years old.

Do any of them ride bikes and get to ride with you?
He rides a plastic motorbike and only recently could reach the floor with his feet on the push bike. He has a high end Titan made from Titanium race bike that we scored from Grant Dekker. It is quite a collector’s item. That thing is probably worth more than my bike now. It will be a few years before he can handle that bike.

Does having a son that rides bike motivate you to ride more?
Not really. I like to entertain the thought of riding with him though. Maybe he will end up skating or doing music or whatever…

Who was your BMX role model/hero when you were growing up?
I had the local Bloem hero’s when I just started out. When I started reading magazines I liked Mat Hoffman, Bryan Blyther, Eddie Fiola, Ron Wilkerson.

Any old injuries that hold you back?
Knees are getting poked. Ligaments are almost gone on one knee. I will sometimes just step wrong and land up on the floor. Bummer!

Do you consider yourself a serious rider?
Hell NO! Those days are long gone.

Fill us in on your setup Frame size 21TT for life, bar size What are XLTs ? 8.25? and do you run your seat slammed or poled.I still like to see some pole ye know. (Anything unique or diff about your bike). It is made by hand. It is a SALVO Boneshaker (2012 trails and race frame)

BMX is always evolving; trends come and go, styles change. Are you influenced by any of the above or stick to your guns?
I like to try current trends and if it is not working out for me I will stick to what I like. ie. 180mm cranks(not this 155 nonesense) and brakes will always be in the mix. I ride with skinnys coz they stay out of the way.

“Age aint nothing but a number” Do you think this is true?
Yes, Sooner or later you will realize it is over and until then I will keep going to the jumps

Any wise words for the younger generation.
Carve your own way! Ride for fun!

Toby thanks Wayne Reiche, Desmond Louw for the photo’s.

James is a pretty big part of the Cape Town BMX scene. Also a father of one, James has a long-standing history in Cape town as a BMXer. James gets involved in judging many of the comps that go down in Cape Town and has a youthful outlook on life that would do any son good in the ridable years to come!

James Brawn

Tell us a little bit about yourself
I’m James Brawn, 35yrs old, I live in Parklands/Table View, Cape Town and I’ve been riding for 15years.

How often do you ride?
As it’s winter right now I get in about 1 solid ride a week. In summer It’s 3 or 4.

Do you feel that you still ride enough or have enough time to ride?
I def don’t ride as much as I’d like. I think about BMX and riding about 70% of the day.

What(or where) do you ride mostly.
Right now I ride my local park, GenX, which is 1min from my house and roam the streets of Table View. Sometimes I will make a mission but it’s easier to ride local for 4 hours than travel and only get about 2 hours on the bike. I do still organize the street rides in CT so that’s an excuse to get out of Table View.

What do you do for a living
I work for Dragons Sports and we imports Giant, Avalanche, Mavic, Suntour and some other brands. I’m involved in sales and dealing with the stores. I do spend most of my time handling the skate products that I do all the ordering and selling of that. We do CREATURE, Santa Cruz, Independent, Bones, Flip etc etc. Some of the best brands in the skate scene. It’s really great.

How many children do you have, names and age/s.
I’ve got one little monster who goes by the name of Aaron Jason Brawn. He’ll be 2 in July and shares his birthday with Madiba and my Gran. My Dad just bought him a plot of land in some small English town and he is now a Lord. We now have to call him Lord Aaron. I hope it doesn’t go to his head.

Do any of them ride bikes and get to ride with you?
Aaron has a JD Trainer that I push him around the garden on. He loves it. He’ll start “riding” that on his own soon. He has a 16” Giant that I’ll be fixing up for him as he gets older.

Does having a son that rides bike motivate you to ride more?
It makes me ride harder and not sit around talking sh!t. If I only have 4 or 5 hours to ride a week, I make sure that I’m putting in work.

Who was your BMX role model/hero when you were growing up?
I grew up watching a lot of Road Fools and other DVD’s. I looked up to guys like Dave Freimuth, Ruben, Rick Moliterno, Butcher, Luc-e, Gonz, Taj, Ralph Sinisi, Jason Enns, Biz, Brian Castillo etc etc. These guys stood out more with what they where doing.

Any old injuries that hold you back?
Nope, I think I’ve been pretty clever. I’ve always said “I know my limit” but I’ll push it about 5% and that’s it. If I’m uncomfortable with something, I’ll back down. Wayne’s heard/seen me do this a few times. Some might call me chicken for that but I’m 35 and have no injuries. If I stay healthy I can see myself riding for at least the next 10years. I don’t think some of the other riders will be able to do the same as their bodies are screwed before they even hit 20. Also I’ve just started wearing a helmet when I’m riding park. I think I should start setting an example for Aaron.

Do you consider yourself a serious rider?
I think I’m a serious rider as it’s more than just riding. I go crazy if I can’t ride at least once a week and I fiend for new edits and info on riders, products and industry news. I enter comps so I can rider the setups and give my hookups some exposure. I’d enter more comps if they weren’t in JHB or Durban. I can’t afford to travel. Buy me a ticket and I’m there.

Fill us in on your setup; Frame size, bar size and do you run your seat slammed or poled.
I ride 20.5 Daylife “Wu Banga” custom frame. It’s 9.5 standover with 13.2 backend, 75 headangle and 71 seatangle. I LOVE ANIMAL BOB BARS and run them cut down abit. I have some Big 4’s on order. As I get older I think the higher bars help for lower back pain. I don’t have back pain and don’t want it to start, haha. I still run my seat highish but I’ve totally lost barspins so the seat’s getting lower. I always run low tyre pressure (about 300 front and 380 rear) so it’s easy on the wrists. 4 PEGS 4 LIFE! Why limit myself by saying “it’s on my wrong side”?

BMX is always evolving; trends come and go, styles change. Are you influenced by any of the above or stick to your guns?
I stick to what I know. I’m not one to follow a trend and make riding harder for myself. I’m just looking a things different and trying to find out if I can grind them.

“Age ain’t nothing but a number” Do you think this is true?
Yes. I ride with kids half my age all the time and it keeps me feeling young. It’s great to forget that I’m 35.

Any wise words for the younger generation
Stay in school and get some good grades. Put in the work early and you can reap the rewards later on. Stay healthy and you can ride for many years to come. That saying of “live fast, die young” is bullsh!t.

James would like to thank Jacques Mulder for his photo’s.

So there it is. Some advice from the ‘Wise Men’.
Take it and learn from it. These guys have been a few places and know what’s up.