A Wicked Ride - History of BMX Freestyle in New England

The grassroots of BMX Freestyle in the 1980s in New England. Before the sport exploded onto the mainstream with the X Games and Dew Tour, there were pockets of kids around the world creating a foundation for what has become Action Sports. This is one group that helped build that wild platform for generations of kids to enjoy and try.
www.awickedride.com/

[@jenniferday4335]

My younger only brother is Chris Day. I drove him to his first public contest. I was his biggest fan...his supporter. I provided the will to drive all over in order for his dream to become a reality. When my father found out he ditched school for 30 plus days in a row from school...I defended his effort and dedication. I will always be my brother's keeper. My brother told me over 3 years ago that he is a BMX legend. I said to him, " You were just a kid on a bike to me". I hope that didn't hurt his feelings. He knows how much I love him. I am so proud to say Word up people!!!! My name is Jennifer Day. My bro is the raddest...the most dedicated athlete legend...hero I know. You got a problem with that? Go cry me a river...get back to me...LATER!!!!😁

[@ScottMoroney]

Chris was an amazing rider. Very original style and a favorite back in New England.

[@DanCohoon]

One of my heroes from Middle School

[@csj9619]

That is the best thing I've ever read in a YT comment section and a very cool thing to do for a sibling. You are a beautiful human being and give me hope for humanity.

[@rons8418]

I was honored to be part of this excellent documentary about this collective history that impacted the lives of so many great people. I am forever thankful to Scott for doing such a great job and dedicating a ton of hours to this huge effort. The product was amazing and a gift to all involved. Stay well and stay RAD everyone!

[@ScottMoroney]

Every great story happens because of great characters. We are lucky to have people with great character, who happen to also be great characters. Thank you for leading us all when a dedicated person was what was critical to move forward.

[@phillipmitchell5744]

I would love to see these old bikes and this style of riding make a big come back 👍👍👍👍

[@yellowveedub]

I was one of those 80s kids! In a gang of kids that rode every day! Wooooo

[@ALPHONSO_NANOOK]

I'm 40 and still driving BMX since 1987 but have pauses that last for several years but always returning to BMX. Greetings from Split/Croatia

[@ScottMoroney]

Alphonso Nanook keep riding. BMX is for life

[@ALPHONSO_NANOOK]

@@ScottMoroney thank you so much, lots of people laugh at me because for their opinion i m to old and to tall (190 cm) for such a "small" bike. ignorants

[@ALPHONSO_NANOOK]

@Scott Moroney and you are right BMX is for life and the way of life, mountain bikes are great and city bikes also but nothing is like BMX, for me, BMX is freedom and expression of my independence.

[@ScottMoroney]

Alphonso Nanook “We’re just riding bikes”

[@tomt5922]

Can’t believe I just found this doc! Being from central mass and a bmx fan for 30 years this speaks to my soul. First bike was an 87 performer, current bike is an 86 decade which I’m relearning all the old flatland tricks all over again. Thanks for an amazing documentary

[@joeottsoulbikes415]

In our riding crew we all had jobs depending on our resources. I had a car so I got us all to the contest and shows. Clay was the organizer so he would set up contest, gigs for the band, our hotel and food on road trips. Mark had land so we built our ramps in his yard. Patrick was into electronics so he took care of the PA systems, car stereos, cameras, video editing and stuff. Everyone had there role to make sure we rode as much as possible. Saw as much as possible. Traveled as much as possible and so on.

[@jackbliven9652]

Thanks so much for this, I grew up in Connecticut and was in the Novice class at many of the local AFA Competitions. I got to see so many great riders, met so many friends, Visited the Pipeline skate park, rode in Joe's back yard and had a great adolescences because of this sport. I just recently got my old Haro Freestyler back from the box it was in at my mothers house. I am cleaning it all up to get it working again. Of course at 50 I will most likely hurt myself but I suspect I will still have fun.

[@andybarrete6749]

Glad you mentioned Brett Marshall him and me rode on Ringling bros in the 80s what a blast back then.

[@gardenstateflatlandb]

So good. Consider myself lucky to have met and ridden with many of the NE crew. Freestyle is life! Ride On!

[@twentytolife4401]

R.I.P. K-Rob!!!!

[@andybarrete6749]

So awesome to see and hear from all those rad guys from the 80s. Thanks

[@STEVEWONDA1976]

I know I'm late to the party but I'm so glad I found this! As a 44 year old from Norwich, CT this brings back so many memories. I still remember when I was around 10-11 years old in 86-87 and started getting good on a BMX, and at he same realizing the quality difference between Benny's bikes and the real deal. Man my local basketball courts back then seen almost no ball action and were the main spots for freestlyle BMX and of course breakdancing. It was almost like something out of a movie for us young ones. Damn I miss those days. Fortunately my love for bicycles never had me without one over the past 30+ years and while I haven't owned or ridden a BMX or 20" in many years I do beat on sweet mountain bikes on the regular and will never forget where the inspiration and my crazy style of riding comes from. Thanks for the amazing Wicked Ride @Scott Moroney For me the mid 80's to mid 90's were the best 10 years or so ever!

[@LittleBigKid707b]

Hey, you're never too old. I grew up in the same era and just got me a Bmx a year ago after 30 years!! Forgot how fun it is. You might want to hop on one just to see if it's still your thing. I'm glad I did.

[@5150_larry]

@@LittleBigKid707bAmen brother!

[@SVTJD]

I grew up in New England in the late 80s and it’s no wonder I was so in to Bmx !! It was in my blood then, I had no idea I grew up next to the spawn of all this 😂 the good old days is a massive understatement, love this time of my life

[@brandonfaubert7180]

Great documentary being from Rutland Ma and a BMX rider makes me fall for this. My entire family rides wife, son, brothers this is great lets do a new school video. RIP K. Rob

[@elcid4130]

Can't believe I just found this. So many memories, thank for putting this together...great work.

[@creedwesson5652]

Sorry to be off topic but does someone know of a way to log back into an Instagram account?? I stupidly forgot the password. I would love any help you can give me.

[@milesbrycen6328]

@Creed Wesson Instablaster ;)

[@creedwesson5652]

@Miles Brycen thanks for your reply. I found the site on google and Im in the hacking process now. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@creedwesson5652]

@Miles Brycen HOLY **** IT REALLY WORKED! Just hacked my IG login after ~ 45 mins of using the site. Had to pay 15 bucks but definitely worth the price =) Thanks so much you really help me out !

[@milesbrycen6328]

@Creed Wesson Happy to help =)

[@HughTexJudd]

I dont know how this only has 29k views..literally reliving my childhood for an hour and 44 minutes. Thanks for putting this together and sharing it with the world. +1

[@tonytlly]

What a great documentary! I'm 54 and this hit me like a ton of bricks. Freestyle was life in the 80's. Just bought a new flatland bike after riding Mountain bikes the last 30 years. If I can learn a hang 5 I'll die happy. Lol

[@johnsmiley5387]

The best flatland rider in New England was Adam Murphy From Wells Maine. So sad 😢 what happened to him he would have been a phenom at the Xgames.

[@zak-a-roo264]

My cousin Dave Tasillo was competing here in New England in mid 80s , he absolutely loved it !!

[@zak-a-roo264]

54:09 , I cant believe cousin Dave is IN THIS doc!!! Its half a second but RAD!!!

[@bigben1986]

One of the best documentary’s in BMX history. All of those guys made the magazines. My favorite joe Johnson and Chris lashua

[@dreadsanddirt5966]

This is super cool. I was definitely a part of that time with my group of friends in CT back in the middle/late 80s. We were a little young to have been on the radar with the big brand teams, but I clearly remember doing a labor day demo for Wallingford Bicycles in the little town square. LOL. Lenny Liptak was the flatland guy in our clique while I held down the jumping segment. None of our parents would take us to the ramps so we built our own out in the woods. Ahhh damn, just saw Daq Woods, too! Hahah. Damn. The transition from hop tricks to scuff tricks and single air tricks to combos was the meat of that time. Josh White and Brian Foster were my heroes. Good times, thanks for this.

[@mikesbbody]

Great video Scott thank you! I am from New Zealand I rode mostly Flatland from 84-85? till maybe 99 I can relate to the New England riders (bad weather, little in our case no coverage) but we never rode in freezing temps once the rain started, we stopped (I know softies) we had to pay 2-3 times more for bikes and parts and sometimes wait for months. I use to love seeing guy's from outside of California make it into the magazines and do well in comps. Darren was SO good I'm 50 now some of my rider friends have passed away I have not ridden in many year's but got my Friends old (Original SE made) Hoffman big Daddy almost complete my friend passed away back in 2011 he was a awesome flatlander even Kevin Jones was impressed with him his name was Dion Geaney. Nothing in life replaces BMX Freestyle and I hear that repeated again and again from riders all over the World regardless of weather they still ride or not thanks again long live New England BMX Freestyle!

[@mikehagen3785]

So good! I'm glad people are finally documenting this stuff, it was all I dreamt and read about in the mags back then

[@sixft9]

Awesome documentary.

[@ScottMoroney]

Dave O Thank you! Amazing time period.

[@simoncahill76]

Great documentary & very nicely put together. Good stuff.

[@TheGnthreman]

This brought back so many memories

[@5150_larry]

Freaking awesome! I’m 54 and just ordered my first real bmx bike a Volume x FTL Pro Complete. Can’t wait. I remember every Christmas morning going outside and painfully watching all the kids riding new Redlines and Diamondbacks. I was so jealous and envious. I wanted a Mongoose but, we were just so poor I never got one. I remember climbing in the manhole and going beneath the street to check out all the bikes from street level so no one would see me sobbing with disappointment… My wife thinks I’m crazy for ordering this bike but, I don’t see it lol. Makes perfect sense to me and yeah I will be going riding at my local skate park as soon as I get it ha. I expect to get some flack but, I could care less because it’s time! BMX FOREVER…

[@jacklandon9739]

This Documentary is my Childhood thank you for uploading this

[@SONICTONICfpv]

Really nice to watch this. I'm from Northern Ireland and remember just being in awe with what I seen in the mags and coming out of the states. Great work.

[@burdphil]

This was outstanding...!

[@toysbackzen]

I remember going through all the things all these guys were talking about. When it snowed in the winter on the east coast I would learn tricks in my parents basement. I learned to do my first decade feeling my back brush against the ducts. Magazines were amazing, customizing my Haro Sport!

[@ivan_terr5274]

gracias por tanto a todos! el bmx sigue siendo un deporte hermoso!

[@castironkev]

All of the sudden I need my 84 DB formula one back now 😍😍😍

[@MarkMcGrade]

The Wicked Ride isn't over for me yet. :-)

[@SVTJD]

Wow, this is pretty much a documentary about me!! I had so many different bikes. Had a redline, mongoose, dyno, gt and my favorite and most bad ass bike I had was a 1992-1993 Haro group one race bike. Good. Old. Days.

[@csj9619]

For my 14th birthday, my mom took me to Sarasota Bicycle Center to score a bike. What I took home was a 1987 Jamis Laser 2001 in white/orange/black.

[@billyhill45]

PERFECT REPRESENT-ATION OF YOU GUYS.I REMEMBER SEEING ALL YOU GUYS IN THE MAGS AND WAS SO ELATED WOW THERE FROM THE EAST COAST.THANKS FOR THE TRIP BACK.IT WAS AWESOME .RIP K-ROB.EASTCOAST BMX RULES!!!

[@williamknutson6163]

Those were the days....pure enjoyment and fun just for the sake of it..

[@gformich]

I rode with a few people from this video. Good memories I’m from Sharon, MA and used to pedal to Joe Johnson’s house and also rode at Brian Curran’s and with Jared Souney

[@dfarrarjr]

My brother gave me the link and boy the memories came flooding back. I remember a lot of the shows. At 52 my mind says "you can still do this" but the body, not so much. Great seeing a lot of you again!

[@DanCohoon]

This doc is great. I started riding in 87 in PA.

[@romancisneros3706]

im 39 and still riding noting crazy just in joy the ride

[@FATKEVMTB]

Glad to have been part of this scene. Rode with a few of these people regularly 22:55, and remember riding with “Spike” thinking he was the smoothest rider I had ever seen. Great video!

[@brandonfaubert7180]

I was just telling my wife that I wish I could slam the like button a million times

[@ScottMoroney]

I'm glad you liked it. It was a great scene back then and a ton of fun to make this documentary.

[@yourallbrainwashed]

My "rad" uncle who was born in 68, had all the cool bikes. A few times when he got a better bmx, he gave me his old ones. My first cool bike that he gave me, was not an official bmx, but a schwinn stingray frame and fork, with ghetto honemade v-bars and larger cranks that would scrape the ground on a mildly sharp turn, because schwinn were made for short cranks. But I was was extremely grateful. I did wish it had a freewheel though, "which I thought for years meant freestylel bike, lol". My uncle was now riding a different bike, and I wanted it bad. He was riding a nickle mongoose motomag , with freestyle white tires, blue tuff2 skyways with aluminum hubs with a freewheel, real redline v-bars with a blue tuffneck stem, uni seat, blue diacomp brakes, checkered pads. This was late 85, and the frame and fork was older already. A few months later, I saw him detailing his new hutch, with everything a kid could want in an 80s bmx. I was getting ready to move to Oregon, and he said I have present for you. He gave me the mongoose. I was sooooo fucking happy 🤪 it was my first freewheel bike,and it was a real bmx, which meant no more scraping on sharp turns, as long as you back pedal before the turn. Sure it wasnt a mint condition stock hutch, but I didn't care, I thought it was the coolest looking bike in the world, and it was mine, I hoped on it, road to the liquor store back, and I couldn't wait to ride it in my new hometown, man it felt nice and smooth and fast. We had our van all packed with everything ready drive to Oregon the next morning. But when we woke up, our van, and my mongoose were gone! My dad wasn't good at making payments, and it got repossessed. But we just used our old rusty Chevy pickup for the move instead. Fast forward to 1989, I was riding a montgomery wards 67$ bike that I got from babysitting the neighbor kids, and by then, I had changed everything on it just to keep it working. I used old bike parts I found, and a brand-new set of skyways tuff's with footbrake that I got in trade for wheelbarrowing dirt for a neighbor. But I was to get lucky again. I had a friend who's older brother was into bmx, and he went to the military, and I saw an 86 haro sport, with cracked crank bearing cups. "And I thought HOLY SHIT, calm down, I can easily fix this!! So I calmly asked my friend if I could trade him for my montgomery wards bike. He said YES! I WAS SHOCKED!! because mine worked and his haro didnt. I pushed that thing home with two flat tires as fast as I could. I couldn't believe it. It was a frankenstein, but all cool parts. 6spoke gt performer mags, gt mallet,chain,fork,clamp,filp front pegs,crank, and hutch sprocket, a broken gyro, and no seat or post. But I got it and fixed it up. I was in a town of rich snobs, and I was one of poorest kids in town, with one of the coolest bikes! I loved that bike. I had a few years out of it, and I figured that since my old friend gave me one hell of a deal, and since my new best friend was respectful as hell, and loved my bike too, I gave it to him, because I knew he loved it. And he still has it over 30years later.

[@SAXONWARLORD1000AD]

SO DID YOU GO AND GET ALL YOUR STUFF + BIKE FROM THE REPO YARD BEFORE YOU MOVED TO OREGON ???

[@spacehoppermark6161]

Great video........ "WHAT-A-SPORT"!............ Nothing comes close! I lived it, in a small town in the UK ;-)

[@michaelb.42112]

It's so funny to think these SUPER talented kids weren't even old enough to drive a car. I'm in awe watching these guys. I used to ride when I was a kid, but doing wheelies was about as much as I could do ! That and riding the local track at Miller Creek.

[@TuffEsox]

Amazing documentary! Riding in Wisconsin in the early '80s, we were mostly focused on dirt & vert and eventually ditched our bikes for cars & girls in 11th grade. I had no idea how huge of an influence the NE scene had on the sport. This is a masterful encapsulation of the riders and attitude that made this glorious sport what it is today. Thank you for bringing back some insanely fond memories of the camaraderie and PURE FUN we had back in the day!

[@prayarcher]

Amazing video! I would love to see individual documentaries on each of the riders from this. Thanks for the upload😀❤

[@TheSasquatchNation]

Great documentary! Brought back a ton of amazing memories!

[@Chevyfanusa1]

Amazing documentary. Western MA BMX all the way!

[@epoch-explorer]

Wow, this is fantastic.

[@jaylnt8440]

This is bringing a lot of memories back! Thank you for this! I remember when I had my pk ripper in early 80s I felt so badass. Thx again

[@andybarrete6749]

From Wisconsin so nice to watch your story. Long live freestyle riders

[@jimfielding171]

Ah man... you have me missing my teal Redline RL-20! Tremendous work and great video!

[@lynkkeithpatriciagrundyhas1465]

....yup. I do remember spending all the daylight after school trying to haul wheelies and jumping with rear brake turning...lol. cutting pics from mags. I used to from the metal mags. Lol

[@storyandsoundscape8859]

I really enjoyed this video. Thank you.

[@kdog7469]

Man, a LOT of that stuff sounds very familiar. A lot of us down here in Maryland felt the same way. Great video, thanks for posting.

[@Meccanico208]

Thank you for telling the New England Freestyle story.

[@gregf8167]

Thanks for the nostalgia

[@danvarela8455]

Great trip down memory lane!! RL and Buff were my heros. I had to have a PK Ripper with tuff wheels. Good fun and a few broken bones.😅

[@Junior-fd8ux]

Best days of my life were spent on these bikes

[@jamesdaniels410]

love this so many memories

[@buesobmx]

Genial!!! muchas gracias por el video!! saludos desde Argentina!!

[@OlyStereomaid]

This was good. This has shown up in my feed for a few weeks, I finally watched it and I’m glad I did. I rode for our local bike shop doing shows in 85’ 86’ ... This brought back many good memories. Cheers. Ride on! 🤘

[@briantunney]

This is still awesome and educational. Thanks for putting in so much work on it!

[@ScottMoroney]

Brian Tunney thank you Brian. As you know I’m your work too, it’s s labor of love.

[@timabegg3539]

Amazing how far the sport has come, Dizz Hicks was the local short ramp master/pro rider who i dreamed of becoming.Also remember there was little money relative awarded until the X games was a thing. Never stopped riding a 20 inch and still do. Decades and rock walks later You can earn a living being pro, but i still ride because of the love for the sport. At 50 I still can do things as I did @ 14. Very soon if not already there are senior citizen freestylers who still ride as we always did, not for prizes but for the love of mastering a new or flat to vert trick that was just a dream but now a multiple,spin,whip with a no hands landing. Flatland forever from one of the never a pro but a real kid who still has not made it, but really does it for the love of it as I always did!

[@LittleBigKid707b]

What a great documentary!! I loved riding my Redline with friends in the 80s, but we were nowhere near these guys. We just loved riding. What memories. Cool thing is though, I just got me a 20 inch Sunday a couple months ago.

[@pb6972]

I'm 52 now born Devon UK .. seventies eighties.freestyle..massive we was all doing it ...we had no tracks where we lived....still have an original Diamondback.. trying to keep going on it..yes mental days back then..I do miss my mates the hole thing .. everything want together..not just your self on BMX...I'm the boy that was the same as the top guys back then ..but just missed out it was hard back then..from my home .. Stonehouse.. anyway ..guys brilliant days ..stay cool respect..😜😉👍

[@danhoyland142]

This is the coolest video I’ve seen in a long time. I rode bmx starting in 1995. I was ten years old and knew nothing about the scene but that’s when I found bmx plus in the cvs in Framingham ma. First bike was a dyno nitro and all my other friends rode dyno comps, vertigos, and If you parents did alright you had a chrome Mach 1. We spent all day riding and built a dirt track in the woods. We had a extremely unsafe jump that we made mid way down a hill that was a hood from a 70s impala on top of a couch frame. I almost cut my balls in half on that thing. Are track was so far I never went to the pigpen downtown although I wish I did. Ironically I live in East longmeadow now. When I clicked the video I had no idea so many familiar places would be brought up. I sucked at riding but at least I got to be part of something bigger than video games. Also, don’t know bought everyone else but from 10 to 15 I bought about 6 bikes. After the dyno I got a auburn cr20s which lasted about a month before that was stolen. I replaced it with a Iron horse typhoon and after that I got a free agent limo team. I thought I was shit bc I had a profile sprocket and 3 piece cranks and a fat aluminum frame. I turned 16 and bought a classic truck from the 70s as my daily driver and now I do the same thing with bikes only with cars. It’s a sickness.

[@incognitoguitars9999]

Phenomenal

[@ralf57yearsoldmanbmx]

Yeaaa cool 80's. ....nice time from 56years oldschool bmx driver 😉

[@stuntabiker]

Epic Video!

[@OceanDave32]

This is so nice! I'm 50 now and getting ready to restore my Murray X 20r that my dad got me in the early 80"s, of course I was big in freestyle so it was totally tricked out. Here in Compton, Ca all the kids freestyled! Nice Documentary! Thank you for the content!

[@devbenson7747]

Fantastic film thank you ❤

[@mattwilson5092]

Killer video. I just came across it today somehow. I started riding at the same time, but it was the midwest. Somewhat different scene, but also similar in so many ways. The weather, the underground element of it all and being jealous of the SoCal guys. Thanks for making that video. And Joe Johnson was always one of my favorite riders. Still is. He had the coolest alley-oop lookdowns with more style than anyone I've ever seen.

[@motojunkie8348]

This is awesome. My first real bike was a 96 Dyno Air. My son is 3 and racing balance bikes for now.

[@joecoolioness6399]

My Dad loved it, only way I would shovel the driveway was to practice some tricks on it!

[@TheGravygun]

That double flare is sick

[@mikehagen3785]

really, this is an excellent, high quality production.. Thanks for all your efforts

[@jenniferday4335]

I would never had known this side to the originality...thanks! I'd give yiu ten bajillion fir this.

[@brianbennett1363]

I love you guys for giving me this outlet to curb my anxiety and depression. BMX FREESTYLE was a tool that helped to carve out the character of an overcomer that I possess today. You guys rock!!!

[@SAXONWARLORD1000AD]

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT

[@Cupcakeskitchen]

Really cool. More videos!!

[@williamknutson6163]

American pop culture is the most powerful force affecting the world. I just came back from Vietnam where my wife is from. Her family lives on an island area in a channel of the Mekong River. So I'm walking around this remote island and here comes a kid down the island sidewalk on a BMX bike..... I couldn't believe it...

[@richardedwards8746]

Great work guys loved this 👍🏻👍🏻

[@cnybmxcrew]

Murphy doing that triple decade!

[@kevinwaynethompson67]

This is awesome.

[@provericapromotions5555]

nice to see tommy from @type4 !!!!

[@Northstar-Media]

Crazy good times for sure BMX captured our young collective consciousness.

[@lawrwncemitchell9955]

Eddie Fiola was my Hero as a kid and still is#1 to me😎

[@KillerStephen]

Fantastic.

[@mackybmx]

Why have I never seen this? Awesome video!! Loved every bit of this!! :)

[@s.porter8646]

Man, HOPKINGTON-NORTHBORO-NEW BEDFORD,anyone remember that huge brawl in 82 in RI when the ABA truck was there?,,,,was awesome times, great seeing some dudes I lost in the mid 90's when I left for the military, stay RAD brothers

[@mcseforsale]

It was great to ride with some of you guys.

[@paintslinger16]

Very cool documentary, you had a lot of footage from the early days in NE. I am a bit older, so FS and ramp were just beginning, I rode a 1/4 pipe in ‘82 during my last year of BMX racing.

[@bodhievel9503]

wow i mean you got this from my brain how am i not in this documentary

[@PC_TV_73]

Man,growing up in the bronx (born in 73) I was so Jealous of the people in LA. When I got to see Dennis Mccoy on tour at gun hill bikes in 87 was the best (Dennis McCoy,Joe Johnson and Rick M (cant spell his last name lol) Freestyle is a lifestyle you dont grow out of. I am so glad I got to be a part of it in a small way. Kids only play on ipads now such a shame. Bmxmuseum.com is a rad place to hang or rebuild freestyle bikes been on there for almost 10 years

[@albertpang102]

Yeah!!!!! 80’s memories are worth relishing after all. Without the 80’s there’s no BMX freestyle flatland trick bicycles after all.

[@rallyromanracing]

Righteouss Ridess Dude. Cool Video👍