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News desk




What's next? Part 1
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Posted by Webmaster on 10.01.2012 at 8:28 PM

Image: GBHQ, Collingrove, South Australia. Circa 2010

 

What's next for gravity bikes? - Part 1
Its funny, I've been thinking about this question on and off for as long as I can remember. Its occupied my mind nearly ever day, to some degree, for past 20 years when I haven't been distracted by work, life and everything in between. I've suffered my fair share of sleepless nights thinking about what I could do to increase the visibility of my sport, what I could do to bring people together and what I could do to inspire a new generation to pick up where the old had left off. 

 

I've obsessed about not doing enough and how much might be too much. I've thought about building, riding, developing, organising and advocating almost more than I've thought about anything else. Almost! I've wished that I was part of the early 90's movement in all its well subscribed and well sponsored glory, and then been thank full that I wasn't. I've even worried that I would miss out on the chance to register and ride at the next event and therefor miss out on the chance to introduce someone new to the sport. I obsessed about developing new bikes and pushing things in new directions.

 

Even now as I sit in a hotel room in Shenzen, China far away from the serenity of my home back in Melbourne, Australia, I can't help but continue to sketch out my thoughts on paper and think about the barriers and the opportunities they lay ahead. What is it going to take to organise, co-ordinate and promote the best aspects of riding and racing gravity bikes, and what it will take to make the sport more accessible and well subscribed? How can I get more riders involved? What will it take to make Gravity bike riding and racing part of a more mainstream bike culture? Obsessive compulsive? Perhaps. Big dreams? Maybe...

 

In reading about the origins and developments of many 'underground' sports, its pretty safe to say that many of the early pioneers rarely thought about how big their sports would become or what it would take to get them there. They were simply obsessed with emptying their next door neighbours pool and skating it under lights, or spending all day making a set of dirt jumps in their backyard and wondering if they could ever backflip them. 

 

Perhaps in many ways it wasn't for them to worry about! Perhaps, like most extremely talented and passionate people ahead of their time, they were simply put upon this earth to inspire the rest of us about the possibilities. To allow us to dream up new ideas and new ways of doing things.

 

I can still remember the day that I saw images of Matt Hoffman doing his first ever backflip on the cover of a popular BMX magazine and witnessing Tony Hawk do his first 720. I sat there stunned and wondering what can they possibly do next and could I ever be part of a 'movement' like that. But perhaps that's the point. Perhaps it was Matt and Tony's responsibility to simply ride and inspire someone like you and me into action so that we in turn could go on to establish the conditions and environments in which these and other sports could flourish? Who knows.

 

So what's the point I hear you say? Well, my point is this. I believe that the solutions we need to grow and develop Gravity Bike riding around the world will be found not only in understanding and learning from the so called 'success stories' of the past, such as the rise and rise of skateboarding or the recent explosion of freestyle motox, but by establishing an environment within which many different groups of people, organisations and businesses can be inspired to create opportunities for themselves and others. We collectively need to create an environment in which people can inspire, build, organise, sell, sponsor, lead and innovate. But most importantly of all, we need to establish a vision, purpose and roadmap for the future of gravity bikes that will help bring everything to life.

 

For the past 15 years my day job has called for me to establish clear and creative solutions to typically unclear and ill defined problems. I have been very fortunate to be given the responsibility from many of our clients to communicating the value of their business/product to a select group of people whom they believe it will provide significant benefit and cultural value. Over the years I have learned that while the best intentions are both crucial and necessary, they are indeed worthless unless communicated clearly, logically and supported by an easily understood vision that can inspire people into action.

 

And perhaps there in lies one of the biggest hurdles/opportunities for our sport. Are we able to collectively identify the emotional, commercial and sporting value of gravity bike riding and racing? Are we able to articulate its potential along with the benefits it can provide to ourselves and others? I think we can. In fact I know we can. The real question is will we? In thinking about how to approach the problem I only had to ask myself a series of five questions to know that more work had to be done in order to establish an environment in which the sport could flourish and grow;

 

1. What's next for Gravity Bikes?

2. How will we get there?

3. What needs to happen?

4. Who can help?

5. Why should it change?

 

I've been fortunate over the past few years to speak with many talented and passionate gravity bike riders, builders, developers and racers from all over the world. I've been even more fortunate to have the chance to listen to their feedback on some of the above questions. Through this site and the GBHQ Facebook page, we are now talking to more people than ever, in more countries than ever and no matter where they are, how they live, how old they are, how often they ride or how much money they have, their responses are really similar if not all the same. I have been constantly amazed at how someone in the far reaches of the globe, who until a few years ago, hadn't communicated with another rider in Spain for instance, managed to share a similar position on matters concerning the future growth and development of gravity bike riding and racing. 

 

So, what to do about it. Well over the next couple of days/months I'm going to try to establish a 5 year plan. WTF I hear you say! (I can almost hear you grown and shift in your chair from here). Call me an idealist, call me crazy but I really think that if we work together on developing a big picture vision for the sport that addresses issues such as consolidation, accessibility, organisation, environment, promotion, advocacy and leadership then then we might have some chance of communicating the value of gravity bike riding and racing to others. Maybe even help organise ourselves globally and establish some serious foundations for new people to get involved, get inspired and get riding. 

 

So watch this space and contribute to the discussion on Facebook. I would love to hear your thoughts, your ideas, your goals and your concerns. I would love for you to help shape the future of our sport. I would love to have the chance to catch up with you, share a beer and watch the World Gravity Bike Championships on ESPN! Imagine that...


Categories: Riding  Inspiration  Ideas 
Tags: History 



Comments (1)

Posted by aaronxs400 on 12.01.2012 at 3:13 AM

As far as equipment wise, I can see the future already. Lightweight motorcycle wheels (aluminum, magnesium, or carbon fibre) , tires speed rated for 100+mph, hydraulic disc brakes front and rear, ceramic wheel bearings, composite frames, and people will start build these machines with just as much style as they have function.

An American Gravity Biker


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