I've been worried lately that our sport is losing its history, but I think it's more than that. I think our sport is losing its ties to its future history? Confusing, huh? See, it's becoming harder and harder for the voices from the underground to be heard and expressed, because they are being overshadowed by the sport's current success. Some may say we don't need it because the sport seems to be doing fine, but without core opinions being expressed, we are destined to conform into just another sport. Without having an avenue for all the different cultures and opinions, no matter how big or small, to express themselves, how are we going to constantly challenge and advance our sport?

Right now we are leaving it up to competitions, television and magazines to shape the way others perceive our sport. Don't get me wrong, competition, television and magazines are great aspects of our sport which perform a vital service to us, but they are only pieces to the puzzle, and it's definitely not everything, but right now it is everything! Now, a rider's value is determined by their popularity and the only way to obtain that popularity is to compete. The cycle goes like this -- I put on a contest, television (ESPN) covers the competition, kids want to know more about the riders they see in the contest because they are never exposed to riders who don't compete, so magazines understandably cater to their wants by providing content focused around these "popular" riders, but it seems to be the same people all the time because the choices are so limited. This, in turn, provides a limited perspective of our sport and makes it nearly impossible for a rider, who doesn't have a contest format available to them that fits their style, able to become a part of the cycle. They are unable to showcase their talent and original perspective of the sport to the masses, and become a "value" to the industry.

The best example I can give is street riding. Yes, everyone knows the argument posed by street riders that try to compete "street" in a simulated contest environment, get frustrated and leave pissed off and jaded. Some people say the best riders prevail in any environment, but that's not necessarily true. I'm not saying those riders can't kick ass in downtown anywhere USA. It's just a totally different style of riding and neither is better or worse, harder or easier just the canvas the rider chooses to paint on. It's like saying if someone can jump a box better than me, then they could kick my ass on a vert ramp -- and that's not always true.

It's the same comparing street riders that have skills on city streets to street riders that have skills on a simulated street course. Though the street rider with the skills in the city is just as impressive and talented, and in some instances more so than the street rider in a simulated street course, they have no value to the industry because their style doesn't fit into the only means our sport has of assessing value? competition.

Even if we built a course that was more "true street" oriented, with wedges and gaps etc., it still doesn't translate the imagination and creativity expressed by riders searching out spots in a city and making nothing into something. If it wasn't for videos like No Where Fast, Props Road Fools and other independent videos we would never be exposed to some of the most talented riders in our sport, and that's still not enough to get representation on the same level as a contest? Again, don't get me wrong. I'm not bagging on contests -- hell, most of them are my contests, but that's only one perspective of our sport and its not the only reason I ride and it's not even part of the reason other riders ride. If we want to get a true representation of our sport on all levels, within all cultures, styles and all other facets, without putting all the responsibility on the magazines and television, then what do we do?

Good question: We need to essentially provide a platform for all opinions and facets of our sport to be distributed in a way that challenges the mass opinion, ultimately giving more options and more depth to our sport. I'm working on a couple things but they will take time to develop and I don't want to spill the beans before they hatch or something like that. A simple thing we could do, that I would like to offer, is we (HB) do a zine every other month or so. If you have a local zine, send it to Hoffman Bikes. We will write five or so reviews of the best zines we receive, and we'll include contact info if someone wants to subscribe to it. Hell, I'll give a bike away to the author of the best article written from the zines we receive, and I'll print the article in our zine and post it on our web site. It has to be something with substance so go for it. And remember, if you want something changed you have to change it, it's not going to change itself, so don't just think and complain - do ...

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