OVER THE BARS WITH DREADY
Hey subframe snappers and kicker gear strippers
I hope this finds ya happy n healthy at your pad...
Everyone but my mom calls me Dreadful,
I'll be snapping a few pics and chuckin down
some words for the mag each issue ...
it's great to see a bit of a resurgence in the mini scene
and I'm stoked to be asked to contribute to the mag.
So some of You can now expect a few home invasions this summer as I travelling around to races and ride days and just generally make a nuisance out of myself up and down the east coast. Some of You will remember the stuff I did for the Brotherhood, while looking for a few photos for this issue I came across the first story I did for the hood ... it's about us getting into the scene and I thought it fitting to reprint it in part for this issue ... both as a nod to Stu and the hood and as the logical place to start . So here's how it all started down here one sunny afternoon .....
We were a little late to the 50scene, we've always had a pretty healthy dirtbike scene down here in the hills but it wasn't until one afternoon in 2001 that the 50 scene started down here . We'd just finished shovelling in a kicker in my " compound " it was a gap to table, only about 45 feet but you had to transfer to pick up the downy and it was poppy as ... There were about 5 of us, all on 250 2 bangers with fresh cut down plastics reflective of our ridiculous freestyle ambitions ... we were hip to scene ... my track had recently become a " compound " and even old Husky teamriders like the Shamrock were coming out for a dig. The air was full of two strokes and mates laughing. Sure we were kidding ourselves, most of us wouldn't even ride a demo let alone compete but we didn't give a fuck, we were having the time of our lives and the smiles on everyones face kept me out there after dark with a shovel and a smile on my face ... I honestly didn't think life could get any better I was happy as a pig in shit.
This is where we were one sunny afternoon in early 2001 discussing a line into our new dirt kicker and playing the " who's going first game " . Then outta the arvo sun comes some clown on a crf50 ...we were all having a chuckle and hurling a few insults we'd have to eat in about 20 seconds when about a hundred out I realized it was Bushwacker . Now things began to make more sense as anyone that knows him knows Bushy IS A CLOWN ... the damn finest adult party clown there has ever been ... but at 50 out and 3rd gear absolutely pinned it became apparent He was gunna sack up and hit THE GAP !!! ... Now, this didn't make sense on a stock crf 50 and still probably don't but he didn't care He just pointed thing and went ... I honestly thought he was gunna die , He was in the air for about a week but somehow managed to make the downy.
We simply lost it, I think I tackled him, within 5 minutes He had in on a string and the tricks started coming out. I found out later over a few ales that Shagga had " borrowed " it from Matty and Bushy had " borrowed " it from Shagga. The thing was dead stock and we'd bent the crap outta the forks ... it didn't matter I was already lookin for one. Yeah, just when I thought it couldn't get better ... though I must say, my first few years of 50 fun were darkened considerably by more dnf"s and broken shit than the paris to dakaar. At 6.2" and 95kgs, with legs longer than some people I'm guessing when they handed out bodies I got the viking model. As a result I tend to break shit just by looking at it , you name it I've broken a few, not just bikes either ... my body just doesn't seem to fit into the scheme of things I'm a bit like a bull in an antique shop ... on crack. So I'm stoked the bikes are holding up to the abuse.
Anyway there's how it started down here, it's been a fun ride and the people I've met in the scene are the best human beings I know, I'll be on the road soon if ya see me at a race or rideday come over n say hi ... till next issue keep it pinned .
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