Strange stuff kids do. You were a kid. We know.

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Cycling_Samurai

Well-Known Member
Don't have a link for this one. I'm sharing what I did as a kid on a bike growing up. Lived on a military base housing in the hills. Back down the hill from the housing playground there was a wooded area then a road and on the othe side more wooded area. Just 25ft into the wood area was large quary with a huge dirt pile in the middle. The edge of the quary was higher than the dirt pile. So as you might guess. My friends and I would pretend to be Evil Knievel and jump our BMX bikes on to the dirt pile. If we weren't doing that there was a long slope where we made a ramp for jumping about half way down the hill. At the end was a large ditch. So the trick was to go as fast as we could and jump as high as we could then try not to end up in the ditch.
Of course anyone not jumping high enough got teased and called names. The ones who went in the ditch got laughed at and praised. Seemed like good times.

Got any cool stories?
 

winjim

Smash the cistern
I lived next to a military training ground so we made BMX tracks out of all the trenches and foxholes, plus at the top of the woods was the 'crater' which we used as a half pipe for big air.
 
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Cycling_Samurai

Cycling_Samurai

Well-Known Member
I lived next to a military training ground so we made BMX tracks out of all the trenches and foxholes, plus at the top of the woods was the 'crater' which we used as a half pipe for big air.
We didn't know cool stuff like half pipes back then.
 

winjim

Smash the cistern
We didn't know cool stuff like half pipes back then.
It was further into the woods and a bit secret so it was only the older kids who used it. I'm not sure why it was there, it's up by what we thought were emergency Harrier landing pads. It's also where they filmed parts of Jurassic World, amongst other things. Some Bond, bits of Red Dwarf.

Does anyone remember the 80's show 'Run the Gauntlet' with members of the public doing stunts? That was filmed there.
 
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Cycling_Samurai

Cycling_Samurai

Well-Known Member
It was further into the woods and a bit secret so it was only the older kids who used it. I'm not sure why it was there, it's up by what we thought were emergency Harrier landing pads. It's also where they filmed parts of Jurassic World, amongst other things. Some Bond, bits of Red Dwarf.

Does anyone remember the 80's show 'Run the Gauntlet' with members of the public doing stunts? That was filmed there.
That's way cool.😎
 

Oldhippy

Cynical idealist
I used to build bikes for tearing round the woods. Cowhorn handlebars were a must. I went through a customising period. I would remove the front forks and hammer them straight. Then I would cut three foot lengths of the old chrome dress rails, hammer one end flat and cut a notch to fit the front wheel axle. Bash them on to the straighten fork legs and reattach to the bike. Da da! One chopper! I seem to remember making heath robinson brake lights as well using those huge square batteries as well. Must have looked a right knob! They were rubbish cycle on any hill as they were inclined to wheelie all the time. Still, it made sense in the 70's.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Don't have a link for this one. I'm sharing what I did as a kid on a bike growing up. Lived on a military base housing in the hills. Back down the hill from the housing playground there was a wooded area then a road and on the othe side more wooded area. Just 25ft into the wood area was large quary with a huge dirt pile in the middle. The edge of the quary was higher than the dirt pile. So as you might guess. My friends and I would pretend to be Evil Knievel and jump our BMX bikes on to the dirt pile. If we weren't doing that there was a long slope where we made a ramp for jumping about half way down the hill. At the end was a large ditch. So the trick was to go as fast as we could and jump as high as we could then try not to end up in the ditch.
Of course anyone not jumping high enough got teased and called names. The ones who went in the ditch got laughed at and praised. Seemed like good times.

Got any cool stories?

Some of us are still doing silly dangerous things like that at trail centres and natural trails, and I'm old enough to be a grandad (fortunately not yet though).

I've got a more suitable bike now - doing silly stuff on a Budgie or Chopper was 'interesting'.
 
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winjim

Smash the cistern
The hill down from the crater to the hard was a good one for getting up speed. I remember testing my new Cateye Vectra down it and topping 40mph. That would be on my Peugeot Ranger, my first 'proper' bike after having BMXes.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I was too sensible (scared!) to do anything bonkers, but I have a story about someone else which nobody will be able to beat. Well not if the subject of the story survived to relate it... :laugh:
 
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