I don’t have a plan where I want to take my riding, all that matters is that it’s fun, but nothing makes me happier than learning a new line in a bowl or variation, no matter how small or subtle and even better if I can get a clip of it.
Alan Sibley
2021 Ride On Hall Of Fame Winner
So how was 2021 for you?
January & February we were still in lockdown and the weather was poor so I hardly rode, but in March I decided to put a front brake back on after 6 years so I could ride flatland again without having to go to a skatepark. That’s when my year got much better and it’s been pretty good since.
You started the previous year out with a hefty injury. Tell us about that?
In 2020 I had two. January my front wheel slid out and I broke my thumb which put me out for almost 3 months. Then at the start of the original lockdown in March, I had my worst crash ever when I slammed face first into a quarter at full speed and broke my jaw and couldn’t ride until August; it was hell. My whole face was a mess ; it was swollen, bruised, I had loose teeth and a lot of nerve damage, so loss of feeling and couldn’t eat properly. With it being at the start of the first Covid lockdown, I made the tough decision not to have surgery.
Thankfully 19 months later, 95% of the feeling has come back and apart from my face being a bit wonky, my teeth not being able to bite properly and a slight lisp, I’m all good. I was bored of modelling anyway
What goes on in your mind when your out of action for long periods?
Mostly frustration. It not only stops you having fun and your riding progressing, but you don’t get out the house half as much to see your mates, which isn’t good physically or mentally. And if that’s not bad enough, it’s too painful to exercise, so you loose your strength and stamina.
I’m not one of those people who doesn’t ride for weeks and then can jump straight back on their bike and pull everything. If I don’t practice a few times a week, I loose all my difficult tricks very quickly. In fact even when I’m 100% fit I don’t have a natural riding talent, nothing comes easy and I have to work really hard to be any good.
What’s the first session back like after a long injury
Rusty and painful, but it’s feels so good to get back on the bike again and normally by the end of the session I can pull my fun “go to” tricks. Sometimes it’s difficult to hold back and not push it too hard, as I don’t really do “taking it easy”.
If I got injured trying a certain trick, then I’d probably avoid doing it again until I’m confident and fit. When I tore my MCL ligament in my knee, it put me off doing 360’s for about 3 years, but eventually I started trying them again and they still scare me today.
How do you prepare yourself mentally for getting back to riding?
If I physically can, I’ll try and get out on bike rides, no tricks, just riding and avoid doing any thing that will hurt me again. You soon get a feel how your mending just by going up and down curbs.
Finally when my body feels ready I’ll go to a ramp, I’m usually so desperate to ride again that mentally its not an issue. I’ll be apprehensive, just doing what I’m comfortable with and keep well away from tricks that I think will set me back.
An injury definitely makes you think twice before trying anything stupid.
Do you spend time getting all the basics back first?
No. If it’s going ok I’ll start doing little nibbles and tweaks ASAP. I’ve never been one for just doing the basics, I’m forever trying new stuff well before I’ve mastered the simple version. I’ll literally pull a trick once then be thinking “OK how can I change it up and make it my own” for that reason alone, I’ll never be a consistent rider because I never take the time in to master the basics first.
What’s been your riding highlight this year?
100% riding Clifton skateparks big scary concrete bowl all Summer with Will Ratford. That has been really fun but it didn’t start out like that….
After a whole year of injures, lockdowns, parks closed and bad weather, I was extremely rusty.
The first few months back I spent a lot of time trying front brake and lip tricks which was cool but that was mainly through lack of practice and fear of riding big transitions again since my previous years crashes. Understandably they had put me off going full speed at ramps. In fact mid summer when I was fast approaching 50, I honestly thought perhaps that was it, I’ve peaked and would never be as good as I was pre crashes.
I’m not gonna lie, this realisation was really sad. I had a few weeks where I felt this way, my riding had plateaued and felt like it was going downhill.
This was reinforced after a crash that can be seen at the very start of my “Ride On” competition edit from 2021 where I went over the bars in Clifton’s pool. Luckily I walked away from it, but it was scary.
It all turned around with the “2021 Ride on – competition edit” that gave me something to focus on, an end goal with a time limit of a minute and completed by July. With that in mind, I decided to try and film the whole edit in one run, just doing what I loved best, ripping around a bowl, hitting all the different quarters and hips at full speed and definitely no lip tricks, just to prove to myself that I could still do it.
I had an exact vision of how I wanted it to look and the music to use. It took me a few months of really pushing myself every time I rode the bowl to not only get back to my pre crash level but to go higher and smoother than ever before. I really put the work in.
I don’t want to sound conceited but I honestly think that edit meant more to me than anyone else who entered. It had nothing to do with winning, it really was a challenge to myself to conquer my fear and deliver something I was proud of and hopefully a video that people wouldn’t think “oh no, he’s got worse”
Although it wasn’t perfect, I couldn’t physically manage a whole minute run and it didn’t have a pure blue sky as a backdrop but I was still really proud and I felt I’d achieved my goal and hadn’t quite passed my sell by date just yet.
Looking at your riding career from the Holeshot days right through to now what’s changed about BMX and what has stayed the same?
Modern bikes are now built to last and most towns and city’s have a local skatepark so it’s far easier to have somewhere to ride.
Unfortunately the current BMX scene is tiny compared to when I first got into it in the early 80’s and again around 2000 and I don’t see many young riders getting into freestyle now which is a shame. Hopefully with the success of BMX at the Olympics it will inspire more kids back into the sport.
Thankfully the standard of those that do still ride is off the chart. I see some amazing things go down almost every time I go to the skatepark, especially from some of the guys in the 20’s who aren’t afraid to send it.
BMX hasn’t changed in the fact it still attracts creative and crazy people that with time develop their own style and thankfully I’ve seen a slow move away from all the “whip, bar, tuck,bar” types of riding more recently.
Finally it’s now accepted and cool to still ride into your old age.
I’ve seen you’ve been working on some lawnmower tech stuff. Where do you want to take your riding in 2022?
Yes I’m always trying some new tech stuff that normally involves lawnmowers. Just when I think surely these nothing else left to do with them, something else pops into my head or I’ll learn another trick which will lead to more variations. It’s never ending what can be done.
I don’t have a plan where I want to take my riding, all that matters is that it’s fun, but nothing makes me happier than learning a new line in a bowl or variation, no matter how small or subtle and even better if I can get a clip of it.
How long do you realistically think you can go on riding for?
Who knows, if I’m injury free and still having fun perhaps well into my 60’s.
Do you think you can progress and become a better rider or is it a case on maintaining what you have?
There will definitely be a cutoff point, probably down to a injury where I can’t keep going higher or trying bigger moves forever but I don’t ever see me not trying new tech tricks or combinations to customise them, that’s just what I do.
I love watching other riders but I’ve no interest in doing what they do, what’s the point, they probably do it way better and I don’t like stealing their moves. Whenever I do learn a new trick that other riders do, my goal is always to mutate it as soon as I can into something different that no one else does. Ideally I’d like every single trick or line that I do to be slightly different or unique.
You’ve won the ride on member of the year 3 times now but who’s been your personal “Member of the Year” this year and why?
All of the guys who are nominated this year are amazing and I’d be happy for any of them to win but I’m going to be biased and say someone who I ride with all the time. He hasn’t even been nominated for member of the year yet and he definitely wouldn’t expect me to pick him but it’s Will Ratford.
Will has got more individual box and trick variations than anyone else I know and he always surprises me when we ride together. I still never know what he’s going to do in his runs and we both share the same love for quirky and unique tricks but we ride completely different styles from one another so there’s no real competition between us.
I love that he always pushes me out of my comfort zone and gives great advice to anyone who wants to learn his different perspective on riding.
He doesn’t post many clips just yet but when we rode together at the 2021 “Ride on – Cardiff, Ramp world jam” I felt like a proud dad knowing that people had got to see him doing his crazy thing for the first time on the spine mini and boxes, he’s such a talent and inspiration to ride with.
He’s always up for a good session & would do anything for you, I feel lucky to have a friend like Will to ride with.
Any last words
Just a big thanks to anyone who contributes to the BMX community in anyway. Shops, bike manufacturers, skatepark owners who all risk everything and parents who work tirelessly trying to get councils to build new facilities or keep the old ones open for no financial gain.
Last but by no means least is “Ride On” for giving all us old dudes a home and community to call our own and keeping the fire going in our old broken bones.