Do you remember when you were a kid and you spent your summer days riding your bike around the neighbourhood? When I was a kid, Evel Knievel was king. It seemed that the sole reason that ABC’s Wide World of Sports was produced, besides showing the Harlem Globetrotters and Muhamed Ali’s fights, was so that the world could see Evel’s next jump. Who can forget the spectacle of Evel launching his Harley over a new record number of buses, or his attempted crossing of the Snake River canyon with a rocket strapped to his ass. Of course these feats were inevitably capped off with images of Evel cartwheeling down the runout at 60mph, looking like a ragdoll. There was always a follow-up interview the next week from his hospital bed. "Kids, don’t try this at home". What were people thinking…of course we were going to try this at home.

We would find a piece of plywood or scrap of 2x6 board and look for something to prop one end of it up with. A brick, a stack of 2x4s that would topple when you hit the ramp, until you scrounged up some nails to join them together. The ramps got progressively higher, the speeds got progressively faster, the crashes got progressively bigger, all in the search for the longest distance. This whole process was undertaken without any protective equipment whatsoever, it wasn’t even an issue. Besides, if somebody showed up for these jump sessions with say a hockey helmet or something, they would have been ridiculed mercilessly, it just wasn’t cool. We never wore helmets, it wasn’t even something that we, or our parents for that matter, considered.

It was a time when cars didn’t have airbags and seatbelts were stuffed down into the crack between the seat and the seat back. Now protection is everywhere, from the anti-theft device for your car, to the CO detector for your house, to the coin-op dispensers in public washrooms. Well, times sure have changed.

For mountain bikers it seems that protection has become cool. Maybe it’s the moto influence…full finger gloves, body armour, full face helmets. These things used to be seen only on pro downhillers, now they are de-riguer for the local riders of hardcore technical trails. I find myself fighting the urge to buy a new Giro Switchblade, one sweet looking helmet, offering extra facial protection. It seems everybody riding the Shore is wearing Roach body armour, purpose built by a local company for local riding conditions. While they are well made and super-functional, I prefer the lo-cost, Value Village style of my soccer shinpads used in conjunction with hard shell rollerblade knee pads. Much dorkier looking, sure, yet just as effective. All this equipment so that we can ride our bicycles on elevated obstacles made out of scrap 2x6 boards and windfall from the forest floor. Hmmm.