The old hackneyed line is true as ever, the one constant in life is change.
I went into work about 2 months ago and hit Christine with something I never thought I’d say. “I’m over it.” The it I was over was BMX. She was really sorta shocked and couldn’t believe that I was done with something that had been such a big part of my life for so long. I had been realizing since not too long after “the storm”, [vimeo]https://vimeo.com/60006676[/vimeo] that I was really beginning to re-evaluate what was important in my life. Then with Chrissy’s Mom passing away in January it really struck home to not only me but us that we were both feeling it.[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/57771361[/vimeo]
It being the “what’s the point of it all” feeling. For those of us who live down here at the shore I’m pretty sure you are or were feeling some of the same. Dealing not only with the pain of feeling the loss of the area we live in, it was also incredibly rough to see someone I loved so much go through such a rough point in her life as well. It just was not easy. I really needed some time to put together where everything I was doing belonged in my life.
So, for a time I shut down the BMXNJ site and realized I had to shutter BMXNJ The Magazine. I was dividing my time way too much. Between working full time, running the site, trying to get the magazine together and hitting whatever BMX events were in the area I was burnt out. That plus just running life as it is with owning a home had become a burden.
As we dealt with the grief of Chrissy’s Mom passing and the sadness of what had happened to where we called home, the Jersey Coast area, we tossed around ideas of where we could go with what we loved to do.
My personal realization was that although I had lived most of my life involved in BMX in some way or another, I had made BMX too much a part of it. I had unbalanced its place in my life. Working, coming home then spending hours on the site and magazine had made BMXNJ a second, no pay job. It had become onerous and…unfun. Although I was and always will be a BMXer, that’s not what defined me anymore. I was into working on our home, having fun creating pinup girls in 3D, photography, making goofy videos, and yes…partly BMX.
BMX was a PART of my life, it was no longer my whole life. And then it dawned on me. A lot of the guys I really got along with in BMX, lived much the same way. BMX was a part of who they were and they balanced it with other parts of life. Their families, art, travel, the whole package.
So in between grieving and talking about the future and the past we came up with a sort of plan. We realized that we were both sorta different than the average “middle aged couple”. We also realized that a lot of the people we knew and the places we went sorta fell into that, “different than the norm”, thing.
The plan became, put out into the world what we were into and let the chips fall where they may.
[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/58335804[/vimeo]
Which leads to where BMXNJ is right now. BMXNJ is now part of my personal website, middaugh.org. Middaugh.org has been around since the 90’s and was originally set up as a way for me to learn web design, then a place to put up a repository of my family memories but now it’s going to be a place to showcase what I am about as a middle aged, Gen-X, BMXer, artist, wacky dude. Since BMX has always been a big part of my life, BMXNJ will be a decent part of my own site, taking its place alongside my diatribes, photos, graphic work and the like.
Unlike BMXNJ in the past though, it’s now been slimmed down and trimmed up. Gone are all the different categories. Now it’s just one blog of regular updates whether that is a video, photos from an event or a quick diatribe on something that went down. Two other sections that are important to what BMX has done in NJ and what BMXers in NJ do OUTSIDE of riding. Which is something I have come to realize now is even more important than BMXing itself.
So, I’m sorta stoked to unveil the BMXNJ Hall Of Fame, which is an ongoing project that will enlist the help of other BMXers in the state. From the 70’s till now people in 4 categories will get the recognition they deserve in Industry, Pioneer, Freestyle and Racing. If you have a nominee please feel free to send it in along with an explanation of why you believe that person should be in there. The other section is to showcase the amazing artists that are part of BMX in the area. I know so many great artisans, artists, and craftsman in the area who ride that they need to be showcased. BMX is about creativity and I feel this needs to be showcased even more so than the guys doing the latest “hot” tricks.
So there is where BMXNJ is going. A BMXNJ blog for the ever day BMX stuff in NJ, another to showcase the great parts of our past and another to showcase what BMXers get up to outside of “BMX”.
“What about BMXNJ Magazine”?
Well, the magazine at one time was just a little home made laser printed zine, then it became a magazine devoted only to BMX in NJ. Which was actually sorta hard to do. Much content of BMX in Dig, Ride and even Britain’s Albion showcased….New Jersey! LOL. It became tragically redundant and realistically cost way more to make than it ever took in. A labor of love had become just a labor.
If I was going to put the effort into making a magazine that took a lot of time to make and made no money, it needed to be fun to do again.
So…after throwing around a bunch of ideas I decided to name a magazine after the place we called home and put in a lot more than just BMX. Art, stories, photography, travel, interview with my buds, their lives and what they get up to…and well the occasional pin up girl.
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Like I said stuff I was into. The name will be Chateau Woo Woo Mag and it’ll be…off the wall shite. Look for the first issue sometime in June.
So, BMXNJ is back… to an extent. I hope that what I am doing shows that BMX and people who ride BMX are more than just one trick ponies. We are diverse, we are creative, we are the people who make life interesting.
So…welcome to BMXNJ, part of middaugh.org coming at ya straight from the land of Brittles and Chrissy…The Chateau Woo Woo…
Ah the Chateau…now there’s a whole ‘nuther thing to keep an eye on….