Running Wild - A Lesson in Joy and Abandon

I recently attended a meeting of a group of men where the question was posed, “What would you do if you were given permission to do it?” , and under  a clear and cool Texas sky, when I witnessed a series of high energy turns and ramp jumps, I knew I had discovered a group of people who had indeed given themselves EXACTLY such permission.

A BMX freestyle rider sails high as
he makes his turn back to the ramp.
Note the message on the billboard.

I had received an invite to the Rad Rides sponsored, FunDay, at the White Rabbit in San Antonio, from a friend Bobby Burge, who although 40 something, was a BMX stunt rider and had been for many years.

There were the traditional jump riders and also something that was like a different kind of bicycle ballet called flatland which is a freestyle BMX riding style performed on smooth flat surfaces that do not include any ramps, jumps, or grindrails.

It was amazing to watch the riders varying in age from abut 14 to maybe 50 or so, sail and balance on bikes that seemed to have some kind of self contained power source, as they just kept on going and going, and it was hard for me to see how the riders could balance at such slow speeds and maintain such fine control.

Although one might think that an event such as this would be

Flatland rider Bobby Burge checks out
the run of his front wheel.

somewhat rough around the edges, after mingling with the participants I discovered that they are "acting their permission", which in this day and age is important to sanity.  As a contemporary author says, when one looks around most churches today, one sees men that are B O R E D and that the reason for this is the they have lost their way and forgotten to understand that they were meant to Run Wild. At this event, Running Wild is exactly what was happening, and it was, in its own fashion, Saturday Mass at the Church of the Permission.  Even the stage MC, who went by the name of Charles, delivered the message to the participants and the crowd that life is meant to be enjoyed, as he praised a young boy named  Ruben, who was making his first run at flatland riding.

Local artist Aaron Casas of Casas Ink,
and wife Megan exhibiting Aaron's custom art tee's.

In addition to the riders, I also ran across local artist Aaron Casas and his wife Megan, originally from Houston but now entering the San Antonio artist scene, who were exhibiting some of their “permission” in the way of custom art tees. After talking with them I discovered that they too were Running Wild and making their own reality in the way of their business Casas Ink. www.casasink.com

What a great day to see that in San Antonio we have such a group of multi-talented people that each in their own way is “ Running Wild”.

The set of images are at KoenigPhotoArt at the gallery named "Flatland.".