The Haro Bar Hop

In the trailer park outside Boise, Idaho, where I first got into BMX in 1982, we were jazzed by the first couple races we went to.  Around that time, we started scraping money together to buy BMX magazines.  BMX Plus! was the only one on the grocery store news stands, but someone discovered BMX Action on sale at Bob's Bikes, the bike shop we all went to.  Technically, it was Bob's Bikes and Lawn Mower Repair.  That was our shop.  We all bought gold anodized parts because he would give us a deal on them because everyone else hated gold colored parts.  That became an inside joke among our crew.

Anyhow, whenever one of us bought a BMX magazine, we'd hole up in our room that night carefully going through the magazine, page by page.  That was our lifeline to the "real" BMX world then.  We ate up every word of each magazine, often reading every article... and add... more than once.  Then, the next day, we'd share our magazine with the other guys in the trailer park.  We'd all crowd around the magazine, getting inspired by every picture, and dreaming of the bike we would buy... if we had a bunch of money.

Around that time in the BMX world, something else was happening.  A guy named Bob Haro started doing tricks on his bike in the late 70's.  He and others started riding bikes in skateparks.  Trick riding was born, and it was in its early stages in 1982 and 1983 as us trailer park kids devoured those magazines.  We did a handful of tricks then.  We did tire endos, where we'd roll our front wheel into an old car tire, and do an endo, then roll out.  I also learned how to pop a one handed wheelie.  I couldn't ride it, I would just crank once, put the handlebars against my leg, and left go for one crank.  Then one day, I saw a how-to by Bob Haro himself.  The trick was the bar hop.  Looking back, it's crazy to think that a trick that simple actually made it into the magazine.  I don't even think it was called "freestyle" then, it was still "trick riding." 

All of us were really competitive then, and I decided to learn the Haro Bar Hop before I let anyone else see that magazine.  So I went down the hill to the basketball court, and no one was around.  I rode in circles for half an hour trying to get the guts up to jump my feet up through my arms, and land sitting on the crossbar.  That was it, that was the trick.  Yet it scared the hell out of me.  I would pick up the magazine and look through the pictures, then I'd roll around and try to get the guts up to do the trick.  I was getting close when another rider, I don't remember who, rolled up.  "Whatcha doin' Steve?"  "Uh... I'm trying this bar hop trick I saw in the magazine."  He checked it out.  Then he started trying it.  The pressure was on at that point, I had to land it or else be heckled by everyone who learned it before me.  After a few more tries, I jumped my feet up, through my arms, and landed my butt on the cross bar.  Holy crap! I thought, I just did a MAGAZINE TRICK.  The stoke washed over me.  A few minutes later, the other rider pulled it, too.  It was early evening, and all the riders started showing up, everyone started trying the Haro Bar Hop, and most of them learned it that night.  But I learned it first, which was really cool, because up until then, I was the worst rider in the trailer park. My status improved a bit that day among the Blue Valley locals.

I learned another big lesson that day.  After doing the trick many times, I missed once and my bike went sideways and I came down with my hip hitting the end of the grip.  It hurt quite a bit.  And I walked my bike back up the hill and didn't try the trick again that night.  The next day after school I rode down to the basketball court and tried the bar hop again.  I was totally afraid to try it, and I never did another Haro Bar Hop.  Ever.  But I learned a big lesson from that.  When you fall, get back up and try that trick immediately.  Even if it hurts.  If you don't, the fear sets in, and that can be really hard to overcome.  I remembered that simple lesson the rest of my years of riding.