Hi,
I was born in Bakırköy-Istanbul in 1976. I spent all my childhood between Bakırköy and Sirinevler. As far as remember, I was interested in only riding a bicycle. I wasn’t interested in no other sport what so ever. I start riding a bicycle when I was a little kid. I had a cruiser in 1988, a Polo. I remember jumping off the pavements and doing wheele’s with that bike. It was the time first BMX bikes appeared around the neighborhood. I remember, there was one guy came to our neighborhood from Germany. He has a BMX bike, an American Eagle. He was very good at wheele.
Shortly after sawing this BMX bike, I decided to buy a BMX as well. Also my Polo bike was stolen at that time. Since I had no money to purchase a bike, I decided to find a job. I was at 6th or 7th grade. After school I started working in a home appliance shop owned by one of our relatives. After couple of months, wth the help of my older brother I purchased my first BMX bike. It was a newly released Bisan
In those days, I came across a TV commercial. I saw kids were doing wheele’s. I was impressed by those kids on the TV and start riding as much as possible. One of my friends told me that the kids on that commercial were hanging out at Ataköy, which wasn’t so far to me. I did not believe it and I thought those kids were foreigners. Next day I went to Ataköy and met 6-7 kids and saw their bikes. That day all my perspective changed drastically. There are some kids eating ice-cream while doing wheele, I did not believe what I saw. For a while I distanced myself from the group, but start trying doing what they do. Rock Walk, Endo and Bunny Hop were the first tricks a managed to do. During that time I met my close friend Ediz. I bought some components from him and installed to my bike.
After this trade, we had close friendship with Ediz. Except Ediz none was really close to me, because I was a “Zoid” (Newbee).
There was a very strange series of things happened at that time. A friend we called him “Izzet Altinmese” told me that, he brought a GT Pro Freestyle Tour from the US and willing to sell it to me. I went to his home, and he brought a big beautiful box, GT Box. He took out the fully chrome PFT and Peregrine 48 wheels out of the box. I felt I had something wrong with my eyes, the parts were shining like diamonds, and I had never seen more beautiful things in my life before. After that day I was only thinking about those parts. I sold my Bisan right away and start working full time. It was summer time. I did not have a bike but I was hanging out with my friends’ bikes at the neighborhood.
In one of those days, while I got into a fight with couple of kids in a street at Bakirkoy, a car stopped by the incident and my friend Ediz stepped out of the car. He stopped the fight and dismissed the group. We start talking to each other. He asked me why I no longer hanging out with them in Ataköy. I told him that I purchased a GT PFT Frame/fork and trying to gather the other parts together. Amazingly he told me that, the bike I have purchased was accidentally sent to Izzet, but the payment of it is made by Ediz. It was an mistake of the Albe’s Bike Shop in the US. I told Ediz that I will resolve the issue with Izzet and bring him the parts. I have spoken to Izzet and told him the story, and he agreed to give me all parts but my money. I took all parts and gave them to Ediz. He was so happy to finally having his parts that he paid 1,5 years ago. He had thought the parts were somehow lost in the mail. He finally had the parts in his hands.
On the other hand, I did not even have my old Bisan, and all my savings were kept by Izzet, and there were no way that I could buy another bike. I was about to give up.
While I was giving all the parts to Ediz, he told me that, what I did to him was very important to him. “No one would do such generous thing under the circumstances, you dropped me the parts while all your money was kept by Izzet” he said and continued, “I promise you, we’ll get you a bike”. After couple of days, Oguz and Ediz gave me a Mongose Expert Frame and Form, Araya Wheels, SR stem and couple of other parts. We put all the parts together at Metin’s Bicycle Shop. It was a very beautiful bike. I was riding like crazy. I was only riding and lost my interest to school and work. In a very short time, I was riding as good as the others at Rad Dogs. Since I had a dark skin, Ediz start calling me “Nigga”, this was my Nickname afterwards.
I showed up many events with my bike, tv programs, newspapers, commercials and etc. With the other members of the gang we have pushed the sport in to a very advanced level.
Right now I am 40 years old. Military service, work and marriage kept me away from the sport but I always have had a BMX bike in my garage, and time to time I ride my BMX like the old days.