The Weekend Warrior
Written by Marcus Wednesday, 27 May 2009 05:13
Whether it is on the water, in the air, or on two wheels, Ed Mayhew is endlessly searching for the perfect ride.
When typhoons or torrential flood rains hit the island, most people stay inside huddled around a cheap flat-screen TV or try to download the latest disappointment from Hollywood on Demoniod to brag to their friends that they didn't have to pay to see.
Instead, Mayhew sets out on an infallible mission to find the perfect ride. During typhoon season, this could mean taking his skimboard and searching around for gigantic puddles to ride across in the middle of Taipei city. If the weather is dry, Ed's perfect ride is his BMX course that he has spent the last little while building, shoveling, and making perfect for the balls-out jumps that most riders won't even attempt.
In 2001 and 2002, Mayhew finished up an intense study abroad session in Beijing and then thereafter found himself doing stunt shows on his trusty BMX bike throughout China for bike megacorporation, Giant. From there, he headed back to his home in Michigan and soon "started to catch the fever of getting stuck" there. But it wasn't until the cowboy with more hat than cattle, George W. Bush, got re-elected that Mayhew knew he didn't have much in common with the people of America. "Basically the day Bush was elected, I knew I had to get the fuck out."
Mayhew headed to Taiwan and he brought his "work hard play even harder" attitude with him. For most people in Taiwan, that means staying out till all hours of the night getting smashed and sleeping all day on the weekends.
Not Ed Mayhew.
Rarely is there a weekend that goes by where Mayhew is not at a beach, in the mountains, or hitting the concrete jungles on his bike. "BMX is my thing, plain and simple." But Mayhew does not only confine himself to two wheels. He's one of Taiwan's biggest promoters of skimboarding, runs a blog called Taiskim about the craft and seems to always be in search of the perfect beach spot for skimming. "There's a lot of coast line. South of Yilan has a nice little break and it is the closest I've gotten so far. It's good but I know the spot is somewhere out there."
Mayhew has recently bought a bungee chord to supercharge the skimboard experience. Recently, he spent a better part of a Sunday afternoon in Wu lai carrying boulders in the middle of a river, tying the bungee chord around it, building a little launching area and then, after all that time, having it be just ho hum. "It wasn't great for sure. But my bro and I stretched the chord and then shot off into the river doing supermans. That was good." The bungee chord and the skimboard will be up at this weekend's enormous River Bash music festival, so if it's going and you share some beers with Mayhew, he may even let you try it.
At the moment, Pro BMX riders from Team Kink are ripping
through Taiwan and Mayhew was able to catch a ride with them at the ShuLin sk8
park, and hopes to take them to his dirt jumps later this week. He also hopes to
get down on some street riding in Taichung and at the concrete skatepark in
Pingtung. From the looks of the photos, Kink's really turning Taiwan out.
"The people who are pushing things are the explorers. The travelers. The
ones who find architecture in different cities and do tricks on them."
When asked about the difference between the local BMXers and professionals,
Mayhew said, "There are a lot of badasses here, but it takes a little bit
to get them out of their element." As for the future of BMXing in Taiwan?
"BMX is just hitting an explosion. It's on the edge of the plateau, just
ready to fly."
Like the surf culture that has recently exploded in popularity, Mayhew thinks that skimming has the same possibility. For now and into the future, Mayhew believes the future is in "making videos with some local music backing it, and finding a good local boarding manufacturer."
As they get older, most people like to take the weekends to relax and have some down time from the hustle and bustle of daily life by propping their feet up and flipping through the mindless drivel that is broadcast over cable wires.
Not Ed Mayhew.
