 And this poor guy, I mean it must have been a 3,000 pound bike. Yeah, well the thing is we saw this chips episode. There's a famous TV show called Chips. And they did an episode where, you know, the plot was circled around a BMX race in California. I could aerial 360 and pop and all the rest of it. As I get older, I'll be honest, other than a few aches and pains, and you must know about this with your bike in history, your BMX in history. Other than a few aches and pains, I still think I'm like 15. Yeah, I suffer that problem a lot. I've been doing a bit of mountain biking the last sort of six months or so. I mean, it's been a game changer, but I kind of tend to ride like I did 40 years ago. And I've been reminded a couple of times in the last few weeks in fact that I'm not quiet. You never forget how ride a bike, you just become old and fat, and it becomes much harder to ride a bike. So I found out to my cost that I'm not as, you know, I don't recover as quickly from the little scrapes anymore. Yeah, well I was watching that wonderful documentary. Was it called The Boys of Rom? Yeah, Rom Boys. Rom Boys, yeah. I'll be honest, when I saw it and I saw it being heralded as a legendary documentary, don't miss it, especially if you like BMX, which obviously with a £1,000 BMX in the garage, I still do. But I thought Rom Boys, is that like CD-ROM or something? And then of course it's Romford, and it was the original skate park, skate stroke BMX park that kicked, well kicked a lot of it off. I know it came from America, but in this country. Yeah, for sure. Well, Rom's skate park, I mean, particularly in my history, I mean, we're going back a while, but I think, you know, I first started riding that, but I think it was launched in 1976. So that was really where I cut my teeth on the bike. I mean, I think, you know, Rom and horror skate park, I mean, that was what taught me how to ride a BMX bike. And then when I started racing in 1980, it was kind of, I could really ride a bike already, and it kind of, you know, really did me look good. But yeah, Rom's amazing, man. I mean, we did this, you know, I mean, it's out now. It's done really well. And, you know, we did an interview for that. And I remember that I borrowed somebody's bike while I was there thinking, yeah, I can ride somebody's bowls just like the old days. And it was like a mega rebuild or, you know, a Haro freestyler and this poor guy. I mean, it must have been a 3000 pound bike. And I try, I attempted a few times to go out of the pool. And I must admit, I kind of forgot myself. So I tried this thing three times, by old three times, nearly wrecked this guy's bike. And it was only after three attempts of falling on the floor, falling on my ass, I kind of looked at this guy. And I can see he was like, oh, there's my bike. Get off, get off. But yeah, and I think, sadly for me, I think they included a few shots of me crashing in the, in that documentary, but it's all good. I mean, yeah. Andy, just one sec. Just suddenly. Yeah, it was, yeah. I was watching a documentary thinking, is Andy going to get on a bike? And you did. You can still see someone that knows what they're, immediately knows what they're doing, even if they don't have the power s that they once did. Thank you. That's a really nice way of putting it, but it was, yeah, it was a bit, it's always a shock. I mean, I don't know how to describe it really, because a lot of it is memory. I can remember how to ride a BMX bike, but it's like your brain thinks you can still do what you did 40 years ago, but your body just obviously can't. And yeah, I mean, it's... Do you think it can? Because when you see people like Tony Hawk, who are just still at it, and he's what, 50, I can, I don't go out on the bike much. I go on it now because my son's that age where he's got a decent little bike. And so we go out, you know, scrambling together. But it's like I can still run marathons and stuff now, like even better than when I was younger. And I just wonder if I'll put some time on the BMX, maybe, yeah, get a bit of the old glory back. Yeah, I mean, well, I tell you the difference. I think the difference is basically, if you've carried on doing it, it's like, you know, people like Eric Roup is still racing BMX bikes now. And I retired from racing in 1987 or something. But I've never been on a bike since. So I've got that whole 30, 40 years where I never rode a bike at all. And I think that's really the difference. I think with a bit of practice, a bit more practice, I could ride a BMX bike again, I think. But I think the biggest point is that because I've been partying for 40 years, suddenly jumping back on a BMX bike and trying to launch out the Port Rom on somebody else's expensive rebuild, it was fun. But I did a bit of damage to myself, to be honest. And I think this is the big difference when you're old. It's like, it took me three weeks to recover from a few bangs and bruises. And it literally took me three weeks. For the next couple of days, I woke up and I could barely walk. And that was just by doing that. But yeah, Rom though has got such a part of the BMX history in the UK. And I was so proud of everyone that's kind of brought that thing back. They cleaned it, they've brought it all back. They did a big event the other day. I wish I could have gone. But I mean, that place has got so many memories. Really has. And it was, as I say, it was part of, before I started racing, I cut my teeth in that place. I did my first aerial 360s in 1978, I think. Rom skatepark. So I'll always remember it. I mean, it's a big piece of history. And I was really proud of that documentary. I mean, it is such a good job. And it's funny. I've obviously, you know, it's been a long time since anyone remembered my name. You know what I mean? But it's like since that documentary has come out, a lot of people. Let me just introduce you to our friends at home then, Andy. Because today, folks, sorry, I know I speak slowly at the best of times. It's because I'm always frigging awestruck, not just with my guests and how lucky I am to just chat with all my heroes. But also I'm just gobsmacked that my life has just turned out so well with all the bloody shenanigans I've got to over the years. So Andy Ruffle was the absolute biggest legend for all of us growing up as teenagers from the age of sort of 14 onwards. Andy and a few other names like Tim March. But to be honest, it was Andy was the biggest name in BMX for being the most talented rider that the UK, I would say the UK has produced. Andy obviously put the work in himself. And it was just incredible. I mean, there's us. I was fairly good, but I never had the equipment. My parents, Andy, they bought me a 15 quid. I thought it was an Amaco, but Amaco is actually quite a good bike, so it can't have been that. But it was this heavy, bloody old thing. And we used to shoplift stuff from Halfords to try to make it a bit more cooler. And there's Andy there with his sponsorship deals with the best bikes, the best gear. And whereas I could sort of hop over, I don't know, something two foot high, or I could hop over 11 people when they laid down. There's Andy hopping over a tennis net and just taking it to that elite level that elite athletes do. And it's just that magic ingredient that some people have gotten. Either some people have to really, really work at it or they're never going to have it. It's just brilliant to chance you, mate. It's just unreal. Well, thanks for having me on. I mean, it's been great. It took us a little while to get this together, but I'm excited to talk to you. I mean, I think especially it's great what you say about the old days, because I must admit it's been a long time, but I kind of remember and it's like, you know, thinking about, you know, getting on the video with you and made me think about the old days and how I got into BMX. And it was basically skateboarding. I tried to be a skater first and they made this big skate park, Skate City. Now this was the first skate park, I think, in England. It was called Skate City and it was in central London somewhere. And so I went in a store, I saved up some money and I bought this old skateboard. I mean, it's ridiculous. A piece of wood with some roller skate wheels on it, right? It's like, you know, that must have been 75, 76. So I walk in the store and bought this skateboard. And I was so proud. I was like the happiest I've ever been in my life. And I walked up the store, jumped on this skateboard, slipped off immediately, fell on my ass. The skateboard went in the street and a truck ran it over. And I was like, oh dear, that's not good. So I remember, I was so upset, I went back in the store, tried to get it replaced. I said, hey, it just broke. He said, I just saw it get run over by a truck. I'm not replacing it. Anyway, so he wouldn't replace it. But a long story short, I then bought another skateboard and I was all excited. I went down Skate City. By that point, I could skateboard. So I was all right. I had a G&S skateboard if I remember rightly. And I go to Skate City, line up, get the badge. I was in the park for about five minutes. So I need to go and take a piss. So I went in the toilet and I stood the board up next to the urinal. I'm taking a piss. These three guys come up, basically robbed me of my skateboard and ran off out at the men's room. But it was at that point really that I saw. Yeah, I'm going to try a different career. So literally that's how I got into BMX. I actually wanted to be a skateboard. And then I basically managed to do up a grifter like we did in the old days. I don't know if you remember grifters, rally grifters. Yeah, it's very much so. They were almost like the forerunner. Well, I mean, they were a rally English bike. But they kind of looked a bit like a BMX, didn't they? Yeah, well, the thing is we saw this Chips episode. There's a famous TV show called Chips. And they did an episode where, you know, the plot was circled around a BMX race in California. And that literally changed everything in the UK. So I can't remember exactly when it was. It must have been 77 or 78. And we saw the episode and every young kid that was into bike riding had the same thought. We can't buy a BMX bike. So we're going to try and make one. And that's where the rally grifter came in and we put orange mud guards on it and bigger handlebars. And but sadly, as soon as we try to jump, the folks would break. And, you know, so that was really the start for a lot of us. You know, and it was because of that TV show in 1977. So, yeah, I mean, you know, it was an interesting route for me anyway, to getting at the BMX bikes. But I guess it was fate. Yeah, I mean, I actually, I had a rally, a normal bike. I wouldn't say a road bike because young people today will think I mean like a really carbon fight. No, we're talking like, like almost like a grand dad's bike. And I just took it. I took all the mud guards off, stripped everything off. We used to make these ramps that looking back were just kamikaze. I mean, they were ridiculous. We used to make about a breeze box and wood from dad's. Get, you know, our dads or stepdad's garage and coming down the road. I've got it. I've got it. And he's lucky if your wheel didn't come off in midair and then, you know, so, yeah, I mean, I feel it. And then the big thing, do you remember ET? The effect? Of course. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that was really the second, second wave. I mean, if I met a Kuhara, did the BMX bike. And yeah, I mean, that was, I mean, that must have been 83 then, I guess, or maybe, you know, 83, 84. But yeah, it was, you know, that made a big difference too. But I think, you know, I was kind of in the right place at the right time, to a certain extent, but my career became what it became because I could do both things. I could do the trick riding. I mean, going back to the rum skate park thing, I could aerial 360 and hop and all the rest of it before I even rode an actual BMX. Well, actually, that's not fair. No, I mean, I, I, I bought a Super Goose and that's what I rode over the parks. But it was two years before the first race took place. So I'd already done all, you know, riding in the skate parks and the rest of it. And that's actually what made a difference in my career because, you know, I had great sponsors who paid me a lot of money at the time and it was because I could show up at a, you know, a bike store in Nottingham and do a 40 minute, you know, BMX demo and then put the bike in the car, drive to Carlisle and do a BMX race. So I think, you know, I played on that a bit. I was kind of, you know, I was lucky that I could do both things. Yes. It was always the thing, wasn't it? Freestyle and racing. Yeah, I mean, I often, I mean, I was actually talking to some people about this the other day. I wasn't really, I felt like I should have been a freestyler as opposed to a racer, but it was the racing at that point that was, you know, making me money. It was like, you know, I mean, I loved the racing thing. You know, I took me all around the world, but it was, if I'm honest with myself now, 40 years later, it's like, well, you know what, maybe I was a freestyler really. But to be honest, by 87, 88, you know, it was, I kind of had enough of both really and then sort of moved on. But what a few years, though. I mean, you know, it was, you know, some weird things happened. It's like, I used to do a lot of TV, right? So I'd get on a TV show and I did 550 TV appearances, I think, in a couple of years all around the world, but I mean, you know, UK and Europe. And I remember that I used to go on these shows and I'd do an interview and I'd do some front ops and some back ops and, you know, which were a thing there. I mean, you know, people laugh now when it's doing all these front ops. And so there was this one occasion where I'd get the phone call, okay, can you go to Carlisle on Saturday and do this TV show? So I was like, yeah, great, whatever. So, you know, I didn't even think about it. So I show up in Carlisle and they're booking me a hotel room. They've booked me a hotel room. I thought, well, this is weird. So I stay in the hotel room. The next day I'm thinking to do this appearance on a TV show. But it was BMXB and it was the first series of BMXB. And I remember I showed up, all of a sudden there's a thousand kids in my park, bought a television. And the producer handed me a microphone and said, right, well, the first competitor's coming on in a couple of minutes, off we go. And I was like, well, hang on a minute, what do you want me to do? So all of a sudden, you know, I was sort of co-hosting this TV show on network TV. And I didn't even realize it was a TV series. I just thought I was going to make an appearance, do some front ops and leave. But that was a big turning point for me because that show became so popular. I mean, it was incredible. You know, it was on ITV on Saturday mornings and I did seven series of six episodes in the end. So, and then they let me host it myself by the end, you know, by E7 I was hosting it myself. But yeah. What channel did that go out on? ITV Saturday mornings from 90, I think I did the first season in 1984 and we did the last ones in 1988. Wow. Yeah. So I mean, it was, I mean, that was a bit of a life change of that show. Yes. It definitely, you know, it got more viewers than the Saturday Superstore on the BBC. So that was, yeah, it was incredible. But yeah, so it's things like that, you know, luckily I was able to, you know, I'm from East London, so I can talk a bit. And I didn't find it that hard to do, but it was one of the most scary moments ever in my life. I was standing there in front of a thousand kids with a microphone, and I've got to talk about and introduce people. And you know, Alastair Perry was the co-host, R.A.P. You were good like that, though, because I mean, the same sort of era was Eddie Kidd as well, wasn't it? That's right. Yes. And he was a fellow, was he fellow Londoner or that kind of... Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, yeah. I actually met him a few times in those days. I mean, mainly because we did the same, sometimes we'd be on the same TV show. But yeah, I mean, he was one of my... I mean, I've never really had heroes as such, but Eddie Kidd, man, he was absolutely brilliant. And I mean, it's a shame. I mean, if you know, he had a little accident and, you know, that kind of put his riding career to an end. But yeah, I mean, people like Eddie are amazing. You know, I was privileged to meet him, and that's for sure. Actually, we were on Facebook. We kind of messaged each other every now and then, messaged each other every now and then. So, yeah, yeah, nice. Yeah, that era. So, yeah, exciting times. Yeah, he had a ride-off, didn't he? Or a jump-off with Evil Knievels, son. That's the year Robbie Knievel, yeah. That's right, actually. Yeah, I think that was a little later. So that must have been, like, 80s, I guess. Back in the day when there were these heavy old bikes and I think what, their four strokes or whatever, and they didn't have the suspension that they get. Or even Harleys. Yeah, well, even Knievel used to ride a Harley, so. But yeah, those were the days. But I think it's all part, everything in those days, everything was pioneering to a certain extent it is now. But it's like, you know, the fact that, you know, doing front-offs, I mean, you know, I mentioned it before, doing front-offs in 1981 was a thing. Do you know what I mean? It was like, wow, you know, I used to do these shows all the time, and I'd do front-offs, back-offs, and, you know, 360 and whatever. And, you know, so there's a lot of stuff that I'm happy to say I kind of did first. You know, I did, I'm sure, you know, I got a couple of world records for a little while. I mean, people beat them, you know, pretty soon after. But, you know, the height record. And I remember in Ireland, they did a whole TV show, me going to the world record for bunny-hopping people. You know, I mean, basically hopping over people laying on the floor without a ramp. I said, I'm going to stop you there. Yeah. It wasn't called a bunny-hop, it was called a ruffle-hop. Oh, that's... Come on! No, wait, wait, wait. That was... No, you're thinking about the ruffle-hop drop. Oh, it's raining right now. Ruffle-hop. Ruffle-hop was front-wheel-up and then back-wheel and then down. The bunny-hop was both wheels at the same time, right? Yeah, that's right. So, in terms of what we were doing in this TV show, basically I ended up doing about 36 or 38 people laying on the floor. And I had to take a run-up. I mean, much like Evil Canevo, I used to take a run-up from the other side of the hall. It was at the King's Hall in Belfast. And I had to, you know, do this big run-up, you know, just flat-out as I could go and I ended up doing about 36 or 38 people. So, yeah, I was quite pleased with that. And, yeah, I know you're thinking of a ruffle-hop drop. That was going up the quarter-pipe on your front wheel, spinning around the one I eat, and then hopping back in with that, your back wheel is touching the top of the ramp. I think this is probably something that people named it this, but maybe you never knew. No, the ruffle-hop was always the front-wheel-up and then hop the back-wheel so you could... Oh, gotcha. Yeah, yeah, actually, yeah. I mean, maybe. But, yeah. The one you just said, the people on the ground, it was the same ruffle-hop. You just had to have more speed-up to do it. That's right. It was a real quicker... Yeah, yeah. And there's a long way, too. Actually, it was the first time I kind of got a little bit scared because I used to do, you know, hopping people all the time at shows, but I'd always do like 12, 14 people. And then this time I was going for like 36 and I actually remember pulling up on the bike. You know, there's a fairly big crowd there, too. And it was the first time I actually got a bit nervous because I looked at how long, you know, this distance was, and it's really about speed. The more speed you get, the further you can go. Obviously, it's like jumping, anything. But, no, I must admit, that was the first time I was a little bit nervous, but I mean, I pulled it off. And then there was a young lady journalist on the end. Sorry, I've got a pig. I've got a pig here. He's kind of biting my feet right now. I thought it was, it sounded like a chicken. No, it's a pig. I thought I'd lucked him away, but anyway. So sorry about the noise, the squawking noise. Yeah, and it was funny because it was a journalist from the Telegraph that was on the end of this thing. So she really took her life in her ass because she was on their last. And once I pulled it off, I remember, you know, we went out to dinner and, you know, we ended up dating for a while. So that's one hell of a way to meet a new girlfriend. Well, let's talk about that. There's so much I'd want to ask you, Andy, but you're a young guy. What was it? I mean, you must have been hero worship wherever you went. Or at least everyone wanted an autograph or to say hello. What's it like? What was that like at that age? Well, it was kind of... Well, put it this way, the best way to describe it is I think certain things happened while I was riding BMX bikes that kind of, let's say, took me to another level. When I give an example of what I mean by that, I think it was 83 and 84. I took part in a TV show on the BBC called Superstars or Superteams. And it was a big show, right? So this thing gets 20 million, 21 million views each year they hold a tournament. It's basically athletes against athletes. And you do all kinds of different disciplines. And so one of the disciplines is riding a bicycle, like a road racing bicycle, right? And it's a relay. So there's like me, I don't know, I'm trying to remember someone I know. Big, big athletic stars at the time. Always Kevin Keegan was good at that, wasn't he? Yeah, that's right. And I think the famous guy was Brian Jacks who used to win all the time. So I basically went on this show and I must have been 16. So I was the youngest person ever to get off, to ever to take part in it. Anyway, cut the long story short. So of course, there's this big buildup. Oh, is Andy Ruffled a BMX star? You know, obviously he's going to do well because it's a cycling event. So I literally, when it came to my turn, I jumped on the bike and I'd never experienced clip pedals, right? So the pedals, I mean, I just had no clue. So of course, I put my foot on the pedal and jumped on the bike. And it was on the clip side. One side was a pedal, one side was a clip. So I literally put my foot on the clip, slid off, foot went in the front wheel. I went over the handlebars and landed on the road. Like that. And so I managed to get back on the bike and pulled it back a bit. But that obviously, suddenly I couldn't walk down the street. After that went out, it was either, ah, that's Andy Ruffled fell off the bike or it was like, ah, that's Andy Ruffled. Yeah, I saw him on Superteam the other day. Superstar, Superteam, yeah. And so that gives you an idea of how, you know, I went from being famous in certain circles, you know, if you're a BMX fan or generally you'd see me on TV a couple of times. But all of a sudden, you know, this was a different level. This was literally like having a number one record. So I, you know, that changed everything. I couldn't walk down the street without, you know, being chased for autographs and stuff like that. So that was a big game changer. And then the other one was, I hosted a co-hosted a TV show called the Frosty's BMX Championship. I think that was on Channel 4. So that was a huge show as well. And then we have this classic scenario where the producers said it would be a great idea to have a segment of a show that was like six or eight shows. In each show and it'll be called Ruffles Race Tips. So I remember this particular occasion, we're up north somewhere doing this big race. And we basically be racing the Americans. So I do this Ruffles Race Tip and it's like, okay, this is it now. We're just getting ready for the race. Make sure everything's tight. Make sure everything's tight. So of course I literally went to the pedals with a spanner or a wrench and I did the build up. So of course, five minutes later, I go up on the track to race. I get on the gate, gate drops. The pedal falls off, right? And this is national TV again. So of course after that, another sort of number one moment, pop star moment. And I couldn't leave that one down. That one was much tougher to live down because it actually happened during the BMX race. So there's all kinds of conspiracies about Tim March, Newsom, my pedal and all that kind of stuff. That was great media, but man, I couldn't go anywhere without, took me a long while to live that down. Was that hard though, because at that age, you're quite self-conscious as a young man, aren't you? You're worried about your hair and well, when we had hair, when I had hair. Yeah, listen, I've looked at some of the pictures from back then. I don't think I cared about my hair, to be honest, but you're right. I know what you mean. I was lucky, I guess, it didn't bother me, none of that stuff, to be honest. I think I was just lucky in that, because I didn't have time to think about it. I think is what was really happening from 1980, 1980 to 1985, 1986. I didn't stop. I never had a day off. It was like, you know, so it just naturally happened. I didn't have time to think about what was going on. And we made a record as well, called BMX Boys Have A Lot Of Fun. Yes. Yeah, and I'm actually, I'm actually, I just put up the video to that. I found the music video to it. And I think this is like 1982 or 1983. No, it must be 1983. And it's called BMX Boys Have A Lot Of Fun. And we really had a lot of fun actually doing this, because I'm actually singing on it, right? A lot of people don't realize why I'm actually in there somewhere and I'm just singing it. So things like that. And that track did really well. It made the charts. I remember it. You know, it's BMX Boys Have A Lot Of Fun. So yeah, and I just found, I've got a YouTube channel called StuntTheBiker. It's on stuntthebiker.com. And I just found a music video to it. So that's been getting lots of laughs, because we just posted it last week or a couple of weeks ago. So yeah, but I mean, you know, what other sport can you do where you end up making records, travelling the world, you know, and being treated like a pop star? It's like, yeah, bring it on, bring it on. I don't know what I'm more curious about. The girls or the bikes. Let's go with something less tacky and let's start with bikes. What was it like to have the best equipment at your disposal and sponsors paid for it? Well, it depends what stage of my career I was at. I mean, for instance, when I started racing in 1980, I did my first race October 1980, right? And the second one in November, I was lucky I won, right? I won my age group, because I was 14, I guess, 13 or 14. But within a few months, you know, when BMX really started to take off, you know, Mongoose, Malcolm Jarvis, who's still, you know, one of the greatest people ever, he was bringing in Mongoose, Mongoose, Mongooses. And it was amazing because for the first, you know, so basically, they sponsored me. And what that involved at the time was giving me a bike. And they took me to the races, right? Because I had a team van, whatever. So that was the beginning of 1981. So I won a few more races at the beginning of 81, and then other people were interested in sponsoring me. And that's when, you know, I get the call from Malcolm, come down to the warehouse, blah, blah, blah, let's have a chat. And as part of that discussion, this has got to be mid-81, I think. And this was one of the greatest moments I remember because I was a very poor kid, right? I didn't have much at all. So it was such a revelation. I go down to the warehouse. We agreed that, you know, they're going to carry on sponsoring me, and they've made it worthwhile for me. Not big money or anything, but they've made it worthwhile. So I was going to get paid to do shows and, you know, various other things. And, oh, and they bought me a car, right? So, but the greatest thing was Malcolm took me to the warehouse, opened the doors and said, take what you want. And this was unbelievable. It was like, so I remember literally walking around the warehouse, oh, I need some bars. Oh, I need two pairs of bars. Okay, I need that. I need scripts. I need this. And I created this big giant box of stuff. And of course I had no way to get it home because at that point I didn't have a car or anything. But yeah, that was incredible because I'd never experienced anything like that. You know, I'd always, like everyone else, I'd been looking in the magazines. You see Harry Leary, Eddie King, Steve Thompson and all this gear. And, you know, you want to live up to that. But to have the opportunity to walk around and grab everything you want. I mean, it was like, I don't know, it was Christmas times a million, you know? So it depends what was what part of my career I was at because, you know, by the time 1985, I rolled around and I was being paid a lot of money. Honestly, getting a few frames and bits and pieces obviously didn't, you know, wasn't that important. But it was, but yeah, so I think in those early days, you know, to be able to pick up a ton of gear and, you know, have all the flash stuff and not have to pay for it was, you know, amazing. I mean, that was a turning point in my career, I guess. Did you have a different bike? Did you have a freestyle bike and a racing bike? No, I mean, there's always been a lot of discussion about I always ran two breaks. So, which was unusual, I guess. I think most BMX races at any level, you know, just rode a back break. But the reason, there was no secret, it wasn't like a racing hack or anything. It was just basically that I would literally pack my bags after doing a race. The next day, I'd be in a city somewhere to do a show and to do a show, I needed two breaks. So, you know, that was basically it. So, I forgot what your question was, but yeah, basically it was a standard bike. So, I didn't have a freestyle bike as such. I just had one race bike, and I used to do everything on it. The reason I ask is, when I built my Harrow, I was in this kind of nostalgic dream world that I'm building my dream bike. This is going to be, it's going to be all, do you remember the Tough Next 10? Of course, yeah, yeah. Everyone wanted a Tough Next 10, the straight bars and everything. I think they were called Harrow bars, weren't they? Anyway, so I went to town, and because I was older, I was about 35 when I built this bike, and I had a few quid in the bank, so money wasn't really a big issue. I just bought what I wanted. What I'm getting to is, by the time I built this Harrow Freestyle, it weighed a bloody ton. My mates, when we were teenagers, they were all sponsored because they were good, a few of them were really good racers, and their racing bikes weighed, like the frame would weigh six pounds or something. And from a freestyle perspective, you can do a lot more on a bike that weighs half, you can't jump it over a car because you're going to snap in half maybe, but when it comes to the front ops, the 360s, all this kind of stuff, you can tell I've got an interest. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I know exactly what you mean. It's like the other day I was in Oklahoma, we went to a local BMX race, and I was with Cash Matthews, who I love, he's brilliant. And so I managed to get a ride on a modern BMX bike. And it freaked me out, because first of all, exactly like you say, it's so light. And the geometry has changed now. It's like with our bikes in our era or in my era, we had dirt corners, and you literally go around a corner and you have to stick your foot out, right? Just basic things like this. And then the new bike, you could actually point it into a corner and it would just go around the corner, right? But it weighed so little, it was just completely alien to me, because he's so used to having a bit of weight under you. And I'll tell you, actually, you're right, I mean, the modern bikes, but I mean, the new freestyle, the freestylers of today, number one, they don't use brakes. No brakes. And I'm like, okay, mind blown. And they're actually not that light. I mean, I managed to ride one probably six months ago when I was visiting Dale Holmes and this guy had a modern freestyle bike. They just had no brakes, but it was a little bit heavier. But yeah, I mean, you know, it's like years away now to what it used to be like in the old days. Yeah, who's the guy that... Is it Ryan on the X Games? Ryan Nyquist. Say again. Ryan Nyquist? No, let me just... Or you mean the modern guy, the guy that's... He's a young-ish guy and he's got a nickname. I know, I saw the guy the other day, Gara, is it? Who's actually a scooter rider and he was like doing triple backflip, flare, 360, some assault, whatever. I mean, that just blows my mind. I mean, I can't even begin to fathom how they do that shit. Yeah, there's Ryan Nyquist. Is it Ryan Williams? Are you calling Big Willie or Little Willie? Oh, that's it, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the guy I mean. He's the scooter guy. You can ride the scooter. Oh, the dude's insane. Unbelievable. I mean, they will fall off. Totally mental. They'll fall on their ass and they're doing... They're getting big air. They're falling on... They're literally falling off those bugs time and time and time and time again. Yeah. But the technology's changed a lot as well. I always remember, we were actually going to get involved in... We're making a documentary about Jose Yanez, right? And he did... There was a movie called Rad. I don't know if you're familiar with that movie. And that must have been 1984, I think, something like that. And that was when the very first backflip was done on a BMX bike. So I guess that was 1984. But he's not getting any, like, respect for it. And he did it on a motorcycle as well in 1984 or 1985. But nobody knows. So, you know, there's an amazing guy. So we're going to do a documentary about it. But I'll tell you more about that when we've done it. Yeah. I mean, that's another of my... Another of my favourite athletes, Travis Pastrana. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. You know, what... Legends. What a legend. I've been watching some of his stuff lately and his legs are so busted up. Yeah, he's had a few injuries. But no, but I think it's, you know, it's amazing to me, and I used to ride BMX bikes, but it's like the transition and the way things have improved. And I think a lot of it's to do what I said earlier. It's like, I spent 20, 30 years and never even looked at a bicycle. So, you know, to suddenly come back into it and then see what's going on now, it's like going in a time machine and, you know, scooting forward, you know, to another level. But, yeah, so they're all amazing. Oh, I watched Travis, actually. I'm actually at the Supercross these days, like motorcycle Supercross. I'm a big fan of that. I'm at the American Supercross. So, yeah, you know, I've been following some of these guys. Travis, I've been following for a while because he's just another level genius, that's it. And people like Matt Hoffman, those kind of guys. I wish I could put it in... Words don't do it justice. It's a bit like the rave era, the dance era, trying to explain that to a youngster now. I was part of that era. I threw a few raves in 1990 or whatever it was. Well, there you go, you know? I mean, there's still, you know, can we call them bits and pieces, you know, youngsters go out and stuff on a night out, et cetera. But it's a different feeling to back then. And the BMX, when you came out of that cinema and watched ET, those young lads, they've, you know, they've got the police chasing them and they're jumping over cars and all. And they don't give a damn, you know, they're going to rescue this, save this little alien. You saw these bikes, these just the coolest bikes that you'd ever seen in your life. And you jump over things on them. And you came out of that cinema like, I've got to have one of them. You could see it. It just fueled the craze. And it was a craze. It was great. And we lived to get on our bikes. That was it. We just needed to get on our bikes. And whereas these days, you might get someone that gets into BMX, they go to the skate park, they meet like-minded people, and they do a few tricks. And like I get that. And let's not take anything away from that. It's brilliant. But no one is ever going to know what it was like for us. No, that's a really good point. I mean, same as the, you know, same electronic music now compared to during Raze, you know, those years ago. But yeah, I mean, it is. But I'm lucky in a way, because I mean, I go to the Hall of Fame every year in San Diego. And I've reconnected with everyone that was riding at the same time I was. You know, people like Eddie King, Stu Thompson, Mike Miranda, all those kind of guys, the American BMX races. And there's no doubt about it. That group of people in that era, you know, from not just from England or the U.S., from Europe too. You know, it was a certain type of person, right? Because they were pioneers. We were all pioneers. We were all pioneers. And that still to this day, we have something in common, that, you know, it's very difficult to reproduce. I mean, I guess, you know, there's other ways you can build that kind of bond with people. But we were all pioneers. And even to this day, it still feels like that. So it's just an incredible period in human history. And man, it's going to be part of it, you know. Did you ever have a manager, Andy, to sort, you know, to get you the best sponsorship deals and stuff? Yeah. Yes, I did. I think probably from 84. Maybe 83. A guy called Alan Rushton, who was brilliant. He was responsible for bringing the Tour de France into the UK. You know, they used to do a segment in the UK for the Tour de France. I don't actually still do that. But anyway, a guy called Alan... That was a bit in the rain, wasn't it? Yeah, I can't remember how long time ago. But yeah, Alan was... It made a big difference for me because, you know, when I went from Mongoose to Raleigh, you know, Alan was instrumental in putting that together. I mean, for instance, when we were negotiating that deal, and I was on top of the game then. So, you know, I was a TV star, BMX racer, BMX freestyler, and I got more PR than anyone in the history of cycling. Apparently, I've been told. But UK cycling. But so, yeah, he was great because, I mean, given example, we walked into Raleigh to negotiate the deal. And I could just sit there. He did all the talking. I just sat there and looked important. And then he'd look at me and I'd go, so we did the whole negotiation like that. So it was brilliant. And it turned out to be a very good deal. So, yeah, so he made quite a big difference, actually. And he also looked after the Kellogg series. So that also helped. So yeah, you know, it was brilliant. It really made a difference. I mean, I think it was like after AE85, you know, BMX basically took a little bit, well, it took a big dive, to be honest. And that's kind of when I sort of retired, I think, really, AE86, AE87. And yeah, but no, he was good. I mean, it worked. You know, but I mean, I think overall, it probably, it doubled what I could have earned but it's that way by having a manager that knew what he was doing, you know? So yeah, it was a big factor. What were you spending? Were you making a lot? Were you spending a lot? Well, I mean, I did well. You know, I bought a couple of houses, bought a couple of 17, but which was tough in those days because they were, yeah. So anyway, but it was good. I mean, I had to sell them because I'm an entrepreneur. So, you know, I think once I did the whole short event, where we were bringing over Americans and getting sued by London Underground because one of the skaters was in Victoria Station, I think, and he fell off his skateboard and it went in the rails. As a train was coming in, he decided to jump in the rails and pick his skateboard out. So the train didn't emergency stop and I got sued. So that really screwed me actually because that lawsuit lasted about three bloody years. So that must have been 80. That might have even been 85. And then I had other stuff as well. Like, you know, when you're being an entrepreneur, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and you get the unexpected. But you know, I had various people brought over from other countries and you know, they'd set fire to the hotels and stuff like that. So, you know, so that was a big learning curve. And it kind of, I've always been an entrepreneur but that was hell of a time because I was racing, freestyling, doing stuff and trying to run the whole shot event, which was great. One of the greatest things I've ever done in that whole shot event. But boy, did I learn the hard way. It put me in good stead for doing other stuff. That's probably how I described it. But it was a crazy time. I forgot what your original question was. I guess what I'm alluding to is you make so much money, so young, we're all young and stupid back then. You know, it's not like that nest egg is probably going to last you too long. But did it kind of stand you in good stead later in life to understand money? Because you're in media now, right? Yeah, yeah. Well, I kind of always have been, well, I guess, since BMX days. I mean, I co-created the Mobile Awards in England. And that was a hell of an adventure. I sold out of that in 2000. Then I created another show called the World Electronic Music Awards, which I sold to 54 countries that show. So yeah, I mean, I went on to do media stuff. And I mean, I think when I left BMX, two of my most amazing friends is Nick Scott and Ed Reisman from a company called Big Group. And it was actually hilarious how I met Nick because this must have been 1987. And I'm just going through this lawsuit with London Transport. And anyway, I get this phone call and it's like, is Andy Ruggles there? I'm like, no. Don't know, mate. No, sorry. Anyway, phone keeps ringing. I said, look, I'm Andy Ruffaway. I can help you. He said, oh, well, I'm calling on behalf of Nick Scott. He'd like to be your manager. And I was like, well, look, I've already got a manager. Thanks very much. But anyway, cut a long story short. I ended up meeting Nick for lunch in London somewhere. The lunch carried on till like midnight. But we got on really well. Now, he had a fairly large production company and cut a long story short. I agreed to make my office at their office. And then all of a sudden, over six months or so, I ended up being co-producer on British Airways Employment Entertainment. So I've always had that connection. Even after the BMX thing, I didn't really have a period where I was wondering what to do. It just kind of happened. I ended up doing British Airways Employment Entertainment for a couple of years and then did some other stuff as well. I mean, I used to do cruise ship movies. So I did two years on cruise ships travelling the world on cruise ships. I did all that. And then Mobile Wars, Dark Star and I moved to America in 2000. When you're on a cruise ship, how do people react when you said I'm Andy Ruffle? And they obviously knew who you were. Well, well, that didn't add to... To be honest, it didn't happen because let's just say the demographic in those days on cruise ships weren't necessarily the demographic that followed BMX. But sometimes they'd have kids on board and they would know from UK cruise. So, yeah, that didn't really... And to be honest with you, about that point, it must have been 1992 or something. So, BMX for me, even I didn't remember I used to ride BMX bikes by 1992. So that never happened much. But it does happen. I mean, even up until recently, I was in an elevator in LA in a building two years ago. Some guy gets in the elevator and says, hang on a minute, are you that BMX kid? I'm like, how do you recognise me when I've put on a few pounds? I mean, you know, I've had a good 55 years, you know? And he recognised me. He obviously used to live in England, blah, blah, blah. There I am in an elevator and he remembered me. And I was like, wow. That was really... That was quite something. But yeah, so during that whole time, it never really came up. I was more famous for the MOBA Awards really at that point than, you know, BMX at the time. Plus I never shouted about it. It's like I didn't... Unless you lived that era. How is it then living in the States? I mean, it's a big difference to East London. Yeah. Yeah. I was born in Bromley, funny enough. Oh, wow. Right. Okay. But... 10, right? Bromley 10. Yeah. Brom... Because I think there's a lot of Bromley up north and I'm figuring you're Bromley 10. Yeah. But how... You obviously like it there is what I'm trying to say. Or do you suffer it? God, no. I've always been an American. Oh, man. I mean, I feel like I was born in America and somehow ended up in England. I mean, I love England, but I've always been... I think America suits my personality. I've always been a risk taker, an adventurer. I've never been out of staying in one place very long anyway. But no, I mean, I've been coming to the States since I was 14 or 15 years old. So it was just a natural thing for me. I didn't even think about it. It was like, okay, I'm moving in there full time. Well, the Dance Star Awards gave me the opportunity to do that. You know, we invested a lot of money and part of that was that we're going to launch the show in the States as well, which we did in Miami. And I've been here ever since. I actually live in Vegas. Well, actually, I live in Miami right now, but I live in Vegas mostly. Mostly. I like Florida. What's not to like? What's not to like? I really love America. Americans full stop, but, um, it's, uh, oh my God, if we're taking, can we say certain things in this country? Like from the media. I know in the States, it's even more like that. And for free spirits like me, it's just our God. Come on. I tell you a story when I, when I moved to America in 1999, I think it was, right? I remember they just introduced, um, I don't want to talk about politics or anything, but I just, I just to give you an example. Um, I said to a couple of people asking me, it's like, well, why, why are you moving? You're doing so well here, man. And I'm like, well, here's why. Cause you know that they just introduced a speed camera. Uh, I said, it won't be long before the whole country every 20 yards and you'll be, you'll be getting so many tickets, you'll lose your license every day. And now, and everybody laughs. It's like, no, no, it's, it's for safety. It's for safety. So, I mean, I'm just trying to give you an idea that in terms of my personality, looking at speed, you know, people can agree with speed cameras. And that's not my point. My point is once I felt, I felt hemmed in. Right. Speed cameras. Oh, no. Oh shit. Um, so, you know, but in America, even now, to be honest, it's still a bit, it's a lot freer than it is in, in England. Um, and that's not a political statement. It just means that, you know, that's why America suits me. Plus it's a lot bigger. You know, it's a six hour flight to go from one side to the other. Um, so, yeah, so, you know, that personality wise, America suited me much better. Yes. Okay. Before we, we finish up, I've got to ask you. So what, what was the hardest trick that you ever had to learn or the most dangerous? Blimey. Um, that's a really good point. I don't, but again, it depends on what era when I, the most dangerous one when I first started riding BMX bikes was aerial 360 out of, you know, at a skate park bowl. Um, because, you know, you've got lots of opportunities to, to crash. And I did, I guess. But as far as I know, I was one of the first to do it. Um, in the world. Um, but that, I guess I had the most crashes trying to figure that one out. Um, but then once I got it, I got it. It was actually quite easy in the end. Um, but you know, so yeah, I guess that was dangerous. Um, anything in a skate park is dangerous. Uh, I've had a few, few bad crashes in racing, but I never broke a bone. I never, never injured. To this day, touch wood, although I nearly did on the mountain bike a couple of weeks ago. But, um, yeah, you know, I never broke bone on anything. So, but everything's dangerous. But, you know, if you, I was going to say, if you know what you're doing, but when you're 55, it becomes a lot more difficult for, but yeah. So to answer your question, I don't know. A lot of, a lot of it was dangerous. There's actually things that probably didn't look dangerous that were actually more dangerous. But let me tell you, going down to start straight with Tim Marks, Trevor Robinson, who are twice my size. Right. Bang in, you know, banging elbows with them, you know, 40 miles an hour on a downhill BMX track. That was, that was probably the most scary. Um, I think, you know, so yeah, so yeah, but it's all good fun. And living in, in Las Vegas, then do you, do you, can I be really cheesy and say, do you, do you get to meet any stars or, obviously, except, exceptional looking in the mirror. I mean, other stars. Chris, obviously this is the highlight of my decade is, is meeting you again on, on screen. Obviously, I mean, I have to say that first. Um, I mean, to be honest with you, I've been lucky because, you know, doing the mobile awards, I met every major pop star doing the dance star awards. I met, you know, everybody from Madonna to, you know, big DJs of each hour with a beachy from about six years during music videos for him. And so, you know, I don't know, occasionally you do. I mean, but it's not something that I would think about so much now. You know what I mean? I guess when you're younger and you meet a film star or whatever you like, you know, but, um, you know, I dated a Bond girl once. So it's like, you know, after that, do you know what I mean? Did you say a Bond girl? Yeah. I was, I was hoping you, I was hoping you said a blonde girl. I was going to say I came out as well. Yeah. Done that twice. Yeah. Maybe five. A beachy, that was really sad because he was quite some cool dude, wasn't he? Oh, he's amazing. Yeah, he's amazing. I mean, I was lucky. I actually shot his first video in the U.S. When he first came to the U.S., I think that must have been 2010 or 20, I don't know, 20, 209. Um, and, uh, yeah. So I was lucky that I saw him grow, you know, from being, you know, a little bit nervous. I think most people that are familiar with a beachy, you know, see him now, you know, see him recently in the last few years, God rest his soul. Um, but the way he changed over time was amazing and I was lucky because I got to experience seeing a beachy just become this amazing, you know, guy that, honestly, I was pretty loose to work with him because he's genius, no doubt about it, you know, musically and everything else. Um, and, uh, but yeah. So, but that was part of the reason I was in Vegas because it was where, you know, most electronic music was kind of based, you know, or this world entertainment. So, you know, that was my, uh, ambitious goal was to set up a production company there, which we did and, you know, it was very successful. Um, but yeah. So each is a particular favorite of mine because I got to work with him so much. Um, you know, but that's part of the reason. In your mind, Andy, was there anything suspicious about his, his, his death? Um, it's a good question. There's loads of theories. Um, I mean, I know the family, so I'm not going to talk theories, but I think, um, uh, put it this way, it was a shock. Um, but you know, there's lots of, you know, interviews that he did before it happened where, you know, you could tell he was upset. Like, you know, he was, you know, doing a lot more work than he wanted to. Basically, he wanted to be in the studio, writing music, but there was such demand for him, you know, doing 200 shows a year, you know, um, was, it was, it was tough to do. So I think if you look at the end of his career, you could tell he was, you know, feeling overworked, but I don't know. It put it this way. It was, it was a shock. And it was definitely a shock. Yeah. Yeah. I saw a photo of him on the afternoon of the day he, I think it was the morning of the day he died and he was out like with tourists because he was in some hotel abroad, wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah. He's obviously from Sweden anyway, but yeah. Yeah. And he was just like doing selfies with, with turret and it was, but certainly look, no, didn't look like a guy that was going to, I mean, I only asked me because there's, it almost seems a dead cert to me that there's some weird shit goes on in the music industry, you know, when it does. Not for sure. Yeah. I've been in it. Yeah. I've been in it 30 years. But I think the, but no, I mean, I think when it comes to, to Vici, you know, obviously there's some issues there. I mean, that's, that's all, you know, I can't say anything beyond that really, but it was a shock and I wish it hadn't happened and, you know, it was, it's very upsetting. But, you know, I'm, I'm proud that, you know, I got to spend a fair bit of time with him. It's not like we're best mates, I think. But, you know, I was, you know, I made a lot of videos with him. We probably did 10 or 12 videos actually in all over the world. Um, and it was an important time of my, uh, of my life. So I look back on it fondly, but, you know, last, last 30 years I've been in music, man. That's been some crazy shit from day one. But that's another video. That's another video. His music is, his music's awesome to run to. Yeah. I'm fine. Listen, I, I think I don't know whether you called it on this, but I, you know, as I said to you before, I mean, or if you're doing that run, you know, the 900 mile run or whatever. It's like, man, that's an achievement. I got to be honest with you. I mean, 360 is all right, but running 999 miles or something. I mean, I couldn't even begin to fathom doing that. But so congrats on that. I know it was a while ago. No, that's really kind you say. Um, yes, it's really, uh, I'm a bit blown away, mate, to be honest. So thank you very much. My pleasure, sir. It's been good. Yes. I mean, I'm sorry about the pig and the thunderstorm. Luckily, mostly that didn't show up. Hopefully. Hey, listen, there's how many people can get to say that they podcasted with Andy Ruff or Anna Pig? That's, that's what makes life interesting. Listen, listen, we're going to keep in touch anyway, because I think the world of you, Andy, you're, you're, you're quite special. Well, you've been so kind to me in the short time we've known each other. Um, stay on the line so I can thank you properly, but for the purposes of, of the tape, you have the right to remain silent. But no, massive thank you. Thank you on behalf of all those people that I know I speak for when I say you were such a positive influence in our lives. And my God, I, I, I just wish my son's generation have people like you, you know, people that are out there smashing it. Um, so no, thanks. I appreciate it. And thank you for coming on the podcast to our friends at home. There you go. We've just had another classic. So much love to you all. Thanks for tuning in again. If you could like and subscribe, and then we can do this again. Ciao, ciao. Take care, mate. Thanks very much.