interview by markus wilke and thomas fritscher Photo: Olivier Weidemann

Let’s start with your name, age and all that…
My name is Alexis Desolneux, I’m 26 years old and I live in Paris, France.
How long have you been riding?
I’ve been into BMX since 1984. The first 3 years I rode dirt and built
some jumps. That was the easiest way to get into BMX. After that I started freestyling.
Ramps and Flatland.
How did you get into Flatland?
That’s kind of weird… I never really made the decision to ride flatland.
I just rode. I live in the city so there are lots of places to ride flat and
no ramps. It just developed that I rode more and more flatland. Around ‘87
I crashed pretty bad on ramps. I fell over the ramp because the platform was
about one foot wide and broke my wrist. After that I guess I was too scared
to ride ramps. Rolling Tricks came out and flatland got really exiting for me.
So many new tricks! I had so much fun learning rolling tricks that I got really
into flatland. Rolling tricks made me like flatland, really. And street came
out around the same time, too. I was riding flatland and at night I would go
out and skate. Then street came out, so I didn’t really need to skate anymore
and quit. Ever since then I’m into flat and street.
More flat or more street?
Flatland. I just need a lot more time and energy to ride flat. If I go ride
street, I know that I won’t be able to ride flat the next day. I’ll
be sore. I’m not a full-time street rider so I’m just not tough enough.
Street riding is a big effort for me. I have to be in a certain state of mind
to ride street because it’s so different from flatland. On the other hand,
I can ride flat every day… Maybe take on day off every other week…
You ride all day?
No, not all day. I average at about 4 hours a day.
Do you ride by yourself?
Yes. I like it. Which doesn’t mean that I don’t like riding with people…
I’m just used to ride alone. Sometimes I ride with my friend Lionel Cardoso,
when he’s in town. He’s my only riding partner. Flatland is so individual.
Meeting other people at contests is fine but what really matters is the parking
lot. Your own riding. Live your own live!
Do you get burned out all?
Most of the time I’m very motivated. I try to always know why exactly I’m
going to ride. I will get burned out if I don’t think about riding before
I go out and ride. If I just go, because that’s something I’m used
to do everyday I will get burned out. Everyday is a new day and I have to know
pretty excactly what I want to do. I have to be in the right state of mind to
ride. It happened that I just wanted to learn tricks so bad and riding turned
into work. That’s when I get burned out. I guess you just have to know,
why you ride.
Do you know why you ride?
Yeah sure. Most of all it’s fun. It’s simple and complicated at the
same time. First it’s fun. If it wasn’t fun I’m sure I wouldn’t
do it anymore. But since flatland evolved so much for me in my mind, now it’s
getting to be a creative outlet. I did not always look at flatland as something
creative. Just because I had to build my riding abilities first. After all those
years I can’t say exactly why I rode at every period of time. I just know
that I’m really exited about riding now, because I got to the point where
I can shape my riding. It’s gotten so challenging for me and brings me
so much satisfaction… That’s basically why I ride. Because I can go my
own way. I don’t say that it’s all about originality. It’s about
doing your own. I realised that it takes years, though. I now that my riding
is based on so many Kevin Jones Tricks that I can’t really talk about originality.
It’s not about originality, it’s not even about tricks! It’s
about moves. I look at it as a way I’m gonna move with my bike. What motivates
me is the way It feels doing those moves and connecting those moves. I guess
taking my brakes off really opened a new way for me, because I didn’t think
of riding like that before.
How long have you had the brakes off?
Almost 7 month. I took them off in early december.
A lot of people think that taking off the brakes limits you and is just a trend. Do you
think it’s here to stay?
I see it as a trend now. I won’t say any names but some people just don’t
think about it, before they take their brakes off. I don’t care, it’s
just everyones choice.
But you don’t think it limits you?
No, it expands it. If you don’t have a project, it will limit you. The
first months I was often questioning it and asking myself if I was right to
do it, but now I feel confident about it. I feel better without brakes. My big
influence of course was Chase (Gouin). I met him in winter of ‘96-’97.
I was very interested in brakeless riding and I somehow knew that I would take
my brakes off but I wanted to give myself 21/2 years and try to learn the basic
tricks brakeless. I worked faster than I thought. I had my brakes on the bike
but learned the tricks without using them and at some point, the levers started
bothering me. So I just took them off… All the tricks I wanted to learn were
brakeless, so it made no sense to keep them on.
How do you see the french freestyle scene?
Well… it’s growing. Good trails riding. There is no fucking street scene
in france. There are a few guys in Paris.
Do you feel close to the french riding scene?
I never really felt close to the riding scene. I have lots of friends outside
of BMX and some in BMX… I don’t care.
But you just started to work for a BMX Magazine…
Yea. It’s gonna be called “Soul – Bmx experience“ and we want to do
a good magazine that can maybe interest people from all over europe.
Will it be in english?
No, it’s gonna be in french.
What’s your job at the magazine?
I will be writing some articles. I have a column. I want to start taking pictures
again. I feel like I need a project like this, to sit home and have things to
write about because I really miss writing. I was writing a lot before, in my
literature and sociology studies in university. It’s a good way to get
back into writing.
What else do you do in your life?
Sometimes I do some clothes, Perfect Twenty, together with Lionel Cardoso.
We ride our bikes all the time and I really need to fulfill my need to ride
so there’s not much time left for the clothes. I want to ride now, that
my body is fine and I’m able to. Time is running fast, I’m almost
27 and I have a riding project about flatland.
Do you sometimes
feel like your are wasting time? Do you have any regrets about riding?
No, ridng is my main thing. I’m working on the magazine at night, maybe
do some stuff for the clothing in the morning and that’s perfect. Sometimes
days go very fast.
Do you still play in a band?
No, not anymore. I miss music. Touring and everything. The band lasted for about
18 month.
What kind of music did you play?
Some kind of punkrock.
Is that the kind of music you listen to?
Right now I listen to more brutal music. A very brutal form of hardcore. I especially
like some german bands like ACME and Carol from Berlin. Maybe I will start a
new band too. Very brutal.
What does music mean to you?
It’s totally different and hasn’t got anything to do with riding.
It’s so intense to play music. You totally loose yourself. It’s a
really good feeling, even just to think about music.
What did you play?
Guitar. And I can scream a little. But I like all kinds of music.
Does brutal music make you a brutal person?
No. I also like very mellow music and some jazz and jazz classics like Miles
Davis. But on the other side I like very very brutal music.
Do both kinds of music have the same function for you?
No. They are for different moods. I just seem to listen to a lot of brutal music
lately and maybe that’s because I’m so exited about riding. It’s
crazy! I didn’t even expect to ride street again. Last year I felt an urgent
need to have a street bike. When I went to university I devoted all my riding
time to flatland. Now I have the time, so I ride some street. I try to improve.
There are so many tricks to learn on street and so little time. The suburbs
of Paris are very good to ride street, better than the city itself.
Are you interested in politics?
I used to be more into all kinds of political topics. It doesn’t really
touch me anymore… When I was in the band it was really important for us to
do anything by ourselves, we booked the tour ourselves and doing the layouts
for the demotapes. That was important, but we weren’t into explicit political
topics. I think we were political in the way that we were doing our own thing…
Compared to most Bands in France our music was pretty original. For a year and
a half I worked in an international solidarity organisation, so I was pretty
interested in politics and sociology. I have some convictions but they don’t
drive me crazy… I always had riding as my main thing and music on the side.
I really respect people like the ones who do Dischord Records. I think a bike-company
should be run like this.
Are you involved in the bike industry at all?
I’m bad at business.
But you have a sponsor?
I’m sponsored by Sunn and Etnies.
How long do you think you will keep riding?
You are never too old. When I turned 25 I realised that time was going really
fast and I didn’t feel like I put all the energy that I should in riding.
That was the time when I really started to ride more. And I had more time too
because I finished school. Age doesn’t really matter, it’s all in
the mind. Especially in Flatland. That’s another thing about street riding.
Everytime I ride street, I’m so afraid to get hurt. So I try to be very
focused and concentrated when I ride street because I don’t want to get
hurt, because want to ride flat!
Do you have any brakes on your street-bike?
The bike I have right now is a prototype and it has problems in the back so
I can’t put a brake on. I used to have no brakes on my street-bike as well,
put I think I’m going to put a back-brake on as soon as I have a new frame.
Not for street, I like riding street without brakes, but I want to ride some
trails too.
What do you think about the contest here?
It’s so cool! I love it! It’s so laid back. Everytime I go to a Jugendpark
Contest it’s like this. I don’t have any bad memories of Cologne.
I wish french contests could be like this. It’s not just the organisers
who make these contests so laid back, it’s also the people here. They want
it to be laid back, so it is. In France there’s still this big shit going
on with the Cycling Federation (French Contests Organisers). I’m totally
against them! We want to have independent contests, contests where people can
have fun. I don’t want the Cycling Federation and their so-called ?riders“
do any contests in France! I guess we just have to move our asses and have good
jams and contests, because we can’t leave the contest scene to these people.
I’m a bit angry about that… They (the cycling federation) think it’s
very important to have an official championship in France and that this is the
only way to get BMX recognized. I don’t even know if it has to be recognised
as a sport! It has to be recognised as it is, because otherwise you’ll
split the sport in two parts. I would like to promote BMX the way it is. Show
the different aspects of BMX, represent in a good way. Contests just have to
be close to the way BMX really is and not close to any other sports. The cycling
federation wants to show a false image of BMX, that of a “real sport”…
I don’t know what is a “real sport”, and why BMX should be represented
like that. That’s a pretty big problem for me.
What do you think about sponsors from outside of BMX?
It can help. As long as the organisation stays in control. Big sponsors can
bring money to make a good contest well organised by riders. That’s fine,
as long as the sponsors don’t say how things should be run. It’s hard
to find sponsors for events in France, though. We are not really in the position
to choose.If riders organise things, they should try to protect the scene. If
money can come from within the scene it’s definitely better than sponsors
from outside. Outside sponsors tend to drop BMX as soon as it’s not making
big money. That would put things on a more solid basis, because you don’t
have to be afraid to loose sponsors all the time. I know they want to do it
like this in skateboarding. BMX company are not always good, though…
Anyone you want to thank, because we are closing this right now…
Yes, first I would like to thank Sunn, Etnies and my old sponsor Jean-Claude
Bikeshop. They helped me out in all those years. All my friends who supported
my in what I do and my family.
Any message?
Have fun on your bike or quit.

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