Interview with the 1 and only Matt (Denny) Dyer

 Interview with denny

Old school rider from Cardiff he's been riding before I was born, he's still big part of the Welsh bmx scene doing the media side of things on welshside and was doing Ride UK news before they changed it all here he is telling us what hes come across and experienced since he first got on bike.

Where are you from and how long you been riding?
Kaardiff, born and bred. Riding since 1983. 1984 i really got into tricks and freestyle- so 26 years minus injury time- been injured alot of that timescale.

What was it like back in your day with bmx?
Great fun. So many cool places to ride and so many good friends. The best times were prob at the Ramp room, Welsh office, Museum jumps and the Wenallt ramp. I could go on forever about all the ghetto places we rode as nothing was provided by the council for us so it was built for & by riders. Many got bulldozed etc until the next spot was found , and so on.

What got you into bmx?
Just seeing bmx in magazines & on tv (kelloggs bmx championship-ch 4 )and in the movie E.T. , then came bmx beat on itv which helped us see bmx on tv at least a few times a year. Oh, and seeing the older guys at high school doing backhops at the bikesheds. Memories .....


Who did you look up to with your riding?
There were quite a few local riders at the time such as Andy Price, Andy Reardon, Marc Reardon, Mark Anderson, Ben Dickenson,Pete Fowler, Mike Cameron and quite a few more. Some had more of a lasting influence on me than others.
Obviously a lot of the pro riders out there thru the last 26 years also influenced me too,some even became friends later on in life.

You're into lot of filming and photography how did this start from bmx?
Long story short- wanted to try and capture some of the great scene we had in Cardiff within our bmx & skateboarding community. After about a year of filming i decided i should try and make a scene video (Half & Half- 1991). It went down well and somehow ended up doing the same process for the next few years due to the welsh scene wanting more and more (Half & Half 2-1992, Half 3- Deja vu-1993, Thugs-1995-skate only, then the rest were bmx only- Filth-1996, Bcr on the Vcr-1997 and Tidy- 1999.)
Picked up a digital SLR camera about 2005/06 after a couple of years using a little Fuji camera for doing the Ride column pics. It's good doing bits of both as I enjoy shooting a great pic if someone is stoked on it, same as with filming & editing. I get a great buzz from them as I do from pulling a new or hard trick/combo

How do you find the level of riding now from back in the day?
Tricks have got out of hand. It's so hard to be able to ride all disiplines unlike back in the day when you had to do a compulsary routine of set tricks, then a freestyle run of flat,ramps or both. Flatland is space age now, vert riding has progressed so much but the old classic styles reign in certain riding groups. Tables forever!!

Is the Welsh scene good or bad right now with bmx? If so why?
The welsh scene has slackened off in the last couple of years, what with a lot of riders quitting, CSP closing, bad attitudes (no need for em) - not just in wales but worldwide -why hate on people for doing something. Bmx is a small community worldwide and the old 'family' saying is out the window with new skool riders. The old schoolers know what i mean by 'Bmx family'. And riders not respecting others riding spots- thats another one. Think I'll leave this subject here....

Any plans to travel to european contest?
Retired from comps. But then again you never know.....(winks)

And will we see a triple decade from you this year?
Hopefully. I wanted it before my 30th birthday after accidently almost making one in 1996. Got close many times from then on but mashed up my knee on a 360 whip attempt in zooport in 2001 so left decades alone until 2004 when i got a lighter bike and it seemed to help a lot so i relearnt em. I'm not gonna bust myself to do it but if it happens , it happens....

What tricks are you working on at the moment?
Hmmm, just getting back to riding again after hibernating since Sept last year. Hope we get a Summer this year as the last 2 been shite! Maybe a triple decade, backpacker, and just linking what tricks i can do together.

Do you think bmx is turning into more of a fashion thing? If so why?
Bmx a fashion accessary? Not in my days, it was all 'bmx boys have a lot of fun' and generally getting mocked for riding em. With regards to fashion within bmx i think a lot of it is a load of shit. Yep, we had images we tried to follow but girls jeans, no seatposts, brakeless weren't amongst em & won't last forever. The latter may in certain riding groups but a lot of it is fads. And alot of the people who follow these fads are in the sport for a quite a short time before they get into something else.

Any plans with a wedding this year denny?
NO! Ha, just getting engaged was a big step for me. All good things to those who wait. So I'll wait a little longer before Sam & I set a date.

Last words?
Ride on! the last 37 years have been a blast, here's to many more....