Randy and Ryder Lawrence

I first met Randy Lawrence in about '88 or '89, when he left his desert home and migrated to Huntington Beach, California.  We rode together at the HB Pier on the weekends, and were roommates at one point.  I was working at Unreel Productions at the time, and Randy was a bike shop mechanic.  My bike rattled and shook so much, that Randy used to tune it at night when I was asleep, just because the noise it made bugged the heck out of him and the other roommates.  We headed off in different directions in the 90's, and I split time between furniture moving and the TV business.  Randy wound up wrenching for pro motocross racers, including Jeremy McGrath during his Supercross champion years. 

These days Randy trains young motocross riders, and has a son, Ryder, is a wunderkind on two wheels.  The photo I used in the drawing above is from a couple years ago.  Ryder is doing a wall ride while Randy is launching a big fakie wall ride in the background.  There's a lot of fathers and sons (and daughters) riding BMX together these days, but few at the level these two do.  At the Old School BMX Jam at Woodward West a few weeks ago, Randy and Ryder did side by side backflips into the foam pit.  Not only can Ryder do that, but check out this video clip of him on a Mega Ramp, at age 7.  That's a 50 foot jump, folks.  Keep an eye on this kid.  Rydas Gotta Ride!