It's sad.
If you can recall, there were even tiers within Mongoose. If you only had the big 3 tubes that were chrome-moly, you and your bike were lesser. I remember when Jeff got a PK Ripper for his birthday and he was ridiculed for weeks.
When I was 14, the big thing at The Jump® was wondering if any among us could ride down the hill with no brakes, hit the jump, and make it over the rut cleanly. My younger brother said he could do it, and we all gathered to watch. The cool girls even came, with Bactine and Bandaids. Mike started at the top, pedaled even harder than he had to, had very respectable speed, and air, and as he and my sister's bike apexed, the handlebars broke. Everything slow motion now, and you would think that as he began to look at the Oakly grip and piece of handlebar in his left hand, he would be scared or mad, but Mike just looked sad. The ground came, and when he beat it, his face hit hard enough to break his front tooth. He's 53 now, and we still talk about that jump.
Now comes the part where you people share your stories.
