Alright, I know this is the DH forum, but more people post here than on the FR forum, and I'd guess that most of you would consider yourselves freeriders as well as racers. Anyway, I've been noticing in a lot of publications lately, namely Decline and Mountain Bike action, a trend of hating on some of the old-school freeriders such as Wade Simmons, Ritchie Schley, Dave Watson, etc. Usually, names aren't used, but it's pretty clear who is implied. The articles usually try to lead the reader to believe that these guys' riding is no longer valid, and that new school riders are somehow more "gnar" and the "real deal." Cameron Zinc has an article in the latest Decline that basically says some of the old "freeride pioneers" need to hang it up so that newcomers can be invited to contests. He says that some of the old-school riders are "milking it," and they're being invited to contests just because of who they are. Lately, it seems that riders don't get any credit unless they're pulling 360's off drops, tailwhipping doubles, and backflipping everything in sight. I disagree with this whole stance. New school slopestyle contests and freeriding would not even exist today without those old guys going out back in the day and sending it off huge cliffs and ladder-bridge drops. Guys like Schley and Simmons invented the whole freeride movement. I think that the new slopestyle contests put too much emphasis on street and BMX skills. Furthermore, 20" BMX pros are still light years ahead of guys like Cam Zinc and Paul Basagoita. When a mountain biker does a 720 over a big set of doubles, he's pretty much sponsered immediately, yet in the BMX world, the pros can pretty much all do that and add a tailwhip no-hander to it, and they don't get all hyped up like these new-school mountainbikers. I'd like to see the return of big mountain-style freeride competitions like the RedBull Rampage. I think we need to keep the "mountain" in mountain biking. In defense of those aformentioned "freeride pioneers," they're still killing it. I've had the chance to see Wade Simmons ride in person, both at the Rampage and in Whistler, as well as seen some of the crazy lines he's guinea-pigged over the years while shooting films. He is THE smoothest rider I've ever seen, and he's done stunts that no one else will try. Having met him, I've also found him to be an outstanding spokesperson for the sport, with a genuine positive attitude and not a trace of arrogance. I think that there should be respect for these old-school riders, and I've been annoyed that there has been a lack of it in the press lately. Rather, it seems they're being hung out to dry. This is just a rant I've been thinking about for the last few weeks. I think it can provide for an interesting discussion. Your opinions?.....