Q&A with Lee Fletcher

– Hey Lee how’s it going?  Tell us a bit about yourself.

Good afternoon bud, things are going good in this mad time we are getting by.

I am a Leeds lad born and raised, I’m 30 years old, I have been riding bikes for 28 years and been riding BMX for 24 years.  I still love BMX today like I did the first time I got one, from a young age I have always been into taking apart bikes, cars, speakers anything really and I have always stuck with bikes and cars!  Haha, I still do the same to this day! 

I lost my job due to the pandemic and the first lockdown we had. I was doing camper van conversions and house renovating, so I’ve got time off to ride at the moment and finish building my first car that I purchased at 18! (My Mk2 Golf GTI, which me and a friend Marc Roberts are putting a 1.8 20 valve turbo engine in it this year.)

I still live in Leeds with my girlfriend of 9 years and our 3 mad cats, we travel up and down the country together going to different parks and going to cars shows when we have the chance and just try get on with life the best that we can, especially after the madness we’ve all had to deal with over the last year.

“I was four foot nothing with biggest mouth around wearing Nike tracky bottoms, Nike trainers, Nike TN hat (sticking up to the sky) cig in mouth going ‘you give me a go of your bike!’”

– Chav Lee, what’s the story behind that? I feel like you have a lot more about you than the nickname suggests!

Haha, Chav Lee!  This goes way back to the first of year of being on the riding seen with the original RevoltBmx Crew, I was four foot nothing with biggest mouth around wearing Nike tracky bottoms, Nike trainers, Nike TN hat (sticking up to the sky) cig in mouth going ‘you give me a go of your bike!’ (As mine was always broken) and I was always a cheeky little shit.  I would always ride other people’s bike longer then what they did! ?? but the name mainly was because of how I dressed and acted like a little chav!

– What got you into riding?

What got me into riding…  Well, I used to go up to Hyde Park to the old plastic and metal park on a mountain bike with my chav mates and I was the only one that would jump the fun box or the jump box, or try to.  Haha, see, I was a young lad that would make friends with anyone and I made friends with with Brendan Turner, Terry Geldard, Charles Prow (Rest in Peace Bro), Paul Robinson, Richard Rolland, Matty Thompson, and many more! They all would tell me to get a BMX and stick at it and I would get good if I keep practicing, the next day I had a BMX and from there it saved my life!

The Leeds BMX crew saved my life!  I was going down a very bad road in my home life, school life and with the rogue friends I’d surrounded myself with. BMX and the riders I grew up with gave me something to put all my anger and bad energy into as I was a very angry kid!  Someone to talk to that would listen and put me in good place to become a better person!  So I stuck at it, yeah I got into a little trouble along the way but BMX is the one thing that kept me out of trouble or going down that bad road!  I will always owe BMX and the original BMX Leeds crew everything for how they have helped me with life, still helping me in life making friends, going places and teaching me how to grow up -ish! (I just stay out of trouble now and ride my bike.) BMX has always been a huge part of my life and I know that it always will be.

“If you learn a trick a funny way, keep it!  Don’t learn it clean, just learn to keep your speed out of it!”

– I think you are one of the most gifted riders I have ever seen, yet you are so unknown.  What was your influence to ride the way you do?

I always wanted to be different and do my own thing or do similar thing to everyone just with my own added twist. I always try and do a bit of everything and I don’t say no to trying most tricks! (I don’t go upside down though, it just don’t work in my head) but I always give tricks a try and go from there!  I’m still learning to this day!  If you learn a trick a funny way, keep it, don’t learn it clean just learn to keep your speed out of it! ? Then its a similar trick to everyone else just with your own twist!  That’s basically me.

– I’d say that you are predominantly a tech rider yet you don’t run brakes. Is there any reason you don’t run a brake like most other tech riders?

The main reason I don’t run a brake at the moment is down to the size of my tyre, with it being a 2.30 and me not having a straight wheel it won’t work, plus I always spend more time fixing my brake or sorting my back wheel out. 

The last time I ran a brake I ended up with 6 pins and a plate in my right foot from trying a big silly fuf on a sub box that wasn’t made to be a sub box, I ended up not being able to ride for a year but I am looking to put a brake back on and have some brake fun this summer!

– Last time we caught up it was to shoot some photos for the new Horsforth park, between there and Hyde you have two really great parks.  Do you think Hyde has helped you become the rider you are today?

Hyde park was a big help but at the same time as getting Hyde park we got The Works Skatepark! (which is now called LSTen.) When Hyde and The Works came along it made loads of riders come from across the world to ride the parks and streets in Leeds which gave me a big push and the opportunity to make new friends, learn more tricks, go higher, be smoother and just enjoy riding with new people and new skate parks!

“I try and enjoy riding and life to the best I can.  I love helping people learn new tricks and try my best to pass what I know on to any rider!  Big, small, young, old, anyone!”

– Any plans for the future with your riding? I feel like the world needs to see your riding.

I don’t have any big plans for the future with riding, the times we are in at the moment it’s been hard to plan things!  But I definitely want to do a lot more traveling, riding new parks, making new friends, seeing some awesome riders do their stuff and just try and enjoy riding and life to the best I can.  I love helping people learn new tricks and try my best to pass what I know on to any rider!  Big, small, young, old, anyone!  I have all the time in the world for anyone that want to learn how to ride a bike, learn how to do tricks, fixing a bike, anything to do with bikes ,not just BMX I always help the best I can when I can.

My Nanna always told me if you don’t ask you don’t get or you’ll need know.

So if I see a video of a trick that someone is doing that I like and spent hours watching how to do it I’ll give it a go in my own way, and if that doesn’t work I will send them a message and ask them for tips on how to do it, sometimes I get a reply sometimes I don’t but then I just ask the next person who can do it and so on, till I find a way that works for me!  I mean if we don’t help each other out then where would we all be?

– Thank buddy and I hope to see you shredding again very soon.

Thanks buddy I appreciate you taking the time to get to know me well bits at least , oh don’t worry I will be forever shredding ??