Video and interview by Brett Rohlfing.
Name: Chris Schuster
Age: 19
Location: Lakeland, FL
Years riding: 5
What was it that first got you into riding?
I went up to the public park in Lakeland and saw Brett Rohlfing and Jordan Pope riding. I hadn’t really seen people do more than wheelies in real life until then. I thought it was rad and wanted to do tricks, too. They were friendly and we exchanged numbers, and they kept in touch, and it just went from there.
What do you think you would be getting into if you didn’t find BMX?
I can’t imagine my life without BMX, but I’d probably be in trouble.
Your living situation has changed a lot over the past few years, what’s that been like?
It’s been rough…when the economy got bad we got evicted from our trailer and had to live in a busted hotel. Food was scarce and we had to clean the clothes in the sink. There were even people having sex in the pool in broad daylight. It was nuts. Then I got out of there and stayed on various floors and couches with friends for a while…I recently moved back in with my mom and crazy step father, ’cause they were able to get a new trailer and didn’t want to make my friends put me up anymore.
What does your mom and step dad think about you riding bikes?
My mom thinks it’s kinda cool, and my step dad thinks it’s stupid.
What are your local spots, and who do you ride with?
I mostly ride Lakeland with Brett and Jordan. Sometimes I get out to Tampa and ride with whoever is at The Skatepark of Tampa.
What are you doing for work right now?
I go to the local day labor place and do whatever is available. Lately it’s been working for this laundry business that cleans the hospital’s bed sheets. It’s pretty gross sometimes.
You were in jail for a while, right? What happened?
I was locked up for a year. I got in trouble for grinding a rail at a post office. It was night so I thought I could get away, but they stayed on me and even put a helicopter out with a spotlight on me. Seriously, a police helicopter chasing me for doing a grind. That got me on probation. A while after that I was riding and ruptured my adrenal gland. When I got out of the hospital they gave me a prescription for pain pills, but that’s expensive, and my mom had some left over from the past, so she gave me two as I was leaving the house a few days later. My friend got pulled over and we both got searched for no reason. They found the pills and wanted to charge me with a felony. I thought I was screwed, so went off and hid out in Tampa for six months. I didn’t go to any probation or court stuff, cops came to my parent’s place weekly…eventually I got found cause I was at this party at some stripper’s house and it got too loud and the neighbors called the cops. They ran I.D.’s on everyone and took me away. They dropped the drug charge ’cause the search wasn’t legal, but still put me away for running and blowing off probation and all that.
Your nick name is Nails, how did that come about?
It’s ’cause most of the time my fingernails are really long and really dirty. Some guys started calling me “Fingernails,” and that just got shortened to “Nails” over time.
Tell me about the time Nigel gave you shoes…
I was at an event and they put on a best trick contest and Nigel was judging. Even though I was mostly falling, he was stoked on a few tricks I did do and gave me some Nikes…Thanks dude, I needed them bad!
You used to ride your bike 30 miles to ride skateparks frequently, do you still do that?
Yeah! I don’t think I’ll have a car till I’m 27 anyway, and I want to ride fun places, so what else can I do? Sometimes I can get rides, but sometimes I want to ride when other people are busy, so I just get on my bike and go.
You had a super gnarly crash that ended up on Break.com, what went wrong?
It was getting dark and couldn’t see too well, and I just went too slow. I broke my arm, but my head was fine, so I guess I’m pretty lucky.
Not long after that you ended up in the burn unit in Tampa…
I got really drunk at the Casselberry trails. I kicked the fire and my foot got stuck between two big logs. I thought I would be fine, but a few days later I had a 104 temperature and they rushed me to Tampa. They thought I would need a skin graft, but they said I just avoided it. They wanted me to stay for a few more days, but I called up one of my friends and I just walked out without telling them. Even though I cut out early I’m still stuck with $30,000 in bills from it.
So, have you had to deal with a lot of injuries in your time riding?
I guess. I broke both my ankles, torn my adrenal gland, broke my arm, and had a few concussions…but I don’t let it keep me off my bike long. I usually leave a cast on for a week then cut it off and go back to riding.
What is it about you and beef jerky?
It’s a good source of protein, and they are the easiest thing in a convenience store to slip into your sleeve or waistband.
So you are a big fan of The Bad Girls club…Why?
They fight every night! I like hot girls fighting.
What riders do you look up to?
Ty morrow, Dakota Roche, Brett Banasiewicz, Joe Rich, and Morgan Wade.
Do you have any shout outs or thanks?
Ride for using my video and doing this interview, Brett Rohlfing for driving me around, giving me parts, and filming me, Trey Jones for giving me a lot of parts so my bike would keep rolling, my neighbor for helping me out a ton, Matt and “Slapnuts” Doyle for putting me up for a while, The Grip Gloves guys for being super nice, my mom, Brett’s girlfriend for giving me food when I didn’t have much, 4F for being a sick bike-only park, my neighbor’s dogs for staring at me this whole time I’ve been typing, Able Body Day Labor for giving me work, Taco Bell five layer burritos all day, Jordan Pope, Dude Bird, not Ben Griggs, anybody I’ve ridden with that’s been cool, Matt Coplon, Nick Burton, Rambo, Matos Goodwin’s mom for making the best spaghetti ever, shout out to my fall c’ause I didn’t get hurt bad, Bike Barn for selling me my first bike, Lakeland hospital for fixing me, Scott Ehlert for doing rad tricks, Jason Levy for shooting guns while riding, and my neighbor’s dogs for still staring at me.
Anything else you want to say?
R.I.P. Mesh, and riding is the best thing that ever happened to me, besides pussy.
TAGS: Brett Rohlfing, Chris Schuster, The Monday Edit
