I ain’t trippin’ – I still got a full head of hair.

“Gorgeous G, Primo, Larry Local and “”G”" are all the nicknames Greg Romero holds in the wonderful world of BMX. You either love him or hate him, but most just envy his attitude and full head of hair. When it comes time to voice your opinion Greg is always there to stand up for what he believes in. Through this website Greg has used his alias “”Larry Local”" to bring light to certain topics in the BMX World and stir the pot at the same time. You can’t deny the mans creditability, he knows his stuff and we tracked him down for an in-depth interview exclusively for BMX News.com.”"Whats the latest G, Are you really turning Vet Pro after a successful career in AA? No. I was merely entertaining the idea based on ROI in AA, in comparison to Vet. I figured I’m over 30, why not do no training at all, race vet and make the same amount of money than I can in AA? AA takes so much determination in terms of training to make the cut and it’s expensive! But, when I can no longer beat these kids in practice, qualifying and mains, then that’s when I will make a realistic decision to quit racing AA. So far, I don’t have trouble keeping up, I’m in fantastic shape. Are you motivated 100% to train and follow the race schedule these days. I’m fast as hell right now. And if any one witnessed my speed at all the NBL nationals this year, then you know I’m still in the top 5 of fastest Pros right now. I’ve been following the schedule now for the past 5 years with little or no financial help. And don’t get me wrong, I get lots of help from lots of great sponsors, but your talking to a guy who used to ride for the GT of yesterday. I’ve had part time jobs working concurrently before too, so I know what it is like, and I truly appreciate any money I can make from this great sport. Who is Larry Local and what is his purpose. Is it a outlet to see things from a different perspective? Larry is just a geek. He lives vicariously through the perspective of a know it all, shit talking, equal opportunity hater. It’s all for the entertainment in lieu of television. He don’t take it personal and neither should anyone else. It’s the internet? Do you think Pros from the 90′s will ever take back the Top 3? It is 2005 now and the Young Guys are fast… For me, it’s a rebuilding year. I’m only going to selective races that makes economical sense for me until I get this gym thing going. I’m not tripping about a year end number because that costs money. Right now, I’m more concerned about setting up my life so when I’m 40, fat, and bald, I can kick back, stare at all my plaques and pictures in old magazines while drinking whiskey…. Best advice to an 18 year old who wants to race pro? If your discerning to be a pro you really need to analyze the sport and assess what you want out of it. That was my biggest problem from 2001-2004. I didn’t analyze where the sport was going in terms in the ability to make living at it, and probably should of got over it and moved on with my life earlier instead of sticking around, complaining to the both sanctions, looking like a dickhead. The pros today live in the moment and can careless about what they are going to be doing when they hit 30. Today, I have decided to take the cape off and stop saving people that don’t want to save themselves. On the contrary, I love being a pro, what can I say, I love the sport that has afforded me to buy 3 houses from it. If your a millenium pro, that’s not going to happen. Warwick, Stumpy and Bennett are certainley doing okay for now, but in retrospect they are making money of a 90′s AA moto-filler (Sam Arellano). Making big big money (100K+) is over with. So, what I’m suggesting is, go to school, make your money by building up 700+credit, and get into a business that has a good monthly cash flow, be it passive or non-passive. This is America and we have all the opportunity to make it big in terms of making a living, it’s just not going to happen by getting a $75 Pro membership anymore. One more thing to add: It seems like there are more Anti-Pro groups then there are Pro-Pro groups, you know? It seems like being a pro carries still carries the stigma from the 90′s of “”having it easy”" and “”their so paid”" therefore it’s “”screw those guys.”" What kind of advice can you give the Y2K AA’s on Training, Sponsorship and Success in the Sport of BMX Racing. Good Luck. Do you feel semi retired now that your schedule is not 100%? Yes and no. From a training standpoint, no. I love it. I would train even if I wasn’t racing. For a 31 year old, I’m stronger and more powerful physically than I ever have been and that’s because I’m into working out and being physically active regardless. Sedentary is not in my vocab. Mentally, I’m just picking a choosing my fights and picking races that fit my criteria of expenses and track layout. Do you have pictures of yourself on your refrigerator? No? The only pics I have of myself are on the wall behind my office desk. It’s symbolic that it’s “”all in the past”" and when I face forward in my desk, I see the door ( “”opportunity”"). Whats with the Penguins? Penguins was a word that Cecil started using back in the day in liue of “”dork”", “”follower”", “”Simpletons”" etc. It’s funny to call someone a penguin. Next time you see your friends just say “”what’s up penguin”" and they will trip out and you will laugh. Best amateur race memory- take us through the weekend? Take you through a weekend? How about when they had the 1991 Spring Nationals in Sunol, Ca. My hometrack and first track that I ever raced at. I was 17 racing for L&S against GT’s Danny Nelson and Justin Green. They didn’t beat me and it felt good to beat to awesome dudes with the biggest factory rides that everyone dreams of riding for! Best pro race memory- take us through the weekend? I would say back at the 1996 ABA Grands when I was the first pro in history to triple (Friday night, AA and Pro Open). I won a big screen TV and had Factory ride offers from Huffy, Haro and Schwinn come Monday morning. That was the best feeling to be wanted like that, all the while when I was already riding for the GT Firm. I took those offers and got a raise from GT by at least 300%!!! It was like dating the hot chick and a group of more hot chicks wanted to hook up with you too! Biggest accomplishments, BMX and non BMX? Riding for GT Bicycles (Auburn, Robinson, GT) as a pro in the 90′s for 8 seasons! As an am or pro, everyone wanted to ride for GT except for Christophe when they offered him. He didn’t want to do the 2 weeks of mandatory summer clinics. And it was funny, all the pros would always try to only do the clinic thing for a week, especially Nelson. He hated kids. The clinics were a scam. There would be over 100 kids for a 2 hour seminar and all they would get out of it was their moms getting their breasts signed by Dale or I. Non-BMx accomplishment? That would be getting voted “”Best Body”" my senior year at California High School in San Ramon! Best non-BMX memory? Back in like 90′, I was 16. I showed up to the NBL Nellis race early and went to school with Jason Richardson who grew up in Vegas. I went to class with Jason and everyone of school mates were calling him “”Amed”" and I was confused. That’s J-rich’s real first name! Anyhow, Amed’s girl mates thought I was kinda cute and Amed said I had a choice between 3 of them to hang out with on a Friday night. Well, needless to say, I lost my virginity in Amed’s Chevy Extended cab! Ha. Of all romantic places, that’s where it happened! How did Cecil Johns influence your life and vocabulary? He taught me to be real, to speak my mind and to be myself at all times, even little stuff like not lying at all to people (could be a bad thing too!) to not litter the streets and respect the environment. I’ve taken on a lot of his traits and he lives through me everyday I breath. He was a dynamic person who had a big presence on the BMX seen as most of today’s BMX vocabulary wouldn’t be without him today. The words “”pull”" and even claiming your scene as a “”pull”" for example, “”NorCal Pull”" we were the first to put it out there and it has liberated scene’s to do the same such as “”MidwestPull”", and “”EastCoastPull”".. He coined the phrase “”sauce”", calling out saucy dudes by changing their last name by begining it with “”sauce”". So, for example if your name was Todd Blazer, and you were taking sauce, Cecil would change your name to “”SauceAzer”". Or for even shorter Todd Sazer. He was just the greatest with words and even came up with random names like Larry Local, Willy Makeit and Nick Novice. Read old BMXA’s. If your a true vintage duck, you would have read and been informed that Larry Local was coined back in the 80′s. And the way that the term “”Larry Local”" was used would be like showing up to a national back east and you would see a fast local dude and we would be like “”check out Larry Local”" or “”what’s up with Larry Local?”" Are you happy where you are in the sport, Whats your plans after the ride is really over? I’m happy to contribute on a local level and that tracks are open to ideas for the betterment of their local program. From a whining pros perspective, I’m glad I got paid in the sport when there was money. If I was a pro today, it would suck racing knowing I wasn’t going to have anything to show but old bikes, uniforms and $875 checks. And I’m not trying to roast sanctions on pro payout, but that’s where the sport is in terms of revenue and that’s all they can do. So everyone needs to think outside the box. If one duck like myself who has no marketing education can raise $7500 for one pro race, then how can a sanction with marketing power not be able to raise more? And that goes for both sanctions! I got all 30 or so ABA AA win checks in my attic and there isn’t one under $1200.00. The ABA guys like Shannon and Bill seemed psyched on bettering the pro program to further increase a product that their local members can aspire to be. I think they see the big picture. The pros couldn’t save themselves if they took away pro open. No one with a top 3 number on their plate stood up and got creative and at least make an attempt to fire ideas out to supplement the sanctions extra disbursement of Pro Open purse. The Pros today care more about how their autograph looks like than how they look at themselves being puppets that don’t speak. I mean these guys “”can’t be bothered”" about handling their politics as a pro. They don’t want to speak up, fine. Don’t be bothered when you turn 30 and have nothing to show except a reseading hairline from scratching your head wondering what just happened to the last 10 years of your life and your stuck with a $3000 mortgage payment with no education or job to fall back on. You know I ain’t trippin’. I still got a full head of hair.”