Luxembourg BMX Heroes | Pierre “PiWi” Wilhelm

There is probably nobody in the Luxembourg BMX scene who does not know Pierre “PiWi” Wilhelm. If the name does not ring a bell just think about that dude in baseball cap and sunglasses hosting Dudelange On Wheels. Yes, that´s him. He has done a lot for BMX so it is fitting to kick off the Luxembourg BMX Heroes series with him. And he has just too many good stories to tell, so there is a chance that even if you know him you did not hear all of them. PiWi was born in France pretty close to the border and adopted Luxembourg as his new home a long time ago. A skatepark on his way to his school fortunately put him on BMX after some years of racing Go-karts early in his life. He is a rider, a judge, an MC, holds a regular job, participates in radio show, but above all he is a huge advocate of BMX and living a happy life.

What BMX set-up are you riding?

I was riding United G-slat for 3 years and just got me a new Haro SD V2 21.25 frame. Everything is quite big, big bars, quite high. I ride Profile mini SS hubs LHD, no freecoaster. For the rest its quite easy: no brakes, two pegs on the right side. Used to have three pegs, even four back in the days when I was riding street. But that was a 17kg bike, with thick Cro-Mo pegs… heavy!

Where are you riding most of the time?

I was riding a lot of street in the beginning, but I got injured a lot… so turned more to transitions! At some point I just felt in love with vert ramp. It is pretty exhausting, and unfortunately you are almost always alone riding a Big. I still really like it, and we are lucky to have a decent one in Luxembourg. I try to ride everything, but I turned towards bowl in the last maybe 5 years, since we have the one in Wasserbillig. You can go fast and high there, which is the way I like. You do not need to throw tricks, just go with style. Peitrusse is not bad either, but it is a bit more dangerous and technical than Wasserbillig. It is a difficult bowl, but it is still fun. I also like wooden skateparks and trails. I just like riding my BMX.

I know that you are MC in competitions and also do judging. Which one came first?

Basically both. I started at Dudelange on Wheels years ago. DOW was only Skateboard, Rollerblades and Snakeboard in the beginning. We were more and more people riding BMX in the park so we were pushing Marc Lazzarini – the president of the association in Dudelange “Parc and Ride” – to make BMX part of it too. Fortunately, he gave it a go! So first it was a demonstration only, and the next year BMX was part of the contest. I could not compete as I was just recovering from some heavy crash, I think my shoulder was broken or my knee, do not remember anymore. So, I judged and MCed at the same time with a German rider, Michi Sieren, who is still a good friend of mine. It was a bit sketchy, but yeah it started like this!

At the time I was sponsored by Thierry Tillot, who is the owner of Mythic Distribution and EspritBMX. We went to Cologne for the BMX Masters, where I crashed on practice on the Spine miniramp, but stayed just to hang out for 4 or 5 days, and I got to know a lot of people through Thierry. So next year I just asked Stephan Prantl, who was the organizer there, if I can help somehow. He gave me the mail of some English dude and said he might need some help with judging. In the end I was put in charge to judge the amateurs. I have met Hank and Shaun from Four One Four Skateparks and they explained me how it is going to be. I have got 250 amateurs to judge. The event was like Simple Session used to be, it was everything together. I had to learn quickly how to evaluate and remember everybody and recall how was their run compared to the others. It is really though to select 25 out of 250 to go into the semi-finals. You have to be focused on every tiny detail. But I was learning from Hank and he was such a big help. I feel it is really important especially on big international competition to give a fair evaluation for everybody.

You were also a judge at Simple Session in 2016. How did that come?

Yeah, so I was going there just to chill and enjoy the atmosphere and the party. I was flying via Frankfurt, so I just landed there, and was about to get on the other plane to Tallin. I turned on my phone and there was a message from Bart de Jong – who I knew from judging Pro Freestyle back in the days -: “If you are coming to Simple Session please call me it’s important!” It turned out that they needed help with judging because Adam22 just missed his flight and he would not be there on time, so they needed a judge. I was like wow, ok, let´s just do that.

Back than street and park was not separated, so it was super challenging to judge somebody like Alex Kennedy doing stuff in switch against Daniel Dhers’ tailwhip combo on the jump box. You cannot say one is better than the other, it just had to be separated contest for the fairness and also for spectators understanding! Not all the spectators can pay attention to details like switch, oppo, or both and then you think it’s regular way but isn´t ahahah. The focus you have to keep makes your brain boil and at the end of the day you are just super tired!

You were also MCing in FISE World and Xperience Series, which is also a big gig. How did you get that opportunity?

I have met riders from Strasbourg by traveling for riding and partying, and I invited them to DOW where I was hosting. The contest in Strasbourg called NL Contest was looking for a co-host, so the guys told the organizers about me after coming to DOW and the year after I was hosting there! That was a big thing since it is a much bigger event than DOW. It was really exciting, and I realized that people weren’t always aware of what was happening, so I tried to put in words what I was seeing and enjoying… it appears to be a good way as people looked more involved and pushing the riders louder. It went really well, I am hosting it since then every year!

And this is how the FISE got in touch with me, also looking for an MC, to give me a chance to host the Fise Xperience stop in Reims in 2016! Then I did in 2017, again some Fise Xperience and also the European stops for the FISE World, in Budapest, and in Montpellier alongside my brother from another mother Thomas Debatisse!

What are your plans for 2019? Do you know already which events are you hosting?

DOW is happening and NL contest as well, where I hope to have TdB on my side! I also hope to do FISE, not just the European part but also Japan or Canada. It would be really interesting, and I think I could handle the mic in front of the crowd there as well, so let’s see what they offer me to do! Unfortunately, no Simple Session this year, as I was stuck at work in Luxembourg.

Let´s move to BMX in the Olympics for a bit. Good or bad in your opinion?

For the 30% of guys who are really focused on competing it is absolutely the best thing that could have happened for them. For the 70% where I classify myself too, I think it is positive in the way, that it will give all the local associations and all the guys who are pushing to get a skatepark a good argument to get things done. On the other side, from what I saw in Montpellier it is pulling a lot more rules which is a little bit against “Freestyle”. I think it is not black or white: the guy who just wants to jump on the bike and ride the streets, skateparks or in local competition he will feel absolutely no difference, but on the other hand the guys who are really keen on training and competition – and you have more and more guys like this – they need rules like other sports, and it will make the sport better known for the general public. Olympics will also help to drive into new guys, a new wave. I still prefer to see Larry Edgar just going orbital on the quarter pipe though.

What do you think about the Luxembourg BMX scene? What could we do better?

People in Luxembourg are a little bit used to a comfortable position. If you want some help from BMX riders, you usually have to ask so many times. When Marc asked for help to rebuild the park in Dudelange it was only a couple of guys who came out, 3-4 guys from the Asbl, and a couple of guys from France. To get more guys out there it is a pain in the ass, but now it is getting a little bit better. The issue is that you can see a lot of skateparks are going a bit left and right but there is no one to give it a little bit of frame. To put in the riders’ point of view and point out that for example the distance between two features is too long or too short. For Peitruss skatepark Skatparks.lu made a lot to bring in the skateboarders’ point of view, and they helped builders to orient them the best way they could in designing. Hence, Peitruss is mostly skateboard but if you are a street rider you can use the street part pretty good and it is a really good basis to get from beginner to intermediate. It gives the opportunity that maybe in 2-3 years there will be more Luxembourgish riders popping up on the international scene on some street jams. I would really like to see that. Or like Luca with S&M/Superstar, and Jack with United… I am really proud that there are these kid pushing it more and getting sponsored, moving, filming and so on!

What can we riders do to help the BMX scene in Luxembourg?

I think social media is a bit killing the community the last years… Since social media exploded, the feeling of BMX family just faded a bit. I grew up in a skatepark where I was the only one riding BMX but I am still friends with all the skaters from there. That makes me really happy, that a skatepark brought us together and made us into a community and friendship. Riding just bring together people from different backgrounds and from different walks of life who normally would not cross path and this way you just talk to them and get new friends. Social media makes us be so close to each other, and yet so far away. Back in the day we would just go to a jam, call some local guys if we could sleep there with our sleeping bags, have a good time and tons of laughs. Everybody was there for BMX and not about the fashion or pictures to put up. I really encourage everybody to use all these opportunities that BMX gives to travel, meat up people and to build real relationships and friendships.

I would say to everybody in Luxembourg not to be shy, just show up at the skatepark and at jams, no matter what your level is. There will be a lot of people who are happy to teach you and help you to become better. If you do not show up to ride with people who are better than you, you will not progress. Just get out there and ride, no one will judge you! In short, we just need to organize more stuff, and kids need to show up.

Besides of BMX you are also doing so many other stuff. First of all, you are an Ambassador for Dudelange. What does that mean?

I have a long history with Dudelange, and the skatepark in Dudelange, that was the closest quality skatepark, and it also had a good community. I was trying to give as much help to them as possible, in the last 15 or so years, and I was probably a bit more focused on not only the skatepark but also the city. When the city decided to choose some ambassadors, they contacted me if I would like to be one. I said yes, since I really love the city and they are very dynamic.

What´s up with Nasty Show?

It was a radio show on Radio Ara, with around 5-6 guys playing one song and explaining what it is about. It was mostly just to bring some tunes to the radio that are not getting any publicity otherwise. It was on air from 2pm to 4pm so you could hear it all over the place, like in supermarkets and we were not really careful with the language. So first we were placed to Thursday evening 8pm-10pm or so. That was perfect for us, but it was stopped as we were a bit too rough. It is now recorded at de Gudde Wëllen in the backstage as a podcast and videocast too.

Let´s talk a bit about Canettelife as well!

For me it all started with Erwan. I met him in Thionville, and he was always very motivated, so we were riding a lot together. He had such a positive attitude that I started to take him with me on trips. With a close friend from the South, Géo, they decided to set “the brand” up after an epic edition of FISE Montpellier. So they asked me if I want to be part of it, and I of course said yes. It is not 100% related to BMX, it is really more a way of life! Even parents are wearing the t-shirts. Lots of people never had anything to do with BMX they just liked the stuff. But basically it is just about having a good beer after a nice session.

And what about THE LAB?

Long story again ! Back in the days, I have been invited around 2006-2007 to do demos on the Braun Cruzer Tour Spine Ramp, in the frame of a music Festival in France, and met there Anthony Pill… years after, while judging the NASS, we met again, laughed a lot, had a few drinks, and he introduced me in the brand, which I really appreciated, due to the quality of the production ! A few weeks later, I got asked for my adress, and received some T-shirts and bennies some days later ! It went smooth without any big discussion, and I am still wearing it nearly everyday, cause it’s stylish and comfy ! So hope it will go on for some years ! hahaha

Who should we interview next?

Bijan!

No, you cannot say Bijan, Jack, or Luca, they are already on the wishlist.

Then Eddie Navaro! He is like a superhero on the bike. He has such a positive energy, and a lot of good stories.

Shout out?

Everyone that helped me out in BMX (Fred Debeve, Thierry Thillot, Uriel Krakover, Hank, Shawn Scarfe at 414, the HDT fam, Erwan & Geo at Canettelife, Phil and the fam at The LAB…) organizers that are having me hosting their events, of course my parents for the support, and finally all the people I met thanks to or because of BMX!

Cover picture by Erwan Perelman Photography