August news

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31/08 BMXUltra.com photos in Justine magazine
A while ago we mentioned that some BMXUltra.com photos would be published in a USA based teen girls magazine. The Fall issue of American magazine Justine is out now. The article about BMX and MTB is on page 52 it includes a large race photo of Natarsha Williams at the Perth World championships from last year. There's also a photo taken from the Womens Pro class at Mt Gambier this year.
We are very proud to help promote the sport and especially women in BMXing to new audiences.
Can't find the magazine at your local news stand? Contact Justine magazine through their website at www.justinemagazine.com

31/08 South Australian titles update
There has been a reshuffle of prize money for the South Australian titles. It seems that Brett MaliC may have been a little too effective in raising money for the vet pro cruiser class.
For the updated information sheets with the latest prize money break downs and the entry form check out the race calendar.

31/08 Frankston Helltrack entry forms
The annual "Frankston Helltrack" will be on again this year, on November 14.
Check out the race calendar for the entry form and details.

31/08 More about transponders
It's funny that the subject of transponders has caused a stir amongst the BMX community, little devices that attach to your fork that would automatically record your lap time. There lays the problem, lap times aren't important to BMXers, it's the position you cross the line. Even if every BMX track was built to the exact same spec it's all about beating everyone else in the race, not breaking world records. I could imagine that in 2008 in Beijing we will be watching lap times, but that's because that's what people are used to seeing. Here are some comments we received via email last night.

Ryan Kramer, AMB i.t. US. (www.amb-it.com)
In response to Dale and Lyndon's comments, I would like to add the following.

It's unfortunate that Dale was unable to discover where to find his personal laptimes. All results from the race were found on the UCI BMX website with a direct link to all laptimes from the Quarters and on. I've included those links below.

As Lyndon points out, the ultimate goal of introducing transponders at high-level BMX events is to increase the efficiency of scoring (not timing) hundreds and hundreds of riders. Behind the scenes at a typical BMX races, it takes a hard-working crew of scorers to accurately score and compile results from the motos. Currently, the data for each rider in each moto is individually hand-keyed into a database. Transponders would serve to provide that scoring position data instantly. This also opens the door for live results on the internet so that fans around the world can "watch" the event as it unfolds.

Laptimes are only valuable the instant they are generated. This is why the UCI planned to post them instantly on the giant TV monitor at the Worlds. I am sorry to say that due to the Dutch TV production crew not bringing the proper equipment to do so, they were not shown. Laptimes were still being sent live to the announcers throughout Sunday's races.

Admittedly, transponders also open the door for different transfer or qualifying methods. I believe, as Dale does, that the riders and the organizers should come together to decide on if anything should change in this manner. It is not for the manufacturer of the system to dictate how a sport should use the system.

Dale Holmes responds to BMX and transponders
"NBL and ABA use video on the finish line, it works fine. The rider can see for himself the result by watching the video. Whatever it costs for the transponders its a waste, use that money for something more important.
For training, you don't need a transponder to tell you if your gate is late, believe me. I'm moving forward on the gate sometimes and before the gate is fully down I can tell I'm going to be late in this particular gate. You don't need some timing device to tell you that!
In all due respect, bin them, there far more inportant things to address in BMX."

30/08 BMX and transponders
We received an email from Lyndon Downing, the guy behind BEM software that's used in various parts of the world for running BMX events. It is in response to some comments made by Dale Holmes about the use of transponders at the world championships.

"Barrie Vickers (BMXVictoria president) and I have been working with AMB transponder timing systems over the past few months and therefore I was interested to read the negative view from Dale Holmes on the use of the lap time system at the recent Worlds. For the most part I agree that lap times are largely irrelevant for BMX racing. There are two main reasons why we have been developing the system, and the ability to record lap times is only a side effect, not the main game.

Our aims are:
1. To automate the process of recording and entering race results to the extent that finish line judges / pencillers and recorders would not be required. To do this technically, the “Smart Start” box has been updated to provide a trigger event to the AMB system and the BMX Event Manager software has been updated to calculate race results by importing start gate and finish line transponder records.
2. As a training aid - One example would be to position a detector loop say 20 meters from the start gate to record the elapsed time from gate drop to this point on the track. This would allow rider’s to try various starting techniques and get instant and accurate feedback on what is working and what is not.

The benefit related to race scoring is that, installed properly, transponders eliminate/reduce errors.
On the fun side, there’s also the ability to run “novelty” events eg fastest lap; and when scoring is linked to a big screen, the riders and spectators can see the results instantly.

Regards,
Lyndon Downing"

This would undoubtedly reduce the number of people required to run events, but I have seen what happens when we rely too heavily on computer systems with no back up plan in place, and there is also quite an expense attached to the transponder system. If there is a system put in place that would automatically record riders results without fault, and at no cost to the riders, I can see some benefit to BMX.

30/08 Bicycling Australia Show
See it all! The Bicycling Australia Show is your chance to check out all the latest bikes and gear for 2005.
Eastern Bikes BMX Shows will feature some of Australia’s top freestyle riders as well as US rider Leigh Ramsdell. Shows will run three times on both Saturday and Sunday at 11.00am, 1.30pm and 4.30pm and will run for 30 minutes.
Check out the latest BMX bikes and products and test ride new bikes on the test track.
Bicycling Australia Show
Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton, VIC
Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 October 2004, 10am to 4pm
For more information and ticket sales visit www.bicyclingaustralia.com

30/08 Bellarine Spectacular entry form
The Bellarine BMX Club have finalised their entry form for their main event for the year, The Bellarine Spectacular, to be held on September 19th. With $1000 for Pro open, $300 for Vet pro and $200 for Vet pro cruiser, they should draw many of the states best riders.
Check out the race calendar to download the entry form.

27/08 Giveaway: Liz Phair self-titled CD
Don't forget to register for the Liz Phair self-titled CD giveaway, you have until August 31st. If you have never heard of her before you could find out a little about her and maybe even win yourself a copy of her latest album for FREE.
We already have a few entries, but there's still a pretty good chance you could score yourself a copy.
Click here to find out more about Liz Phair's latest album and how you can win.

26/08 One Bicycles frame discounts
BMXUltra.com is proud to announce an exclusive offer to it's Australian readers. In conjuction with One Bicycles and DP1, the Australian distributors for One Bicycles, we have put together a 10% discount offer that is valid until October 19, 2004 and only available for Australian residents.
The offer is 10% off the recommended retail price of any frame in the One Bicycles range.
Here's how it works;

• Click on the voucher image (below) to get the full size version.
  
• Print the full size voucher.
• You can either contact DP1 direct and they will let you know where your local One reseller is
  OR
  You can take the voucher to your local bike shop and they will contact DP1 and order the frame for you.

It's that simple.

If you are thinking of making a change for the upcoming season or looking for that perfect Christmas gift this could be the perfect opportunity.

Check out www.onebicycles.com to browse the full range of One frames and other products.

26/08 Gavin D's 2005 calendar
Australian BMX photographer Gavin D has some sample images of the 2005 calendar available on his website. He also sent us a promotional sheet, that you can view by clicking here.
Check out the calendar at www.gavind.com.au

26/08 Tony Wilcock's website up and running
New Zealand Pro BMXer Tony Wilcock has his website up and running again you can check it out at www.bakebeansbmx.co.nz

26/08 Former BMXers win gold
The topic on everyone's lips right now is the olympics, personally I was waiting to see Jamie Staff hit the track and was surprised that he was being saved for the Keiren from which he was disqualified.
We have received a couple of emails about the Australian Olympians who have won gold and are former BMXers, here's one from Tony Hancox.

"In case you didn't know, WA's Ryan Bailey just won Gold @ Athens in the Sprint race. The thing for all the BMXers to know is that Ryan was former 2 X WA State BMX Champion and encouraged by cycling to change sports and now has an olympic gold to add to hais Commonwealth Gold and 2 X World titles. The point is that this guy has had some phenominal results on track and yet has still not recieved the major recognition he deserves. Let's hope the Olympic Gold will do it for him. Let's hope BMX australia can capitilise on the results of former BMXers at the olympics. It would be a crime if our sporting body don't use it to their and our advantage."

Ryan went on to win the Men's Keirin Gold.

Anna Meares who also won Gold on the track is a former BMXers, as is Aussie Gold medalist in the rowing Drew Ginn.

It looks like BMX has been a great stepping stone for these athletes, but for the next olympics BMXers wont need to leave their sport to chase the Olympic dream.

26/08 Lilydale Spring Cup entry form
The Lilydale BMX club have put up $1500 for the top 16 in Pro open for their big race on the 26th of September.
You can download the entry form from the racing calendar.

26/08 South Australian titles update
Vet Pro racing in Australia has just moved up a to a new level South Australia have just announced that they will be putting up $1000 for Vet Pro cruiser. There will be a split between the women and mens classes, the men receiving 75% of the pool. In addition to the $1000, of the $35 entry fee $25 will be added to the pool for each entrant.
For the other classes there is also $1000. $500 plus pay back for the AA pro men, $250 plus pay back for the A pro men and $250 plus pay back for the pro women.

THE 2004 STATE TITLES ARE OPEN FOR ALL AGE GROUPS.
The SA titles will be held on the 2nd and 3rd of October.
For Challenge and Cruiser classes, Trophies are offered to 1 to 8 and plates are offered to 1 to 16 classes.
There will be an "Invitational jump and trash three road bikes" competion. Fire truck display, Pro Shops and much more.

SABMXA would like to thank their sponsors:
TRANSPORT SA, REDLINE BIKES, ODYSSEY BIKE COMPONENTS and ACCESSORIES, RYDGES: Hotels & Resorts, BOSS AUTOMOTIVE, MONTANE SECURITY, ADELAIDE CRYSTAL GLASS, bmxultra.com, BMXstars.com.
Entry forms for the STATE TITLES will be available soon on the SABMXA website, bmxultra.com and BMXstars.com
Check out the calendar for the official information sheets and entry form.

25/08 Josh Callan update
We just received an email from Damien Callan to give the BMXUltra.com readers an update of Josh's condition. If you missed it Josh is the young Aussie world champion who crashed and ended up in hopsital after he had a heavy fall defending his title at the UCI worlds in Holland.

"Josh was riding really well until he crashed in his semi-final on friday it is hard to see exactly what part of the bike hit him in the stomach. He was stretchered off and he had really bad abdominal pain. He then began throwing up blood and was rushed in an ambulance to a hospital in Geldrop. He has an ultra sound and x-rays and was rushed straight into theatre, after a extremely long 2 hour wait the surgeon spoke to me stating that he had 10cm of his small intestine removed. He remained in intensive care for a little over 24hrs and was removed to a normal ward where he spent nearly 2 weeks. He was really pleased to be upgraded to business for the flight home, we got home on the 6th of August and spent the next 2 weeks at home. He'll be back on a bike in about 1-2 weeks. When he started to feel a little better he was really disappointed not to have a chance to defend his title, he is really keen to get to Paris to get it back. On viewing the video josh crashed sitting in 3rd and was clearly ahead of the Dutch boy who went on to win the 13 boy final. Ziggy was disappointed in how she rode I was however really proud of her. She had trouble getting out of the gate with a lack of training and not much strength in her shoulder after breaking it at Lilydale and with everything else that happened the day before she did well. She came 5th in her semi. Josh was rapt at the amount of calls, e-mail and well wishes he received throughout his adventures he'd like to thank the bmx community for their support. Also bmxa sent him a playstation 2 which we were really impressed with it was a really nice gesture."

24/08 Review/Giveaway: Liz Phair self-titled CD
With not much news today we have finally had an opportunity to write the review for the Liz Phair CD and set up the give away. Click here to check it out.

23/08 Interview: Natarsha Williams
We interviewed Australia's most successful female BMXer ever, 2 times UCI world champ, Natarsha Williams.
Click here to check out the interview and find out what she has to say about BMX racing, her future and things in general.

23/08 Girls of BMX demo at the X-Games
On Sunday, August 8th, 2004, history was in the making as top women riders from freestyle BMX and BMX racing participated in the first women's bmx demo at the ESPN's Summer X Games.

Riders included Nina Buitago, Cory Coffey, Silver Contreras, Arielle Martin, Stacey Mulligan, Kari Olandese and Kim Klisiak. They rode in front of a sold out crowd of 5,000 people on the same street course that Ryan Nyquist & Dave Mirra rode on just one day before.

The demo was part of the first "GIRLS LEARN TO RIDE" Day at the X-Games. Events included skate & bmx clinics, Skate & BMX pro demos and athlete autograph signings from top female riders in skateboarding, BMX, motocross, surfing and wakeboarding.

The day's events were co-sponsored by Op Girls Learn To Ride, Women of Freestyle, E.A.G.L. BMX and Boarding for Breast Cancer.

To see photos from the day's events, go to www.girlslearntoride.com or www.gogirlbmx.com.

21/08 The 2nd round of the UCI BMX Supercross cancelled
The UCI regrets to announce that the 2nd round of the 2004 UCI BMX Supercross, Woodward, PA (USA) has been cancelled.

The UCI BMX Supercross event that was scheduled to be held on September 25-26 2004 in Woodward PA (USA) was forced to be cancelled due insufficient funding from the parties involved.

The previous BMX Supercross events have received great response from athletes and media and the UCI is positively determined to further develop the series. In 2005, the UCI BMX Supercross will be extended to several events on both the European and North American continent. The dates and venues of the 2005 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup will be announced shortly.

For any further information, please contact the UCI office, Tél : +41-24.468.58.11, www.uci.ch.

20/08 Tony Harvey news
Avent/Bombshell AA Pro Tony Harvey Takes Out "The Mother Of all Motos" in Gladstone, QLD Australia.
After returning from an extended successful trip to the U.K. ,Australian Avent AA Pro Tony Harvey returned back home to Australia last week and quickly headed up north to Gladstone in Northern Queensland to hit up "The Mother of All Motos" race.
Aboard his brand new Candy Blue Avent Morpheus carbon Fibre frame, Tony quickly showed that he's back in a big way. Tony took first place in AA Men for the weekend long race. Tony is back in Australia and plans on hitting up every major BMX race in the lead up to head over to the USA in June 2005. For more information on Tony "HRV" Harvey check out www.hrv13.com

20/08 Victorian riders chance to make a difference
If Victoria's rider would like to make a difference to their sport, this Sunday is a good chance for them to put their hands up and make a change. I believe the meeting starts at 10:00am, but will try to confirm. There are a number of positions available on the board, but you must contact your club and become a delegate to be nominated for a position before you attend the meeting.
BMXV Board AGM
22 August 2004
Doncaster Scout Hall
Victoria St
Doncaster
Since there is no racing in Victoria this weekend I had planned a weekend away so will not be able to make it. It's probably the same for many other riders given the late announcement, but I am sure there are some riders out there that are so passionate about BMX that they will proudly represent the riders and their view of the sport and it's future.

20/08 IFMA Bike Challenge 2004
IFMA Bike Challenge 2004: “King of Dirt” Contest and Test Tracks on General Public Day at the IFMA Cologne bicycle show
On Sunday, 19th September 2004, the IFMA Bike Challenge will open its doors in Koelnmesse’s Hall 9.2 with spectacular BMX and mountain bike action. On the agenda are the “King of Dirt” Contest, the “Cross Country Test Track” (both in Hall 9.2) and the “Urban Test Track” (Hall 10.2).

Cologne, 19th July 2004 This year the IFMA Cologne international bike show is celebrating an anniversary: “40 Years of IFMA at its Cologne venue”. Now, for the fourth consecutive time, the Bike
Challenge will open on General Public Day.

The BMX and mountain bike highlight will once again cause quite a stir: in the centre of exhibition Hall 9.2, the BMX professionals Benny Paulsen and Markus Hampel are using approx. 30 lorry-loads of soil to prepare a dirt track of superlative class, on which elite BMX and mountain bike riders will battle it out for the highly desired “King of Dirt” title and total prize money of 8,000 Euro.
Paulsen and Hampel were already responsible among others for the design and arrangement of the dirt track at the IFMA Bike Challenge 2003 as well as this year’s BMX World Championships.
At the “King of Dirt” numerous top riders from Germany and abroad are expected, such as for example mountain bikers Niels Peter Jensen, Joscha Forstreuter – last year’s winners who are just 19, as well as Axel Lehmkuhl, who reached fifth place at this year’s Trailfox in Switzerland. In addition, brothers Antoine and Julien Botella from France, who belong to the Crème de la Crème of MTB Dirt, and MTB top rider John Cowan from San Diego, will also be competing.

Of course, the Dirt “Shapers”, Benny Paulsen and Markus Hampel, will not miss the opportunity to also participate in the “King of Dirt” Contest. “Local favourite” Alexander Etzold, who secured fifth place last year, has also already confirmed his participation. Spectacular Moves are definitely on the agenda at the Dirt-Jump. No one should miss this spectacular display.

BMX and mountain bike professionals will shortly be able to register for the qualification heats on the Internet.

The general public will however not only get their full money’s worth by watching the action at the IFMA Bike Challenge. At the “Cross Country Test Track” and the “Urban Test Track”, everybody can take to the pedals themselves: The 100-metre long “Cross Country Test Track” with obstacles such as stones, rocks, bark mulch or tree trunks is waiting especially for mountain bike riders to challenge and overcome it. In this connection, free training in riding techniques will also be provided by an expert MTB specialist!
While all this is happening, on the “Urban Test Track” in Hall 10.2, the latest bikes of all kinds will be waiting – here visitors can test their favourite 2-wheelers for ridability, comfort and dynamism on the test track with its many bends.

IFMA Bike Challenge dates:
Sunday, 19th September 2004, Koelnmesse, Eastern Halls, Hall 9.2, opening times 9.00 to 18.00 hrs., admission 6,- Euro

IFMA Cologne 2004
Under the motto “IFMA Cologne – 40 years of two-wheeled dreams!” the bicycle fair will present trends, business and fun covering all aspects of bikes, accessories and components. The whole spectrum which the bicycle world has to offer will be presented at the Koelnmesse centre in exhibition Halls 9.2, 10.2 as well as 14.1 and 14.2.

19/08 MCS Press Release: MCS Team at 2004 Worlds
From July 15th thru the 27th, the MCS USA Team competed in the 2004 World Championships. The event was held in Valkenswaard, Holland. Just a short 8 hour plane ride away. The trip was awesome, we all had a great time!! Our team riders in attendance were Aaron Cartwright, Philip Delizia, Amanda Geving and Kalin Hall.
This was Aaron's first World Championship on foreign soil, but you never would have known it. After we got there late for practice (would have been even later if it weren't for the GPS system) Aaron only had one round of practice to get ready. Being one of the younger riders in 12 & under cruiser, He rode hard, but didn't make the final. His class was a different story! Making it through the moto's, quarters and the semi with come from behind rides every lap, he made the final. He was not a happy camper, but he came home with a number 7 World Plate.
Philip Delizia was an odds on favorite to be in the finals. Breezing through the moto's with smooth lines, until he got a bad gate in the Semi. Philip tried to make something happen after all it was make or break for "The Dragon." In fifth coming out of the last turn, He gave it a little too much gas and ejected off the whoop coming out of the turn. One bad lap will cost you big time at the Worlds. I think Philip had a good time over all hanging out with Cesar Bruna and Mikey Henderson learning to speak Italian with some local.
Amanda Geving, what can you say about her that hasn't been said already? She had no worries all day until the main when she met up with Dans' Maria Ruarte. You could throw a blanket over these two, with Maria pulling out a little bit of a lead out of the first turn. Amanda got it together and put a
charge on but had to settle for the deuce. After a hard week, being sick, sore, putting up with Kim Hyashi and Amanda Carr (Just kidding) She has to be psyched on her #2 Plate. I know I'm proud of her. Just ask me!
With his last race for MCS Bicycles, Kalin Hall was on a mission. Kalin looked like he was totally at home on his cruiser. Killing everybody, with some big whips (yeah, I saw those) over this double going into the first to last turn. Making the main, he had to settle for a 2nd place finish.
Friday's cruiser finish was better than his twenty. In his semi going into the third turn, Kalin was going to cut under the guy in third, when the kid squirreled out and cut right on a left hand turn. Almost crashing himself and wrecking Kalin in the process. It's not the way he wanted it to end his
weekend, but that's racing. Sometimes you bite the bear, sometimes the bear bites you.
Hanging out with everybody at the Worlds was AWESOME!! The atmosphere was definitely there. The announcing was great, they played psyche-up songs during the breaks and had kids come out on the track to do push-ups for prizes. They were very animated running from one side of the track to the other getting the crowd pumped up, it filled in the gaps pretty good.
Sitting in the bleachers with all of the USA team riders and parents was pretty interesting to say the least. I don't know how many times we sent David Bentledge to the beer tent. Bill Geving said it was "a few." When beer is cheaper than water, you run with it!! Hey, when in Holland, just don't get "Dusseldorf'd!!"
As always we would like to thank our sponsors: Answer, Odyssey, Profile, Sun Rims ATI, UGP, Hammer, Diatech, Hot Shoppe, and IDCBMX.com

19/08 State of pro racing in Victoria
There's no doubt that BMX racing is suffering in Victoria, the Australian state that was host for the 1998 World Championships and a number of World Cup events. The number of registered riders is at an all time low, attendences at race meetings are a concern. The peak season for BMX racing is just around the corner, the prize money and class structure is a big indicator of how our sport is going. The Eastfield Spring Nationals doesn't have the hype of TV coverage and $4000 prize money for AA Pro and a sperate A Pro class. They have a $500+ pay back prize pool with a 14 & Over class (Pro Open) format, which is generally used during the "off season" as the AA Pros don't support those meeting generally. It's difficult for an A pro to get excited about competing against AA pro riders and there are a lot of AA Pro riders who have to consider their travelling costs before they attend events. It's surprising that more Victorian's don't travel interstate to compete.
We received an email from a concerned parent about the state of the sport and the pro classes.

Barb Carey
"Eastfield are having 14+ instead of A Pro and AA. For our up and coming riders how can they compete with more experienced riders? Does it mean if they make the final money marked in the log book as 14+ and not A & AA which would put up their prize money. Does this mean that all sancation meetings leading up to the state titles are heading this way? Even at title level its junior elite and elite classes. To ride either Metro or Northern Rivers it's 14+, well that's for fun, and it's good for the smaller clubs to hold a race meeting. Maybe l am thinking the wrong way for this sport, but gee it has changed in the last 6 years. I don't know if it's for the better. Just food for thought and looking for answers."

Firstly I must say that I am disappointed that clubs like Eastfield who seemed to have relied heavily on BMXPress/BMXCentral to run a successful meeting. Having run a pro event from start to finish, doing everything from raising money from sponsors to preparing the moto sheets, and being in the sport since 1981 I have seen lots of changes. It's just one of those sports where people come and go, it has it's ups and downs, it's particularly strong when it has strong leaders. What clubs don't understand is that you can't just put your hands out in front of people and expect them to hand money over to give away and consider it a sponsorship.
It's difficult to raise money for a pro purse. BMX doesn't have a huge industry in Australia, there are importers but very few manufacturers. The importers have to compete against people buying driect from the US via mail order. To raise money for BMX you generally have to go outside the sport and it's difficult to convince someone that they will get value for money if you display a banner in front of about 300 people for a day. What's worse is you could ask for money get it and not tell the sponsor how it went afterwards. There needs to be relationship building between clubs and local businesses. Also many companies budget a year ahead so if you have a meeting next month it's probably too late to ask for sponsorship now...you should plan well ahead.
That said if we can get more riders to the track and build up the profile of the sport at a local level it will become a lot easier to work with sponsors to help them promote their businesses, in turn this will lead to bigger prize purses and clubs can afford to split A and AA pro.
To answer your question any money earned in A or 14 & Over, even junior and senior elite should be recorded in the log book.
There is hope for the sport but we need to be a little smarter with our marketing and how we go about chasing sponsorship.

You can discuss this article in our forum at http://www.bmxultra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi

18/08 Preview: 2005 GT's
GT Australia just sent these pictures of their 2005 product range; we were told that we will be the first site world wide to make these images available.
The 2005 GT Power Series Ultrabox will be available as a complete bike and also a frame kit which includes GT Stiletto 100% Cr-Mo forks, headset, seat clamp, chain tensioners and seat post. RRP AUS$729 Frame kit, RRP AUS$1169.00 complete.

Click the links to see the preview;

• 16 inch Bestwick
• Power Series Cruiser
• Power Series Micro
• Power Series Jr
• Power Series Expert
• Power Series Pro
• Power Series Ultrabox

18/08 ABA factory team report volume 6
With the Factory title chase the closest it's been in years, you know all the big teams were headed to Nanaimo, Canada for the ABA World Championships. Factory Answer came in with a slight, 28 point lead over second place Factory Avent / Bombshell and third place, two-time defending national champs and three-time World Champs Redman - Yamaha Waverunner. On Trac has had the lock down on fourth place all season and surprise upstarts Factory Sharp bounced back into the top five after some great finishes back east. Challenge / Intense and Redline also made the trek over the border to do battle with the toughest teams in BMX. No team had won both days at any "A" schedule national in 2004 and with the title on the line, all the teams were hungry for big points.

Friday's All-Star National set the stage for the weekend. Avent/Bombshell came out swinging with a 215 to take Friday's win and dropped a low score to cut Answer's lead by another 9 points, down to 19. On Trac busted out a 201 to pull a second and Factory Answer grabbed third with an uncharacteristic 190. Redman - Yamaha Waverunner has been in a little slump lately, not making Factory podium in quite a while. Mike Redman gave his bunch a good talking to after Friday's mains and showed his displeasure about his team's performance.

The World's was shaping up to be a major showdown and the racing did not disappoint. When all was said and done, Avent / Bombshell laid the hammer down with a huge 245. Next best was On Trac with a 222, one point ahead of third place Factory Answer with a 221. The huge score propelled Avent / Bombshell back to the top of the leader board and gave them the coveted World Championship Factory Team title. Now with a slight 9 point advantage over Answer and 63 over Redman-Yamaha Waverunner, Avent/ Bombshell tops the team standings.

FACTORY TEAM PODIUM

All Star National
1. 215 - Factory Avent / Bombshell
2. 201 - On Trac
3. 190 - Factory Answer

ABA World Championships
1. 246 - Factory Avent / Bombshell
2. 222 - On Trac
3. 221 - Factory Answer

HIGHLIGHTS

Team swapping was huge before the World's this year. Answer lost two key riders with Redman snatching Lain Van Ogle and Avent/Bombshell picking up Connor Fields. Rumor has it Answer picked up Deion Campbell to try to stop the bleeding. Avent /Bombshell also brought in ex-Hyper/Hotwheels 15 Expert powerhouse Warren McDow.....Avent / Bombshell had a scare with Alise Post going down hard in her class main at Friday's All Star National. Luckily, since the Worlds ran on Saturday and Sunday, "The Beast" had an extra day of recovery time to get ready for Sunday's mains where she was back to form, scoring double world titles in 13 Girls and 11-13 Girl's Cruiser.....Factory Answer's Sean Lechner had no difficulty moving up to the 13 year old class. Chalk BoBo up for a double double in class and cruiser.....Redman-Yamaha Waverunner has been having a tough time of it lately. Apparently Mike Redman feels it. In 14 Expert main at the All Star National with Redman announcing, Jeff Pease was in second place coming to the line and sat down, dropping back to third. Redbone let him have it over the mike then let the whole team have it back in the pit area.....On Trac's Vance Weisendanger has made a slow and steady climb to the top of the class. Weisendanger battled with Redman's Justin Dickmeyer to take the World title and move into the NAG #1 position.....Sharp's 8 Expert Jarred Reuter was unstoppable again laying down the double double in class and open.....Avent / Bombshell's 14 Expert Joey Bradford scored the only triple at the World's, despite a bad shoulder injury the week before.....Sun Ringle's 16 Expert Jeff Upshaw looks like he finally got the ABA figured out with a huge double double in class and cruiser.....Answer's 17 Expert Danny Caluag looks like he's close to top form. "Easy Money" doubled on Friday in class and cruiser and won the cruiser world title on Sunday......Redline's Alyssa Kimura doubled up in 10 Girls.....Avent / Bombshell's Warren McDow looked like the man to beat in 15 Expert with crazy first straight pull. But never count out Challenge / Intense's Josh Oie. The two locked up in turn two in Friday's class main and words were exchanged. When all was said and done, Oie pulled down the cruiser win on Friday and two world titles on Sunday, proving why he's the ABA National #1 amateur. Don't count out McDow just yet, with some more ABA experience, this kid will be giving Oie a run for his money very soon.....The 10 Expert class was the scene for a battle between OnTrac's Billy Russell and Avent / Bombshell's Chad Kerley. Kerley was looking great in Sunday's 9-10 Open main, pulling Russell to turn one and leading the "Bad Boy" to the line. In class, Chad once again pulled to turn one and was leading going into turn two when he cased a double before the turn. Russell went by him saying "bye bye" in the process. Chad was smoother through the rhythm, pulling in Russell and the two were neck and neck out of the last turn, finishing nearly dead-even at the line. After a ten minute review, Russell got the call by about an inch.....The On Trac girls were on fire again, with doubles from Aubrey Freeman (9 girl), Taylor Wolcott (11 girl), and National #1 Terra Nichols (14 girl).....Avent/Bombshell's Mike Moeller turned age right before the World's and came out ready to rock. Double world titles in 17-18 Expert and 17-24 Open.....Redman's Corben Sharrah upset favored Avent / Bombshell rider Lahsaan Kobza in 12 Expert who had already put the 12 Cruiser title in the bag. Kobza got a bad gate and pulled Sharrah down the second straight and tried a move in turn two but couldn't make it stick.....Answer's Jared Garcia looked like the one to beat in 11 Expert with a double on Friday. Looked like he was going to pull off the double double with a win in Cruiser on Sunday. But, HH's Matt Owen had something to say about that with a major upset in 11 Expert on Sunday.....Avent / Bombshell's TJ Johnson wasn't going to be outdone by the team's young guns. Riding with injury and after a dismal Friday, TJ pulled down the double world titles in 28-35 Expert and 25 and over Open.....Redman's Abbie Huvard pulled down the 12 Girl world title to add to her Friday class win.....Challenge's Stephanie Higgins grabbed herself a double double in 16 Girls and 14-16 Girls Cruiser.....Redline's Logan Owen has been battling with Redman's Lain Van Ogle a lot lately. Logan pulled down Friday's 9 Expert win and a 9 Cruiser world title on Sunday.....Redman's Drew Downey nabbed the 31-35 Cruiser world title.....Sharp's Nathan Bonilla got himself a world title in 21-25 Cruiser and 6 Expert Kyle Lieber nailed down the 6 Expert title.

TEAM BREAKDOWN

Avent / Bombshell - Alise Post crashed hard on Saturday but came back and doubled in 13 Girls and 11-13 Girls Cruiser on Sunday. Chad Kerley doubled up in 9-10 Open both days and nearly pulled down the 10 Expert world title. Tory Nyhaug killed 11-12 Open both days. Lahsaan Kobza doubled on Friday in 12 Expert and 12 Cruiser and won cruiser on Sunday but a bad gate kept him from the 12 Expert world title. Joey Bradford worked through some injuries to take 14 Expert on Friday and then tripled on Sunday. Mike Moeller turned age and doubled up on the 17-18 Expert and 17-24 Open world titles. TJ Johnson doubled up on the 28 Expert and 25 and over Open world titles. The new team won 11 of 13 nationals over the summer and took it's first Factory Team world title.

Answer Factory - Jared Garcia doubled in class and cruiser on Friday and took the 11 Cruiser world title on Sunday. BoBo Lechner had a nice double double in 13 Expert and 13 Cruiser after just turning age. Danny Caluag was back to his top form with a double in class and cruiser on Friday. Kris Fox pulled down the 15-16 Open world title on Sunday.

Redman / Yamaha Waverunner - Jeff Pease won 13-14 Open and 14 Cruiser on Friday. Abbie Huvard doubled in 12 Girls on Friday and Sunday. New pick up Lain Van Ogle won 9 Cruiser on Friday. Drew Downey doubled in 28X and 31-35 Cruiser on Friday and came back to win cruiser again on Sunday. Justin Dickmeyer pulled off the 19 Expert win on Friday. Corben Sharrah won the 12 Expert world title.

On Trac - Shelbi Long won 11-12 Mixed Open on Friday. Sergio Pena won 15-16 Open on Friday. Aubrey Freeman doubled in 9 Girls on Friday and Sunday. Taylor Wolcott won 11 Girls on Friday and Sunday. Terra Nichols doubled in 14 Girls on Friday and Sunday. Billy Russell double doubled in 10 Expert and 10 Cruiser. Christopher Blevins won 6 Expert on Friday. Jonathon Perry doubled in 7 Expert. Vance Weisendanger nabbed the 19 Expert world title.

Sharp - 8 Expert Jarred Reuter double doubled in class and open. Nathan Bonilla won the 21-25 Cruiser World title. Kyle Lieber won the 6 Expert world title.

Redline - Alyssa Kimura doubled in 10 Girls and won Girls Cruiser on Friday. Logan Owen won the 9 & under Cruiser world title and 9 Expert on Friday.

Challenge - Amanda Volle 13 Girls on Friday. Stephanie Higgins double doubled in 16 Girls and 14-16 Girls Cruiser. Josh Oie doubled in 15 Cruiser and won the 15 Expert world title.

Misc. - Sun Ringle's Jeff Upshaw double doubled in 16 Expert and 16 Cruiser.

TOP-FIVE FACTORY TEAM STANDINGS
1. 2717 FACTORY AVENT / BOMBSHELL (226 average score)
2. 2708 FACTORY ANSWER (225)
3. 2654 REDMAN - YAMAHA WAVERUNNER (221)
4. 2522 ON TRAC (210)
5. 2367 FACTORY SHARP (197)

Now with only two major nationals left before the Grands in Tulsa, the Factory squads are scrambling for last minute points. Only 63 points separates first through third, making this the closest battle in years. The next showdown will be at the Blackjack Nationals in Reno. Can Factory Avent / Bombshell sustain it's summertime domination and hold off the ABA's two former National #1's? Can Answer regroup and creep back into the lead? Will Redman overcome their summertime blues? Can Phantom hold off Sharp for the number four slot? This one ain't over yet folks!

18/08 Eastfield Spring Classic entry form
The Eastfield Spring Classic is coming up on the 5th of September, there's no hype this year for the event that has been a big part of the BMXPress/BMXCentral nationals the past 2 years. The prize money isn't going to attract any interstate riders, but just might generate some good local racing.
Check out the entry form on the calendar page.

17/08 J & C Clinic set for Aug. 21st
A quick but late report from Akron. TFS's Elite Woman Samantha Allen went 1-1-1-3 on Sat. and 2-1-1-2 on Sunday. Our newest rider 30-34 expert, Marc Milam 2-1-1-4 and 2-2-2-2. Newly returned to racing 18-20 nov. Cory Walser went 1-1-1-1. There were not any 5 time ABA Champions for 15 expert Brandon Dosch to contend with this weekend, he ran an easy set of perfects. 15 Ladies, Ashley Baird 3-4-3-3. 14 ladies, Amanda Rose 4-4-4-4 and 3-3-3-3. 13 expert Scott Glannan went 1-1-1-4 and 4-3-3-4. 13 nov. Rusty North was 1-1-1-0 on Sat. and 2-2-2-2 on Sunday all of this with a broken arm that he didn't get a cast on until Monday! 11 expert Chaz Green had double perfects. 11 nov. Ryan Glannan picked up a 6th and a 5th. 8 experts Tyler Beebe and Jared Goolsby got 3 & 4 on Sat and 2 & 4 on Sunday. 8 novice Andrew Allen made both mains with a 5th and a 6th. Denny Terry rolled in on his 24 to a 4th place finish. Korey Terry (no relation) picked up a 2nd and 4th on his big wheeled bike.

All of the riders from J & C Supercross rocked the Lansing, MI regional. We won both days and most likely, this locked up the Midwest Regional Team Championship for us.

30-34 expert Marc Milam jumped in head first into the 30 and over open class down in Nashville, It's my understanding that he made both mains.

Is J & C Supercross ready to jump into the factory team classification? Only time will tell.......

Thanks to all of our sponsors: Supercross bikes, S & M, Sun Ringle, Profile, Fly, Challenge Bike Shop, Hobo Skateboards http://www.hoboskates.com, 24-7, Answer, IDC, Takata, Dolly's Pizza, Demon Claws and Motomag.

The J & C Supercross clinic has been set for Aug. 21st at Nitro bmx.
sponsored by: J&C Supercross
pro riders: David Thacker and Josh Lester
$25.00 includes a tee shirt & goodies
August 21st from 2-4 pm at Nitro-Kanawha Valley BMX in Nitro, WV.
Call 768-9253 for more details

17/08 Bellarine rumours
The Bellarine BMX Club, in Geelong Victoria, have been the host of world cups and pacific oceanic championships in the late 90's. They have an open race meeting coming up on September 19th. This is what we hear is planned;

• $1000 for 14+men (maybe 3 final-final)
• $300 for Vet cruiser
• $200 for Vet Pro 20"
• Raffle prize's are going to be big as well; 1st prize is a GT BMX, 2nd prize a DVD player & 3 prize a 34cm colour TV

Attendances at Bellarine have been low for some time, it's nice to see the club make an effort to attract the riders down that way. We just hope they get the support.

16/08 Liz Phair CD give aways
Over the next couple of days we'll be setting up a Liz Phair self-titled CD give away, thanks to EMI Australia. Who is Liz Phair? The best way to find out would be to check out her website at www.lizphair.com. I have been a Liz Phair fan since her 1993 debut album Exile in Guyville, the self-titled album that we're giving away is her fourth. She's come a long way since the debut and should reach a much wider audience given the way mainstream music has changed in the past 10 years. In short she would appeal more to our female readers and/or fans of PJ Harvey, and her songs are mostly about relationships and sex. There is also a language warning, because she drops the f-word a couple of times, so you will need to be 18 and over to win. There are clean versions of the album, but we don't have any to give away. Competition details will follow soon.

16/08 Aussie BMX gossip
Brett MaliC tells us that South Australia have picked up another sonsor for their Vet Pro cruiser Adelaide Crystal Glass, the prize pool now stands at $600.
Victorian AA Pro Brock Tuckerman has just hooked up with Elite Cycle Imports/Bendigo Cycles and will now be riding a candle apple red AVENT MORPHEUS. He asked us to say thanks to Julian, Grant and Gary at ECI for helping him out.
Youngester A Pro Shaun Craven has fired up his website again you can check it out at www.fasterbmx.cjb.net, watchout for the popups.

13/08 Revolutionary new starting gate idea?
I received an email from the father of European BMX and living legend Gerrit Does. He seems very excited about an idea to change the starting gate and change our sport. As I started reading the email I was horrified. Read on and you will also see a reply email that came from Dale Holmes and our own opinion.

Gerrit Does - living legend
Revolutionary idea on new starting gate. No more pulling back or jumping the gate!

Just the other day, I received a revolutionary idea from former cruiser World Champion, Teun Stam - Holland. Teun sent in a reaction on my article “Opinion on the 2004 Worlds” more specifically the section were I talk about the false starts I saw during this years Worlds (watch the TV pictures).

The present gates used, do have always the possibility in them, that when one jumps the gate or pulls back, by not doing it the right way, you might end up under the starting gate and hurt yourself. Also a problem occurs when the gate doesn’t drop for some reason and all riders crash because of that. Main reason to suggest this new gate is, having a system that is fair to all riders.

It’s simple and the system is used during all important bicycle track disciplines with a standing start. Teun Stam suggests to have the back wheel of all competitors fixed in a firm way in between a clamp/starting device. A starting light will be used as usual and at the green light, the clamp lets go of the tire. So, on the starting hill, the riders have nothing in front of him, they don’ t have to balance because the new system keeps them in balance. If you want to see this starting system work, just check the bicycle track events at the Olympic games 2004.

Probably adjustments have to be made on this system (to be simplified for BMX), but the principal is clear and fair. Great suggestion TEUN!

Who is going to take action now? Talking about it is one thing, now somebody has to take action and built a prototype gate as suggested. Who will be the first? Just let us know, o.k.!

Personally I think in fact it should be UCI coming up with suggestions like above and also having a prototype built and tested at their BMX track next to their main office in Switzerland. Let’s see what they will do!

Good luck to anybody picking up this great idea of Teun Stam.

Dale Holmes (Free Agent) - AA Pro and 2 times UCI world champion
Ive always been a huge Gerrit Does supporter and totally respect his views and love to listen to his ideas, his passion and treat him as a great friend but I've got to disagree for once with Gerrit with the Start Gate idea.
I think when you say everyone pulls back and jump the gate. I think you mean more pulling back, as I really feel not to many people jump the gate any more since they made them higher and some cases in Europe to high which then makes it dangerous if the gate does not fall. In fact these days it's slower to jump the gate, no second pedal if you jump it!
Yes, guys roll back, me including in fact I think I was one off the guys to do this first in the 90s along with guys like Greg Romero and Kyle Bennett.
It's not jumping the gate watch Greg, Kyle and me and we come out flat with no high front wheel. It's progression and very common in the US and now seems like Europe to.
Using the Track style gate if so stupid in my eyes, what happens with bikes longer than others, changing gears between races making the bike longer or shorter, and think how long it would take to get 8 guys lined up, practice and racing more time!
I think the problem is the European riders do not have good gates, mainly because every gate in every track in Europe has a different timing, gates way to high in some cases, bouncy gates, different light sequence that drop different at every track, a lot of gates still don't have no fast ram. Europe needs to get with the times. It's simple, every track in the US has a ABA or NBL ram gate so it's not hard, the US riders only need to know 2 different timing systems, and that's why the US riders kill European riders on a NBL or ABA gate system. It's simple, they use them all the time! It should be a rule to have a International or even a National event, a NBL air ram gate is a must for the track.
There far worse problems than changing the way we start, tracks, officiating, team managers allowed in the track but riders not being able to watch is a joke to, prize money, 2 days to run practice when ABA can do it in a day with twice as many riders and still you would get more practice, bad calls from officials that have no experience. I'm starting to wonder if this Olympic thing is going to take the fun out off BMX? I feel the lap time thing at the Worlds was a waste, I still do not know my lap times or even care. I was not in the top 4 in my semi so who cares what my lap time was, and I'm sure neither was the fans or Warwick Stevenson worried about his time after winning the main. All the money spent on that should be spent on other things like prize money or other things. To win the Worlds in Elite, it should be $20,000 for the winner. Not just the prestige of winning the title, we got to live as well. I won the Worlds in 2001 and didn't even go to defend my title the next year as I had no sponsor. You would think the UCI would want me to go and make sure all defending World Champions are there the following year.
I know we have to be more professional with things even more so now, but let's keep the fun in it at the same time, me for one if it gets worse I'll finish up my career in ABA, as all I seem to do when I go to a UCI race is get fustrated and down, how about some rider input? Don't the riders count any more? We had a great chance to get together in Holland the best riders in the World, The Industry, the UCI and the people that count from all the countrys, but still everything under closed doors, it's our sport too, let us contribute to it!

Shane Jenkins BMXUltra.com (racing since 1981)
Let's think about this for a moment. There's a problem with the starting gate and, because of technique, people are getting injured if it fails. The traditional start gate has very few moving parts, imagine having 8 seperate mechanisms...how much trouble would you have if one jammed...or if they didn't release all at the same time. A new BMX starting mechanism designed originally for track racing is, how do I put it? A typical BULL&^$% solution for something that really isn't a problem.
If a gate is failing let's address the real problem. Are the mechanisms not being maintained properly? Do we need to build in fail safe electronics, so that if something fails the gate will still drop? And a failover mechanism that triggers the gate a second time to ensure it's going to drop. There are computers built like this so if a power supply dies the computer continues to run. When I have been on a gate that has failed it's usually failed because of a problem with the power source or the hydrolics. If someone is to design a prototype gate I think their time is better spent redeveloping the traditional gate. The main idea is to keep the mechaisms simple and fool proof...what would be more important than how it works is that it never fails.
Gerrit mentions the injuries incurred when people go over the gate, if it always drops every time on time that won't happen, unless the rider goes too early. I have seen two people break arms when they went over the gate before it dropped, then when the mechaism did release their arms were underneath the gate. There is already a solution for that problem. I have seen it only twice, and find it suprising that it hasn't been adapted as a standard. What I am talking about is a curved piece of metal that is used as a guard that ensures that nothing can get caught under the gate. The last place I saw it was at the 2001 Australian Championships at Happy Valley in South Australia. I looked for a photo, but must have found the jumping a little more exciting at the time. If you could imagine the top of the gate as it drops, it falls in a curve. It is a sheet of metal that shape that fully encloses underneath the gate. Maybe one of my friends from South Aus can email a photo so we can show the rest of the world.
I don't think we need to change our sport to make it safer. I think we just need to make some fine tuning. Besides I'm sure you will find more riders are injured from jumps than gate starts, are you going to take the jumps out?

You can discuss this article in our forum at http://www.bmxultra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi

12/08 Supercross sign A Pro Paul Johnson
Santa Clarita, CA - Supercross is proud to announce the addition of Arizona A Pro Paul Johnson to the Supercross Family. After a rough year of Shoulder Injuries and the like, Paul has finally found a place to call home, and get back on the track. Paul's first race in the Supercross colors will be the ABA Reno race in September where he plans to take his new Supercross EVO XXL to the top of the podium. And with The Bulldozer Randy Roberts training with The Ultimate Warrior of trainers Mike Redman for the Reno race and Bryan Otten coming out of Summer hibernation we may see 3 Supercross jerseys on top of the A Pro Podium.

The Supercross Factory Team consists of AA Pro Jan "The Viking" Baltzersen, AA Pro Henrik "Little Viking" Baltzersen, A Pro Randy Roberts, A Pro Nate Ramos, A Pro Bryan Otten, A Pro Paul Johnson, Vet Pro "TP" Todd Parry, Vet Pro Turnell Henry, Girl Pro Samantha Cools, 36x Ken Pliska, 36X Stan Horton, 28x Moses Tillman, 17-18x Justin Dodson, 17G Rachael Blackwell, 13x
Aaron Maxwell, 12X Thomas Richards, 7x Justin Myers

The Supercross Factory Team Proudly uses : Oneal Uniforms, Blur Optics, ATI Pads Plates and Grips, Tioga Tires, Crank Bros. Pedals, Pauls Brakes, SDG Saddles, Thomson Posts, Snap Gears, Sponsorhouse.com, Answer Shoes, X-1 clothing and Moto Mag.

12/08 Avent introduces candy gold Morpheus frames
Lakeside, California - Always on the move, Avent Cycles has introduced Candy Gold as a new color for its Morpheus BMX frame line. The Morpheus frame line turned heads and aroused suspicion at last year's Interbike trade show. Now nearly a year in production and thousands on the track without one single frame failure, Morpheus proved the naysayers wrong and has gone on to be the most sought after frame on the market. With it's advanced carbon fiber and aluminum frame structure, Morpheus has set the standard for the BMX frame industry. Ridden by top pros such as Avent / Bombshell factory rider Jason Rogers and factory team ams Joey Bradford, Mike Moeller, Alise Post and Chad Kerley, the Morpheus has been out front of countless national event mains.

In related news, Avent's 2005 line of Donny Robinson signature bikes are in stock and ready for delivery. The All-Chromoly Series 1 (all black) and the Aluminum Series 2 (red or blue) have been updated to meet the demands of racers everywhere. Both series are still available in Mini, Expert, Pro, and Pro Cruiser sizes and are flying out of the factory faster than they can be built.

Contact your local dealer or contact Avent Cycles at 888-2-RACE-IT or on the internet at www.aventcycles.com to find out how to get your hands on the hottest frames and bikes on the market.

12/08 BMXPros.com press release
NBL Music City Nationals & ABA Mile High National
With the NBL 2004 Pro Series events down to only one regular national before the Grands, Nashville would be the last opportunity for any riders to gain some points to move up the Pro Title points chase for 2004. With the closest points chase in years, Nashville laid down some of the excitement that we will get to see next month at the NBL Grand Nationals in Louisville, KY. Here is how the BMXPros.com riders finished up for the weekend.

Cristian Becerine was riding the Nashville track super fast this weekend but felt just a bit off on Saturday and in AA Pro that's the difference from being in the main or not. On Sunday, Cristian was over being flat and just flat out hauled as he went on to win the Pro Open class as well as place 4th in AA Pro. Cristian's sponsors include Crupi, O'Neal, Answer, UGP, ODI, Sun Ringle, Marwi, Shimano, Tool Shed, Powerbar, BMXpros.com, Cyto Sport, and Thomson Seat Posts.

Kyle Bennett has always been a force to deal with and this past weekend was just another example of that. On Saturday, Kyle looked smooth and fast but was only able to finish up 5th in AA Pro. On Sunday, Kyle was again held up in the first turn in the AA Pro main and was held back to 8th for the day. Don't h let this weekend fool you, Kyle will be one of the top guys at the NBL Grands coming up in just a few weeks. Kyle's sponsors include Free Agent, KHS, Answer, Sun Ringle, UGP, Truvativ, Velo, Vans, Maxxis, ATI, Shimano, Profile, Powerbar, Smith, Cyto Sport, and BMXpros.com.

Randy Stumpfhauser was looking to improve his scores in AA Pro and on Saturday he did just that with a 3rd in the main event. Randy also raced Open this weekend as there was no Cruiser Class and finished up 6th on Saturday. Sunday was a different story for Stumpy as he only races AA but failed to make it out of the Semi. Randy still has a chance to hold onto his 2003 NBL #1 Pro plate. Randy's sponsors include GT Bicycles, Hyundai, ODI, IRC Tires, Shimano, Fox Racing, Smith, Sun Ringle, Bombshell Forks, AC, Thomson, Powerbar, CTI Knee Braces, Tool Shed, Marwi, FSA Headsets, S & M, Cyto Sport, and BMXpros.com

Brandon Meadows has been traveling all over the world the past few months and has been going faster and faster at each event. Brandon used all the time on his bike to make the AA Pro main on Sunday in Nashville, placing 6th overall. Brandon's sponsors include Specialized, O'Neal, Oakley, Adidas, Tangent, Cyto Sport, Shimano, Sun Ringle, Powerbar, and BMXpros.com.

ABA Mile High Nationals Dacono, CO
Mean while back in Dacono, Colorado, Dale Holmes took to the ABA Mile High Nationals. Dale has split his time in between ABA, NBL, and The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series this season and has done some damage in each event he has entered. Choosing to go to the ABA National paid off for Dale as he proceeded to take home 2 wins in Pro Open and 2 2nd place finishes in AA Pro. Dale's sponsors include Free Agent, KHS, Troy Lee Designs, Kenda, Smith Eyewear, Sun Ringle, Profile, Powerbar, BMXpros.com, DALEHOLMES.COM, Cyto Sport, and Shimano.

UCI BMX World Championships Valkenswaard, Netherlands
Randy Stumpfhauser wins 2004 UCI World Title
Nestled just outside of Amsterdam in Valkenswaard, Netherlands the 2004 UCI BMX World Championships were being held. On one of the best tracks that Europe has to offer, the Valkenswaard track has deep roots in BMX history, as it was the host of the 1993 UCI BMX World Championships. With incredible crowds on hand to watch the BMX racing, it seemed more like a Supercross event in the USA, as the place was packed with fans and riders from all over the World. 34 Countries made up for the biggest World Championship in History.

Friday night at the UCI World Championships kicked off the World Title chases with the Cruiser Classes, including Elite Cruiser, and Hyundai/GT Pro Rider Randy Stumpfhauser and Crupi's Cristian Becerine were looking forward to it.

For the past 2 years, Randy has owned the Elite Cruiser Class at the UCI World Championships taking home 2 world titles. This year, leading up to the UCI Worlds, Randy has been almost unbeatable in his 2004 season aboard his GT Power Series Cruiser, so it looked favorable for him to add his 3rd title in a row.
With over 80 riders in the Elite men's cruiser class it would be no easy task to be one of the elite 8 in the Cruiser main event.

Randy drew some tough competitors in the Moto's but made it look easy as he took 3 wins. Onto the 1/8th final and again Randy was the winner. The same would go for the 1/4 final and 1/2 final, with Randy entering into the toughest Elite Cruiser race quite possibly ever.

As the riders lined up for the Gate, the over 15,000 spectators were going crazy as a World Champion was about to be crowned. As the gate dropped, Randy got out well, but was just a bit behind Cristian Becerine and Jason Richardson. Randy rode smart and smooth and going into the 3rd turn chose his time to pass both riders and run away with the win and his 3rd consecutive UCI World Championship. On Sunday, things went a bit off for Randy as he missed out of making the AA Pro main as he was slowed down by another rider in the last turn as they were in 2nd and 3rd in the 1/4 final, unfortunately letting 2 riders pass him ending his quest for the 2004 UCI World Title.
Randy's sponsors include GT Bicycles, Hyundai, Fox Racing, Smith Eyewear, OGIO, Shimano, ODI, Sun Ringle, AC, Bombshell, IRC, Thomson, SDG, S & M, Marwi, BMXpros.com, Powerbar, and Cyto Sport.

Christian Becerine rode like a superstar as well, as he was the winner of all of his heats as well, up to the main event. Christian actually was the guy wining to the 1st turn, but unfortunately gave up the lead to Randy. Cristian was still stoked to place 3rd and looks forward to the Elite finials on Sunday. On Sunday, Cristian was a man possessed, as he went through all of his moto's and qualifiers in the top spot. He looked to be one of the favorites to win the World Championship title and as the gate dropped he looked as if he could do it. A small crash in the first turn slowed Cristian down and kept him out of the lead, but his power kicked in around turn two and Cristian was able to get into the 2nd place spot. Christians sponsors include Crupi, O'Neal, UGP, Sun Ringle, Answer, Shimano, Maxxis, Thomson, Powerbar, and Cyto Sport.

Kyle Bennett looked to be on a fast track to win his 3rd UCI World Championship title in Holland, as he breezed through all the qualifier and moto's into the main event. Kyle looked to be the first Pro to win 3 World Titles in a row as the Gate dropped, he had a strong first strait away and sat in the 2nd place sport until turn 2 where Cristian Becerine made an incredible move on Kyle but took the fastest line away from him, having Kyle no other choice but to slow down. Unfortunately, this let 2 riders pass Kyle, as he would finish up 5th for the day. Kyle's sponsors include Free Agent, KHS, Answer, Sun Ringle, UGP, Truvativ, Velo, Vans, Maxxis, ATI, Shimano, Profile, Powerbar, Smith, Cyto Sport, and BMXpros.com.

BMXPros.com proudly represents Cristian Becerine, Kyle Bennett, Wade Bootes, Dale Holmes, Christophe Leveque, Brandon Meadows, John Parker, Jamie Staff, and Randy Stumpfhauser. For more information on any of the riders, or on Double A Marketing, please e-mail Pete Dylewski @ PeteD@BMXpros.com, or visit www.BMXpros.com

12/08 BMXVictoria riders lobby Part5
This is the last email from riders about the whole BMXVictoria thing. If there is an email from someone on the flip side, say a BMXVictoria committee/board member, we would be more than happy to let everyone know what they think about the whole thing.

If you would like to discuss this further I urge you to use the forum have set up at . You don't have to register to post anything, so you can be completely anonymous. When you are asked to enter a name and email address just use Anon and anon@anon.com.

Scott Tabe-Lewis
While messing around on the net today I found this little bmx game, which is pretty funny and totally addictive, please find below.
http://www.lapoo.nl/siktrixbmx/

It's a great debate you have going on the website, and it's good to see a lot of positive feedback from the riders.

Personally, I think there is too much racing in Victoria throughout the year. I believe we should consider structuring the calender so there is a peak season (October-November/January-April) and a low season (May-September). This will allow the following things happen:

Peak Season
The majority of sponsorship dollars the club's generate can be put towards their major event(s) for the year, where these funds can be allocated to:
- Larger or more 'interesting' trophies (such as the old PRM Cash Dash trophies), which will help to create interest in those particular events
- More prize money for the Elite riders, which will produce more interest from interstate competitors (such as Madill, Fenwick, etc), as well as giving a reason for local Elite riders to continue in the sport at that level (as there would be some financial benefits).

The peak season also gives the clubs a particular time of year to focus on creating a spectacle, and will assist them in attracting riders, and sponsorship dollars for future years. This will ensure we have a platform to showcase the elite of our sport in a form that makes it attractive for sponsors, both from within the cycling industry and beyond. More sponsorship = more money for clubs (better tracks and facilities) and riders (prize money or bonus pools).

Off Season
The off season should be used to promote grass-roots involvement in the sport, and as a result, the entry costs, trophy sizes, etc should be reduced for these events to make it more accessible. Racing every week can become very expensive and time consuming, and this off season can be used as a time to save up your money and allocate it to the bigger 'premium' events later on in the year. It is still important to continue the regional race events, however, I'm sure there is a way we can make it more cost effective for everyone.

If we want to continue to have prize money available at the regional events, it may be a better idea to instead of having a small prize pool every week, have only 1 or 2 pro events in each region over this period. This will allow the regions to pool together the prize money and create a bigger regional event, maybe this can be used as the finale to each series.

I certainly understand the theory of Vet Pro, as it's aimed at riders like myself. While it helps to attract more ex-riders back to the sport, it may unfortunately take prize money away from the current elite riders, who commit their lives to the sport 12 months of the year. I think that what they have done in SA (the Vet Pro class having their own sponsor) is a great idea. If it's self funding, then I'm all for it, but I would be unwilling to take prizemoney away from people who train every day and sacrifice a lot in their lives to be successful in BMX.

Vet Pro helps to add another level of interest for the fans, while showcasing the heritage and traditions of the sport (the old heros). This being the case, I don't think we need both Vet 20" and Vet Cruiser - one class is all it needs that can be a sole focus. I would prefer Cruisers, as they are a little bit more stable, so there's less chance of me crashing! However, we would need to ensure there is some form of qualifying for the class, to stop people who race pro/15+ money all year long stepping down to take the 'easy bucks' from the old guys.

Just my thoughts, I have no doubt that there will be people out there who agree/disagree with me. At least we're all talking, which is more than we've done in the past few years!

11/08 Op GLTR announces new partnership with E.A.G.L. BMX
OP GIRLS LEARN TO RIDE ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH E.A.G.L. BMX TO CREATE NATIONWIDE SERIES OF GIRLS-ONLY BMX RACING CLINICS
Laguna Beach, Calif., Op Girls Learn To Ride (Op GLTR) the original series of girls-only action sports clinics and camps in North America, today announced a partnership with
E.A.G.L. BMX, a new non-profit organization dedicated to BMX racing for girls and women. The partnership will organize racing clinics for females of all ages, with the assistance of female pro racers, including Arielle Martin and Alice Jung.

"We have seen increased interest in the sport of BMX, as evidenced by its recent addition as a new Olympic sport in 2008. Op GLTR will work with E.A.G.L. BMX, local tracks and our sponsors to train future female professional athletes and possible Olympic competitors," says Mark Sperling, founder of Op Girls Learn To Ride. "We hope to build participation and awareness for the sport."

Op Girls Learn To Ride, now in its fifth year, conducts more than 100 events, including instructional clinics and camps taught by top professional athletes in BMX, mountain biking, skateboarding, snowboarding, motocross, surfing, and wakeboarding.

"Op Girls Learn To Ride has built a great program that will benefit the sport of BMX," says Alex Huber, president of E.A.G.L. BMX, "They have done an amazing job with gaining new participants in other individual sports and we look forward to a great partnership."

Clinic schedule for 2004/2005 will be announce soon on www.gogirlsbmx.com and www.opgirlslearntoride.com.

About Op Girls Learn To Ride?
Op Girls Learn To Ride? (Op GLTR), the original series of girls-only action sports clinics, is designed to give females of all ages the basic skills and confidence necessary to participate in skateboarding, surfing, motocross, wakeboarding, BMX, mountain biking and snowboarding. In this program, skilled professionals provide hands-on training with an emphasis on safety and skill development. Now in its fifth year, Op GLTR has taught thousands of girls and women a new action sport. The program will host over 100 events throughout the United States and Canada in 2004. For more information, please visit www.opgirlslearntoride.com.

About E.A.G.L. BMX
E.A.G.L. BMX is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and development of women's competitive bicycle motocross sport. E.A.G.L BMX serves as a clearinghouse of information by supporting the industry through outreach programs, marketing, training, and public relations.

E.A.G.L. BMX is dedicated to serving female BMX athletes and the BMX racing community by offering opportunities for training, media exposure and innovative growth programs. Our goal is to establish a supportive environment that will promote health advocacy and the lifelong participation of all girls and women in the sport of BMX. E.A.G.L. BMX will achieve its goals through educating the community to encourage female participation and will advocate equality in the sport of BMX regardless of gender, race, religion, color, national origin, handicapping condition or sexual orientation

10/08 2005 BMX Calendar sneak preview
Sorry, we don't have any pictures we can show you just yet. We just wanted you to know that we got to check out a sample of some of the pages from the the 2005 Gavin D BMX Calendar. It looks awesome. Freelance photographer, Gavin D, has learnt a few things from the 2004 Calendar. He has expanded into New Zealand, there's less distracting text than last year, the focus in on the photos and it's really coming together well. When the calendar is released we'll be able to post some images so you can check it out before you buy it.
For more details check out www.gavind.com.au.

10/08 Vet Pro cruiser at SA titles update
The 2004 South Australian 30+ VET PRO CRUISER would like to announce that RYDGES SOUTH PARK, Adelaide will be our major sponsor. RYDGES are delighted to offer all BMX competitors
requiring accommodation for the SA STATE TITLES on the 2nd & 3rd of OCT, a discounted accommodation rate of $118/night for 2 people, inclusive of 2 full buffet
breakfasts. Contact RYDGES for all your Accommodation needs via phone: 08 8212 1277, fax: 08 8212 3040 or their website at www.rydges.com/southpark, don't forget to mention you are a BMXer.

We also welcome aboard BOSS AUTOMOTIVE and MONTANE SECURITY as our minor sponsors.
The VET PRO cruiser purse is up to $500.

09/08 BMXVictoria riders lobby Part4
Things are still very quiet on the news front, thankfully we have received more emails about the whole BMXVictoria riders lobby theme. This time we have the opinions of two individuals in the industry who both have a passion for BMX and a whole lot of experience.
We would like to openly invite individuals from BMXVictoria, and any other state governing body, with their views on opening state championships, changing from an elite structure to A/AA and adding vet pro as a class.

Shannon Rademaker - Bayswater Cycles
I've been in the cycling industry form many years now and I've seen that all disciplines of cycling have there ups and downs. I still compete in bmx, mountian bikes and occasionally road/track. I've seen changes through them all. Cycling has just been one of those political sports where the rider and the associated body have argued over how the sport should be run and organised.

In theory you would think BMX Victoria should be listening to not just the riders suggestions to improve the sport, but what BMX is really about! We as riders know why we ride 'for the love of the sport'! I'm not sure why but since returning to the BMX scene a couple of years ago attendences appear to have decline rapidly. The atmosphere, the enjoyment, structure, the simple pleasure of going to a race meeting in the sport we all enjoy also seems to have taken a slide. I ask "who do we blame?" the easy answer would be BMX Victoria, but fingers don't need to be pointed as it is our sport. Why should a sport that has been running so well in the past radically seem not to have any structure at all, are we simply not supporting BMX Victoria?

What I would like to see happen is for BMX Victoria to get together with riders and parents and have a good look at the sport as it was 10 years ago and compare it to today. And find the pieces of the puzzle that have been missing.

Here's some ideas for the sport that may be worth considering:

• Victorian state series - Races located at tracks state wide during the summer months of the year Oct to March.
• Sponsorship for racing - It's easy to gain sponsorship for race. It doesn't take much to organise, but you need to plan atleast a year in advance and provide value for money. With a well thought out marketing plan and enough lead time to be included in budgets, you'll be suprised what businesses will through your way.
• Product prizes for challenge classes - Organised through sponsorship, this helps keep riders interest and adds value for sponsors who will have their product seen and used by racers.
• Marketing/Advertising the sport to draw more interest through track side signage, ads flyers in bike shops. when I was in primary school I remember BMX pros came to do an info/demo session of the sport. It created so much interest.

These are probably some of the larger issues to be addressed in my eyes. With these suggestions (and those of my fellow riders) put into use I am hopeful it will bring our sport back to the level it deserves. LIVE to RIDE.

Warwick Wheeler - BMXPress Magazine
I have read a number of emails regarding the Vic Titles etc.
Most people have valid comments from their respective points of view.
Firstly, Brock Tuckerman's comment on wanting to ride against the best riders etc. Throughout the year there are literally plenty of big races to compete in. If he (Brock) or any other Victorian is keen to ride against the best of the best from their class, then you should travel to these races. NSW riders are always travelling all over the place to go to the big races. Shaun Craven (Vic) and his family travel everywhere to the big races. I have seen him race in Nerang Qld. His riding etc continues to improve as a result. Not all the big races are confined to NSW. Domestically NSW & WA races may have the edge over some states due to numbers etc, but when it comes down to the big races, we are all in the same boat. Wanting and hoping the interstate riders show.
BMX is like any other sport, if you want to compete with and against the best, you travel to where these athletes are competing. It is not limited to Vic.
Brock goes on compare the new school Vic pros to Madill and co. One race a year, even if the Vic titles are open will not be enough. Madill and co travel all over Oz riding the big races and against the best.
A classic example is the Track Attack series. All Vic pros have the chance to compete against the best pros. Madill, Fenwick etc all come to Victoria every January to race. Here is a chance to race the best in your own backyard, with home track advantages, yet the Victorians don't support it the way it deserves. At the same time you don't see many Victorians at the Queensland races earlier that same month. But Madill, Fenwick and co are there. By the time they get to Victoria, they have raced 3 or 4 meetings and are almost back to race fitness.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if every good interstate rider rode the Vic Titles, one race a year will not prepare you for bigger and better things. It will only give you a taste of what could be at that next level and what you are missing out on.
I believe that the Vic Titles should be closed to Vic riders. If you really need the practice against Madill and co then travel or have more bigger races. Don't give away your titles just for one day of extra riding against these guys. There are 51 other weekends to do that. Most people want to win a state championship before moving up to national level. How many people would want the Vic Titles open if they had NOT won a plate or Vic Title? Open titles just means that these riders go from local to national level with nothing in between. In some cases certain riders may not even enter because of the interstate riders, therefore the rider count may not be what you would expect anyway. Is the success of an event purely based on the rider count??? If the Vic titles becomes an open race, you may as well change the name to the "Vic Open" cause that's all it will be, an open race. ACT have their titles open because there are only two clubs, hence a small rider count. It is good to have other states supporting them. The issues with the Vic Titles should be dealt with domestically with other strategies. Opening this race up is not the answer. At the end of the day if Victorians don't support their own titles, then it will NEVER be successful nor stand on it's own two feet. Now it is up to the VBMXA and your riders to make it successful. VBMXA should look at strategies to encourage people to ride it. A series in NSW is not too successful, so that way is also doubtful. One compromise is just have the pro classes made open. NSW are currently trialling this system.
Vet Pro: Anything that creates excitement or brings in more riders to the sport can only be positive. Personally I am in favour of the Vet pro thing. BMXPRESS and Nerang club started the "Bruiser Cruiser" thing at Nerang a few years back to great success. It now has a life of it's own. On the back of this we can, under strict guidelines have a vet pro. If the Association run the elite system, then do what the NBL has done and have Vet Elite under the same rules.
What comes around goes around! Yes it is true that Miller and Ellis did take two Aussies plates away from Oz, but look at how many titles our boys have taken from the Americans! Go you good thing!!!

If you would like to discuss this further we would like to suggest you check out the forum and make comments there so we can start digging up some news and get things back on track. The link is directly below.

08/08 Forum testing
We have just installed a forum on BMXUltra.com for testing. The best way to test it is to let you guys go sick. But let's keep it clean. I'm not going to tell you how you should discuss things, but there are some things I just won't tolerate, so let's not be offensive, sexist, or racist.
Don't forget to send us an email and let us know what you think of the forum.
If it's worth running with we'll make it a permanent part of the website.
Click here to check it out: http://www.bmxultra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi

07/08 Factory Avent/Bombshell wins factory team world title
Nanaimo, Canada - Up against the ABA's toughest teams, Avent / Bombshell's factory effort pulled out all the stops to dominate the ABA World Championships and come out with the Factory Team title. Behind a huge triple from injured 14 Expert Joey Bradford, doubles from 13 Girl Alise Post, 28 Expert TJ Johnson, and 17 Expert Mike Moeller, and individual wins by 10 Expert Chad Kerley, 12 Expert Lahsaan Kobza and 12 Expert Tory Nyhaug plus great performances by 7 Expert Jacob Abbe, 18 Expert Mike Lundy, 11 Expert Connor Fields, 15 Expert Warren McDow and Pros Donny Robinson and Jason Rogers, the team can proudly state that they are the ABA World Champion Factory Team. The team did it in dominating fashion, scoring a huge 246 to On Trac's next best 222. Not only did the team come out as World Champs, but they also were the first Factory Team to win both days at an "A" schedule event with an impressive win at Friday's All Star National.

With the two wins for the weekend, Factory Avent / Bombshell moves back into first place in the Factory Team standings.

AA Pro Donny Robinson had a great weekend with two seconds in AA Pro and a fourth and a second in Pro Cruiser. Donny also pulled down the fastest lap in the Pro time trials on Saturday, overtaking Clint Lambert for the top spot. Jason Rogers had an awesome weekend winning A Pro and fourth in Pro Open at Friday's All Star National. At the World's, Rogers was in position to take the overall win but crashed in the third go around. Jason came back in Pro Open with a second place finish.

14 Expert Joey Bradford pulled down the only triple at the World's despite a nagging shoulder injury. Alise Post crashed hard in her class main at Friday's All Star National, coming up with a severley bruised thigh. "The Beast" battled hard and showed why she's number one in the nation with a huge double on Sunday in class and cruiser. 28 Expert TJ Johnson came up big despite his own injuries with a double in open and class. Mike Moeller turned a few heads with a double in 17-18 Expert and 17-24 Open despitre just moving into the class the week prior. Chad Kerley rocked his open class with a big win and nearly pulled off the double leading Billy Russell to the second trun. Kerley bonked on a double into the turn and Russell passed him for the lead. Chad pulled Russell through the rhythm and nearly got him at the line by about an inch. Lahsaan Kobza nailed the 12 Cruiser win for the second year in a row and just missed out on the double as well, getting a bad gate in his class main. Tory Nyhaug raked in the title in 11-12 Open.

The team also shined brightly at the world's premier BMX race, the UCI World Championships in Holland. Elite Pros Donny Robinson and Jason Rogers, 14 Expert Joey Bradford, and 12 Expert Tory Nyhaug all made the trek to Europe to do battle with the world's best. Donny Robinson had an up and down worlds winning Elite Cruiser at the pre race only to crash in the World's Elite Cruiser main going for the lead over Randy Stumpfhauser. Donny had a couple of hard crashes over the weekend that kept him out of the Elite Men's final. Jason Rogers had an excellent World's. Having to race Elite Men's only pumped the A Pro up enough to make it all the way to quarters, only to crash while in transfer position. Reigning UCI 14 Expert and 14 Cruiser UCI World Champ Joey Bradford had a rough weekend with a hard crash in his class main and some technical difficulties in his cruiser semi. Reigning 11 Expert UCI World Champ Tory Nyhaug dominated both his classes this year and doubled up on the 12 year old class and cruiser UCI World titles.

Look for the newly crowned World Champs at the ABA's BlackJack Nationals in Reno and at the NBL Grands in Louisville, Kentucky.

For the latest and greatest in cycling technology check out www.bombshellparts.com and www.aventcycles.com!

Factory Avent / Bombshell is supported by the best sponsors in racing: Fly Racing (www.flyracing.com); FSA (www.fullspeedahead.com); Shimano (www.shimano.com); Six Six One (www.sixsixone.com); Maxxis Tires (www.maxxis.com); Tangent BMX (www.tangentproducts.com); Thomson Seatposts (www.lhthomson.com); Hot Shoppe Designs (www.hotshoppedesigns.com); Red Baron Racing (www.redbaronracing.net); Moto Mag BMX Magazine (www.motomagbmx.com); IDC BMX (www.idcbmx.com).

06/08 BMXVictoria riders lobby Part3
We have received a couple of additional emails from Victorian BMXers about changing their state championships. It's great to see people are passionate about their sport, whoever it's not enough to comment on what is and isn't being done in the sport and for the sport. No matter how you look at it, it's a start. If riders express their concerns about their sport surely the body that governs the sport would take their suggestions into consideration. What I do find odd is that I personally have offered to help BMX Victoria a number of times over the years and have never been taken up on my offer, despite the fact that I was on the board for 3 years in the mid to late 90's. Do BMX Victoria really think everything is under control? Do they have too many people helping already? Here's what some of Victoria's older riders had to say;

Adam Robb
Regarding the opening of State Titles, I think it's a great idea. I don't think we would get any riders to Victoria for it at that time of the year though (End November). The awards for the kids leave a lot to be desired, the entry fees are ridiculous and the prize money for the pro classes is very basic and low. The fact is there are Victorian riders that are not even supporting this event. If they wont race it, why would interstate riders?? We need to get the Victorian riders wanting to race the Vic Titles again, the state needs to step back and listen to the riders. I suggest we bring in the Big Trophy's that used to be handed out up until about 8-9 years ago. That to me was the ultimate when I was younger, taking home a huge trophy to put in your room and show off. The prize money is not issue
at all for me or Victorian riders, the interstate Pro's will not come if the money stays at the level that it is at. All in all to start things rolling for a bigger and better state titles my suggestions are:

• Lower entry fees
• Bigger trophies
• Possibly turn it back into a series

Brock Tuckerman
I was just reading all the stuff about the state championships. Although I think Jamie Bullows has some very valid points indeed, we really need to do something about the state of the sport in Victoria. The numbers at BMX races all over the place are shocking. When I started, which isn't too long ago, BMX was huge. Now, in my opinion, it is slowly dying. As much a trophies are good, I would honestly rather have the titles open so that we can ride the fastest guys in Aus as much a possible. How are the Victorian's supposed to be considered competitive when there are only a handful of really exceptional riders. You have Levi Collins, Jonathan "Jon Jon" Hoare, Scott Lacey, Rob Slater, and so on, then you have your Daniel Stock's and new school pro's. Why not ride against your interstate pros, like Mike Fenwick and Luke Madill, all that will do is help to lift the sport to a new level. As good as state titles are I think I would prefer to ride against these guys to ready myself for bigger and better things than a state title.

Shaun Chew(Collins)
First off your web page is really cool and has great info for us old hard core bmxers. I found it really interesting reading about the state of BMX in Victoria. I've not been back in the sport for long, and as I can remember BMX was a fun sport with heaps of riders doing heaps of racing, but what has happened? There's no excitement, numbers at race meetings are down and it seems that the powers to be don't care, they don't seem to care where our sport is headed. I think the cost of entries especially to the state titles is a bit over the top especially for the young kids. We need to make the sport more appealling to new people and if it's too expensive people won't be interested, they will go and play a cheaper sport. If the state titles became a series of rounds (like it used to be) rather than one race weekend, then it would be fairer, not just if you have a bad day you don't get a title. I also think that vet pro 20" and cruiser would be an awesome idea. I've heard nothing but positive feedback from older riders. We could maybe get a few of the retired guys back on the bikes, which would be good for the sport. Hopefully the riders can bring about some positive changes for the sport especially for the young riders of the sport. Finally I think we should do something with the lunch breaks there far too long, maybe a jump comp again or some type of entertainment or simply just shorten them.

05/08 BMXBits is back
Australia's favourite BMX mail order company, BMXBits, is back after a short break to reorganise themselves and give their website a bit of a face lift.
They have the same good old prices plus some great clear out specials, plus there's a new service to help you find the best prices for the products that you want.
Check out their catalogue now at www.bmxbits.com.au.

04/08 Anthony Gray update
You may remember a couple of weeks back BMX racer Anthony Gray seriously injured himself at a bowl in South Australia. We have received a photo of Anthony, taken last night in the Austin hospital, in Melbourne. He has rececently been moved out of ICU and into the spinal ward. Still only family are allowed to visit him at this point. He's hoping to be out of bed and in a wheelchair in the next week or so, and will be able to eat solids soon. He's hanging out for some steak and vegies. Yesterday they removed the traecheotomy and inserted a mini one, now he can talk without the family having to lip read. He thanks everyone for the cards and best wishes and he's moving ahead in leaps and bounds.

The Page are in regular contact with Anthony's parents, Gail and Lindsay, to get updates please call them on 03 5977 6950.

04/08 BMXVictoria riders lobby Part2
When things get quiet on the news front we like to write something that gets people thinking and talking about BMX, sometimes we are more successful than others.

We received a response to yesterdays BMXVictoria riders lobby article from senior Victorian rider Jamie Bullows. The article was about opening up the Victorian state titles.
Here's what he had to say;
I have a few comments on opening state titles up to everyone.
Firstly if you open up state titles to everyone then how can you call it a state title? You can't. It then just becomes a sanctioned open meeting.
Secondly you take away the opportunity for that states top riders to claim that top spot as champion, instead you'd have Australia's top riders going around possibly taking all the titles.
I do think that making the two new pro vet classes, 20 inch and cruiser, available at both state title and open meetings would bring something new and exciting to the sport.
I've also heard rumours that riders of old have expressed interest in these classes and may consider a come back.
These are just my views but I know other riders feel the same way and maybe it should be put out to the riders to see how they feel about opening up titles to everyone.
I think it is just crazy, the whole idea of a state title is just that to find out who are the best riders in that particular state and leave all states combining to the Australian titles.

Jamie has some valid points, but if you think about it, the Australian Championships are then not truly the Australian Championships are they? We have had visitors from Europe, USA and Canada attend the Australian titles, this year Danish rider Malene Madsen took out the Women's Elite class, her brother Daniel made the semi's in Elite men. Back in the 80's BMXAustralia paid for 2 American factory Kuwahara riders to come to race Pro at the Australian championships, from memory it was Gary Ellis and Clint Miller, they finished first and second. My point here is if people really want to cross borders they will. Aside from the ACT championships, I don't think that too many interstate people will attend states titles outside their own state, not just for a trophy, and particularly not for a Victorian track. There are usually other race meetings going on in their own state and with substantially lower entry fees. I personally plan to race at the South Australian championships, not to take a title, but to support the long overdue Vet Pro movement (and to see if Raymond Ross really can stay on two wheels for a whole weekend, but that's a whole different story). BMX as a sport in Australia is stagnant (I'd like someone to prove otherwise), the racing is no better. How will the sport progress into the future if we can't grow it, increase the numbers and push the riders to strive for bigger goals? An opened sanctioned race meeting is hardly worth traveling for these days, but in the absence of a national circuit (for all classes), state championship events may be the next best way to find worthy competition. With smaller attendances associations ask riders to dig deep into their pockets for entry fees, with additional riders this may not be required.

03/08 South Australian titles open to everyone
We have just received news from South Australian Brett MaliC that the South Australian titles, to be held at the Tea Tree Gully track on the first weekend in October, will be open to anyone with a full racing licence. Brett is a big advocate for the Vet Pro class in South Australia, he attended the SABMXA AGM to push for a Vet Pro class to be held at the SA state titles (and be open for interstate riders) and accepted a position on the committee.

At the meeting not only was the Vet Pro cruiser discussed, and given the thumbs up, the discussions lead to the whole event being declared open!

These are the details so far:

• The 2004 SA BMX Titles will be an open race meet for all classes.
• Male and Female AA and A PRO offered. (instead of 14+)
• VET pro cruiser offered, no vet pro 20" (next year)
• Entries out soon.

It appears to us at BMXUltra.com that the South Australian BMX Association are taking a positive step towards the development of the sport which has been stagnant for some time. Opening their titles will mean that interstate riders will be able to compete against the best riders SA has to offer, they are undoubtedly some of the best in the country. It also means that the national championships and the ACT titles are no longer the only events that allow riders of all classes to compete against each other when there's a title on the line.

03/08 BMXVictoria riders lobby
With the opening of the South Australian BMX Championships you can be sure that the riders of BMXVictoria will lobby for changes for the 2004 Victorian State championships to be held at Sunbury in the last weekend of November.

Here's what the riders will ask for:

• A and AA Pro to replace the Elite classes -
  Elite classes are only run at UCI events, many of the other Australian states run A and AA pro classes, including NSW who have many of the fastest pros in Australia. A and AA will mean closer racing and bigger classes, compare the DK nationals events to last years Victorian State championships.
• Vet Pro (cruiser and 20 inch) to be added to the event - even if money only and no title -
  Victoria has many former and current Australian Champions (Trevor Stamford, Brian Kelly, Shane Jenkins, David Cleary, Trevor Weber, Danny Galea) and finalists (David Comport, Simon Anderson, Glenn Suridge, Jamie Bullows, Lance Mahika, Darren May, Dean Coles, Wayne Flint, Brian "Choo choo" Lacey) in the Vet Pro age group. A Vet pro class would be a great way to show case these riders and combine them into one highly competive class.
• Open the classes for interstate riders -
  Opening the event means two things; more riders, and more competition. There is nothing more important to developing our riders as we drift towards the 2008 Olympics.
• More affordable entry fees

02/08 Shepparton and Knox entry forms
We have added the entry forms for the Northern Rivers regional final race at Shepparton. Those that made the top 8 for the series will be racing for over $1000.
We have also posted the entry form for Knox, who will be hosting the Eastern region regional day, which is closed to particular clubs.
Click here to check out the calendar and download the entry forms.

02/08 Eastfield results
BMXUltra.com/One Bicycles' Jonathan Hoare took out yet another regional event and the series points for the Victorian Eastern Region's Metro Plate.
Greg Siinmaa sent this pic of the Pro open field, as the riders got the snap the gate jammed, I'm sure you can figure out the carnage. Eastfield is one of the tallest and steepest starting hills in BMX.
Results: Age Classes | Bruiser Cruiser
Series Results: Age Classes | Bruiser Cruiser (Final | Points)