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Don't forget to press the refresh button on your browser when you're looking
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Where's the rest of Octobers news?
If you are reading this and expecting something else, that's because we
screwed up and lost all of Octobers news, but managed to restore some
of it. Without a full back up we'll see if it can be fully restored. Otherwise
we'll try to see what can be replaced...a lot of the content on BMXUltra.com
is original and not easily replaced. We'll take a look at it and ensure
you all that we will do what we can to see that it will not happen again.
28/10 More on the Victorian State titles
I'm sorry but I just can't let this go, I want BMX to improve in Victoria,
I want it to survive. Heck I'll have the Victorian Backyard BMX Championships
if I had a backyard big enough (it's on the cards) just to prove a point
and show how it should be done. I know there are a lot of other people
out there that would support it.
Here's another email about the Victorian State titles, and how you can
help to make a change.
Congratulations on continuing your protests against the ridiculous state
of the Victorian State Titles entry fee's and Pro classes. I have read
your article on the Pro riders and the Elite class entry fees
and I agree that it is a rip off as all the titles entry fee's are. I
applaud the riders that are making a stand and entering their respective
age classes rather than the elite.
In your last paragraph are we asking the elite entry fee be dropped this
year? Do we want elite droped and AA and A Pro for this year? Do we want
lower entry fee's for all of us this year? I say yes. You and I know there
is no reason at all with over 4 weeks to go till the titles that the fee's
for the elite at least could be changed and the elite system could be
dropped in favor of the AA and A pro. As within the rules you can enter
AA or A and also enter your age class. I know my son Tom
would enter A pro as well as his age for the Titles and I think quite
a few younger riders would as is the case in NSW. You would get more enties
which would cover the droping of the entry fee.
Anyway as with a lot of complaints about BMX in Victoria nothing will
happen if only one or two people say something.
If a lot more of the pros spoke up said want they want (hopefully they
could agree with each other) and got onto Barrie Vickers immediately maybe
it would change. But sitting on their butts whinging to them selves will
and has always got them nowhere. Its time to act now for this year.
With mine and Graeme Anderson's letters a lot of people on the weekend (Cash Dash) complimented us for making a stand. Now we are told things have been set in place to retify and address the problems. Maybe we can push the issues above if more people out there get onto BMX Vic. Not just one or two of us.
I am a sucker as I have entered this years Titles but that doesnt mean I accept the way it is and nor should it for anyone else.
Greg Siinmaa.
27/10 Cash Dash race report (part 2)
The AA Pro men had only 2 gates. In the motos the real surprise was that
Khalen Young was still on the pace after spending about 4 months off the
racing circuit, he really took it to an in form Mike Fenwick in the first
moto. Tony Harvey and Jonathan "Jon Jon" Hoare also did well
in the motos. Ben Price who had ridden so well the week before was struggling
to stay on, rumour had it he was trying out clipless pedals for the first
time in a long while. When the gate dropped in the AA main Khalen and
Fenwick jumped out to the early lead followed by Harvey and Jon Jon. In
the first corner Harvey and Jon Jon made up some ground on the leaders
and had bunched right up. Khalen was still giving it to Fenwick who gave
him a nudge and allowed Harvey to slip into second. The guys in the rear
of the field got a little tangled, Robert Slatter puled through unscathed
and finished in 5th.
The Pro women were combined (A and AA) and there still wasn't enough for
a full gate. But that doesn't mean there wasn't any action. These women
really had some skills many of them jumping the first straight with ease.
The racing was dominated by Emma Franklin, returning to the race track
after a short break. Ziggy Callan pulled all seconds and the Vet Pro chick
herself Caroline Sobotka pulled all thirds. South Australian Kerrie-Lee
Lucas had a heavy fall and ended up in hospital, story goes that she fell
with her knee being "ripped" open by Ziggy Callan's pedal. We
hope it's not too serious and that we see Kerrie-Lee back on her bike
soon, she's a great competitor.
The Vet pro cruiser class looked to be dominated by David Comport again,
but NSW rider Brett Barnes had other ideas. While Comport got the early
lead he messed up the second corner and allowes Barnes to get ahead. Jamie
Bullows finished in third with Glenn Suridge in fourth and Craig Merritt
in fifth. Craig Walczuk fell heavily and bit into his tongue, he was in
pain but seen walking around, he left a vacant lane in the vet pro 20
final.
In the Vet pro 20 David Comport had another chance at taking the win,
this time Barnes was on the sidelines, Bullows slotted into second and
Craig Merritt into third. The older guys in the Vet Pro field Lance Mahuika
and Greg Siinmaa did a great job making it into both mains and getting
amongst it with the younger guys.
Random notes:
27/10 2004 SA BMX Titles photos
The Sports Action Photographics crew were at both days of the 2004 South
Australian BMX Titles and managed to get a bunch of awesome photos. They
are also the guys taking snaps at the Aussies and 2003 Worlds.
Check out www.sportsaction.com.au
and follow the links.
27/10 Intense/TotalBMX Team (Vic) announced
We received a short email with the final list of riders on board the Intense/TotalBMX
Team (Vic). It's taken some time to finalise the team roster because they
have only just signed Khalen Young.
Intense/TotalBMX team roster
Aaron Jeffries (A pro men)
Emma Franklin (AA pro women)
Sean Craven (A pro men)
Khalan Young (AA Pro men)
27/10 2005 Masters Games
BMX at the 10TH Australian Masters Games from 7-16 OCT 2005.
South Australia's The COVE BMX club has already started making preparations
for the games. To be eligible to race at the Masters Games you have to
be 25+ on that day of comp, have a bike and be prepared to have fun. Classes
offered for 20" and Cruiser are 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49
and 50+
The idea is that they will run the Masters races in conjunction with a
sanctioned meeting, like the VET PRO at other meets. However to make it
successful, it has been suggested a large AA and A prize pool will be
offered to secure interstate interest to support the meeting. Other SA
clubs will also be running meetings during the week and on the weekend
to make it an exciting week of BMX racing.
What a month OCTOBER 2005 will be for BMX in SA with not only hosting
the Masters games, but SABMXA have already started talking about how they
can make the MOUNT GAMBIER, SA vs VIC and STATE TITLES bigger and better.
The Masters games attendance statistics are impressive. 10 days of competition,
64 sports, 52 sporting organisations and clubs, 10,500 participants, 1,500
officials, 1,000 volunteers and fun competition.
Why not have ago and enter another sport, you don't have to be an athlete
to compete in the Games, anybody can enter. For more information log onto
www.amg2005.com and register your interest, or contact Brett MaliC via
email: malic.brett@saugov.sa.gov.au.
26/10 Cash Dash race report
In the past the Cash Dash has been one of the largest events on the Australian
racing calendar, interest from interstate riders had dwindled the past
2 years because of the hype of the televised BMXPress/BMXCentral Grand
Nationals at Knox which followed a week or two later. The television is
gone, but the money is still there. The South Eastern club has a number
of things working against it including BMXVictoria's entries for the state
titles being due in the same month, the fees are so high that half the
families will have to take out personal loans to cover them (but that's
another story).
The weather was perfect for racing, the sun was out and there was a light
breeze. The track was in good condition, there have been no real changes
except for a table top to step-up-step-down out of the last corner, it
was still typical of South Eastern, just flatout pedalling the whole way
around.
It was good to see that the number of riders was up 245 entries and riders
from Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales. It was surprising
so many people travelled since the prize money was quite low in comparison
to previous years, but a few of the interstate riders were there to make
a weekend of it, checking out the Australian Bike Show as well.
A Pro was the biggest of the Pro classes with 30 riders, the pressure
was on to make the semi and there were some real surprises. Daniel Stocks,
Matt Willoughby and Shaun Craven were the top 3 qualifiers, Ben Carlos
also looked comfortable, it was Shannon Rademaker (Free Agent/ Cyclelink.com.au)
that was the surprise package for the day, he's been a mid pack rider
in the A pro field, but it looks like he's stepped it up, he was one to
look out for in the main. Ahron Jeffree did it tough, a crash in the last
moto put him in a run off for the semi, he was able to beat Jarrod Tingate
for a semi birth. Two riders in the A pro field Gary Morgan and Shane
Jenkins (struggling with a groin strain) were old enough for Vet pro but
though they would take on the young guns, and did a good job, both making
it to the semi.
In the first semi it was just carnage the whole way around, riders were
shoulder to shoulder colliding down the first straight, Rademaker wore
the full brunt of that hitting the deck half way down the straight and
ending his campaign. In the second corner Jeffree, sitting in third, was
late on his brakes, he lost traction and slid into Geoff Tripovich, who
was is second, they both went down Jenkins slipped into second with Jarred
Kahl and Gary Morgan in third and forth, Ben Carlos fell in a last minute
charge to the last corner and the top 4 were safe, Stocks took the win.
The second semi wasn't as crazy. When the gate dropped Adam Robb looked
to be struggling, it was Willoughby, Simon Grigg, Adam Carey and Craven
that made it through, while Robb, Jeremy Patterson, Andrew Toth, and Joseph
Bujak would have to watch from the sidelines.
When the gate dropped in the A pro main Willoughby and Stocks got the
snap on the inside lanes, Jenkins got a strong start from the outside,
but the first jump there were about 6 riders shoulder to shoulder, a little
bumping and the field started to spread out, Stocks pulling ahead. Willoughby
slotted into second with Carey tailing him and Grigg in fourth. Which
is how they crossed the line.
(more of the report and photos coming soon)
Click here for full
results.
26/10 Victorian pros take a stand
Victoria is the most expensive state in Australia for riders competing
at their state titles, it also has the lowest pize money of any of the
eastern coast states. Pro riders pay $77 for a share of $1200, which is
shared amongst Senior Elite and Junior Elite men and women and Elite cruiser,
that's 5 classes. Let's say there will be 10 senior elite men, 14 junior
elite men, 6 Elite women (combined), and about 10 Elite cruiser riders.
That's $3080 in entries from the elite classes alone, how much were they
getting back again? Less than 50% of what they put in...hmmm, where's
the rest going? BMXVictorian obviously think their riders are just plain
stupid.
A number of the pro riders are just sick of paying the money so have decided
to take the cheaper option and ride their amature classes. There's no
rule stopping them, so why wouldn't they. This is the final step towards
the collapse of the Victorian State titles. When AA Pro riders like 2
times pro state champion GT's Simon Anderson and Redline/TotalBMX's Adam
Robb choose to ride their age class instead of pro, the guys in their
class may decide they don't have a chance the following year and just
not go.
I'm not saying that people should boycott the 2005 Victorian State titles
in Portland, it should be a great race meeting with the club building
a new and exciting track. What we are saying is that it's a big possibility
that there will be no change again in the format of racing or the price
of entry fees, people are just going to give up on BMXVictoria who are
doing nothing to increase the number of riders competing.
BMXVictoria need to get the picture, change or die. Do it sooner rather
than later, you have the power to go against your entry form and change
the entry fee right now. Make the elite classes the same price as age
classes, call the riders who normally ride pro but have entered age and
ask them if they want to change back to pro, that would be atleast a start.
I am betting that 2004 will be a record low number of entries, and it's
mostly due to the excessive costs and that there just isn't any prestige
in winning a state title or making the final since every competitor receives
a title. I'll guess that there will be 250 riders this year, what do you
think?
26/10 2003 World BMX Champs on cable
Have you got cable TV? In Australia? Check that you have Fuel, we were
told that they are scheduled to air the 2003 BMX World Championships at
7.00pm EST Wednesday. It only goes for 30 mins, but hey it's BMX. Is anyone
able to record it for me? Email the address above to let me know. Check
your TV programs for further details.
26/10 Tarsha's BMX World: Girls rider clinics
Natarsha Williams, Jamie Lilly, Kim Hayashi and Carley Young have been
working on a project that will enable them to do female rider clinics
nationally for both ABA and NBL riders. They hope to have it up and running
for 2005. They will also be having other Pro girl riders as special guest
instructors.
The girls already have a name for their group and are in the processes of obtaining their own line of merchandise. Presently they are seeking sponsorship for the program and obtaining goods for promotional bags to give each rider attending the clinics.
The girls are also considering donating 10% of the rider fees to breast and ovarian cancer research.
What they would like now is some response or feedback from riders, parents, track committee's, or potential sponsors to the program. You can obtain some more details on www.tarshasbmxworld.com
While on the subject of Tarsha's BMX world, Ryan Birk has a segment on the site called Birk Uncut and he has added his 2nd Chapter being an interview with the Warlock ( Warwick Stevenson), it is definitely worth a read.
25/10 Cash Dash Winners
The 2004 Cash Dash is now over, just as a quick update here are the winners
(full report and results to come soon).
Vet Pro
1. David Comport (BMXBits.com.au)
Bruiser Cruiser
1. Brett Barnes
A Pro Men
1. Daniel Stocks
Pro Women
1. Emma Franklin
AA Pro Men
1. Michael Fenwick (Specialized/Fox)
2. Tony Harvey (Avent/ECI)
3. Khalen Young (Intense/ECI)
4. Jonathan Hoare (BMXUltra.com/One)
25/10 Australian Bike Show
The
Australian Bike Show was back in Melbourne this year, spending every second
year in Sydney. I have been to 3 bike shows in Melbourne now, and each
year the cycling industry seems to worry less about BMX. It seems as if
it's still the poor cousin of cycling. I was told that a lot of distributors
do their own shows these days and don't participate in the bike show.
That doesn't explain what was going on with the distributors that did
have displays.
Knowing that Elite Cycle Imports are going to have a big BMX display they
are always my first stop, and 2004 was no disappointment, they had a bigger
booth and a larger range of products on display, but the only thing that
was new seemed to be the Tangent products. It seems that ECI now have
the pad market sewn up now, since they also have THE and Aussie made Dirt
Designs products as well. They had their full Intense tires and frames
on display, along with Avent, S&M, Atomic Labs, Profile, their own
Tuf Neck products and many others.
Wandering around there was little in the way of BMX race product, there
were some entry level products in the Mongoose stand, but the guys there
weren't very responsive to questions about their higher end products.
Avanti had some low end Specalized BMX bikes and they also had what looked
like their own entry level race bike. I checked out the Steve Cramer products
booth, where there was a lot of new Troy Lee gear and Answer products
on display, I grabbed a 2005 Answer catalog and it seems that the BMX
range hasn't changed much from 2004 to 2005, new colours have been added
but that seems about all.
The highlights of the show for me? I spent about 2 hours talking to the
guys from Pazzaz, one of the worlds largest manufacturers of BMX products,
manufacturing under their own brand and for many other companies. Pazzaz
are a leading manufacturer in Carbon fibre products for road and track.
2005 sounds pretty exciting for Pazzaz, they have been a little quiet
in the past year or so with BMX but have big plans. They also promised
to send samples for us to test and review as things start to happen, we'll
keep you posted on that front.
It would be nice to think that the BMX industry will grow and there will
be more to see at the next Australian Bike Show, but trends would indicate
that's not about to happen in any hurry.
22/10 Cash Dash this weekend/practice
The Cash Dash, hosted by the South Eastern BMX Club, is probably
the longest running event on the Victorian calendar, it's been one of,
if not the, premier events on the Australian pro circuit for over 20 years.
It's been dominated over the past 10 years by 2 New South Wales riders,
Darren Hawkins and more recently Luke Madill. This event was even attended
by UK pro Dale Holmes at one point. The clash with round 1 of the UCI
Oceana series will hurt the event a little, as a lot of pros start their
long journey towards Olympic fame and glory (it appears that UCI rankings
will determine qualification into the Australian team).
Will a Victorian finally take a win at the Cash Dash this year? There's
been fierce rivalry building up between Tony Harvey and Jonathan Hoare
the past few weeks, and there's a bunch of other guys just about ready
to step out of their shadows, riders like Levi Collins, Luke Pretlove
and Ben Price. Khalen Young will be in the mix with his debut on Intense,
his first race for close to 6 months.
If you are going down to race at the Cash Dash this year there isn't a
great deal of practice time on Sunday, you might want to check out the
practice session on Saturday.
This just in from the South Eastern BMX Club:
"We are having gates at South Eastern BMX Club on Saturday 23rd
of October between 3.00 and 5.00 pm. Racing starts on Sunday at 10.00am
with gates at 8.30 -8.50 am 14+ riders, 8.50 - 9.25 am 13 and under riders
and 9.25 - 9.45 am for 14+ riders"
21/10 Australian
Bike Show
The Australian Bike Show is on in Melbourne again this year and
open to the public this Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th October, 2004
from 10am until 5pm both days. As per previous years the event will be
held at Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton, just on the north side of
Melbourne's city edge. Ticket prices are Adult $15; Concession $10; Family
$30; Children <10 FREE.
For more information check out www.bicyclingaustralia.com/bwWebsite/followon.asp?PageID=4
21/10 Shepparton GV Masters race report
The Shepparton track has not seen too many changes over the last 12 months,
maybe 1 or 2 jumps are different but that's about it. The last few times
there has been racing at Shepp the weather has been wet and misserable,
but riders were in for a change on the 17 of October. Clear skies, bright
sun and a little wind to keep it cool. With 25 riders in the Pro Open
class riders and spectators alike were set for a good days racing. It
was good to see former BMXUltra.com rider Jamie Truran getting back into
racing after a long break. Jamie was riding quite respectably for someone
who hasn't raced any big races for about 2 years or more. No real surprises
in the motos, Tony "HRV" Harvey and training partner Ben Price
were looking fast. Home track favourite, who won this event last year,
Levi Collins was on the gas. BMXUltra.com's Jon Jon was looking better
with each lap after a big Saturday night and the younger A pro's Daniel
Stocks and Shaun Craven were looking good. In the first Semi HRV got the
pop with Levi Collins and Benny Price in tow. The battle was for 4th,
with Craven and Truran. Craven managed to hold on sending Truran home
empty handed. Semi 2 saw Jon Jon get the pop with Luke Pretlove in there
for second and Robbert Slatter and Daniel Stocks fighting it for the 3rd
and 4th positions, last turn and Stocks thought he had 4th sewn up until
Dean Miller passed him to book a spot in the main.
Finals time, Levi Collins was the favourite along with HRV and Jon Jon, Benny price was a Dark Horse who could steal the win if anyone made a mistake. The gate dropped and Jon Jon out of lane 2 got the snap, HRV in 1 missed the gate slightly and got spat out the back. Pretlove decided he could get to the bottom of the hill on his back wheel but found out it's hard to keep the power down that way. Collins and Pricey were battling for that 2nd position. Over the small jumps into turn one Jon Jon got a bit messy and Collins saw the gap on the inside. Jon Jon, not down with that, gave Levi a little bump to set him right, this made Levi unclip and hold the rest of the pack up while Jon Jon hit the boost and pulled ahead. Pricey and HRV both made the pass on Collins and tried to run Jon Jon down but the track wasn't long enough. Chalk Jon Jon up for his 3rd win from 4 races since September, with Pricey in for second and HRV in for a 3rd.
Pro Open results
1. Jonathan Hoare (One Bicycles/BMXUltra)
2. Ben Price (Sinister Racing)
3. Tony Harvey (Avent/ECI)
4. Levi Collins (Sinister Racing)
5. Luke Pretlove (Redline/TotalBMX)
6. Shaun Craven (Intense/TotalBMX)
7. Robert Slatter (Melbourne Bicycle Center/Profile)
8. Dean Miller (GT Australia)
20/10 Review: One Bicycles flip-flop hubs
We've had Jonathan "Jon Jon" Hoare slaving away in
the BMXUltra.com sweat shop reviewing the One Bicycles hubs. Click
here to see what he had to say about them.
20/10 STAATS has an Aussie new-be and girls
gone ‘De Wilde’ in New Zealand!!!
Now that we have your attention… he he he… Staats Bicycles
is pleased to announce the addition of a new rider from Western Australia,
James Dixon. J.D. is the current National Australian Champion in the 16
boys’ 20" class and was the Australian Champion for 15 boy’s
20" the previous year. James just added another title under his belt
winning the Western Australian State Champions in the 16 boys’ class.
This title is almost like a National title because 5 of the top eight
riders are from Western Australian and competed in the event. James is
heading to New Zealand to compete in The UCI round 1 event, October 23rd
and 24th with to represent Staats.
“Big Bob” de Wilde will also be attending the UCI event while
on a STAATS P.R. tour in New Zealand. Bob has been kind enough to send
us reports of what is up during his walk-about down-under
Robert left for New Zealand on Thursday the 14th to Kiwi Country. Bob
first leg of the trip was to Sydney and was very long, about 14 hours.
He arrived around 3:30 pm in Auckland, 2 days later, it was Saturday now.
Adam Campbell, the Staats dealer of New Zealand picked him up.
On Sunday Adam had a clinic planned on at East City BMX Club. About 20
BMX riders showed up on nice sunny day. The clinic went very well; we
only had one crash but not anything serious. The riders were happy, I
was happy, and what else can we ask for. Later that day we went over to
Big Don’s house for a BBQ. A lot of Big Don and Adam’s BMX
friends came over for a good quality time. Everybody wanted to see the
UCI worlds DVD that Adam brought over. They watched Robert’s burly
main event crash over and over again.
Monday Robert did not have much planned so he did some sight seeing with
Big Don. They drove around the Bay and Auckland. It was very windy and
the sea was very rough. NZ is awesome; Bob hasn’t ever seen a country
that green. They went up the Sky Tower in downtown Auckland. This is the
highest tower in the southern hemisphere. It has an awesome view over
the Bay and over the city. Later, they checked out some old volcanoes
and that was pretty much it for the day. Robert was very impressed with
how beautiful the country is down there.
Check back for more updates about Bob ’n J.D.
Staats riders get to the front of the pack with the help of the world-class
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www.sunrims.com winning wheel sets, www.systems-web.com state-of-the-art
web site design,
www.troyleedesigns.com stylin’ race gear and clothing, www.weider.com
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19/10 One Frames Voucher - Last chance
This is the last day to take advantage of the exclusive 10% discount
offer for all One Bicycles frames. Click
here for full details.
19/10 Victorian Titles entry form
There has been a large number of requests for the Victorian State
Championships entry form, this is despite BMXV saying that all riders
will receive one in the post. I have scanned the 4 pages of the entry
form, there are other pages, but if you want to get your entry in this
is all the information you need.
Download the entry form from our racing calendar.
18/10 Warrnambool Classic entry form
The Warrnambool Classic is on again on the 31st of October. There
is $1000 up for grabs for the 14 & Over class and $300 for Vet pro.
Warrnambool is always on my to do list for the year, the track is challenging
and fast, the competition is tough, the meeting is always run smoothly,
and best of all Warrnambool isn't too far from Melbourne that you can't
do it as a day trip but it makes for a great weekend away. The Vet pro
class is a new addition to the usual format, so all you 30 and over riders
out there mark this one on your calendar, support the clubs that support
you.
For all the details download the entry form from our racing calendar.
18/10 Victorian Titles concern
Last week I wrote about my concerns for the Victorian State Championships.
This year would be my 22nd consecutive, I have seen a lot of great racing
and a lot of good meetings over those years but the last couple of years
it's appeared that BMXV don't care about the meeting or what people think
of it, they seem to be more worried about making large profits. It's obvious
that I'm not the only one with concerns, we received 2 emails just last
night.
Greg Siinmaa - Knox BMX Club committee member
Are our State Titles destined for DOOM? If the interclub meeting is anything
to go off yes they are.
Being both a rider and an event organiser here are a few observations.
The entry forms were late getting sent out. Most of the clubs that did actually receive them had no real chance of contacting members as their monthly clubby had been run and not all members rode Lilydale so attempts had to be made to contact them by phone. This must of made Barrie Vickers job of collating all the entries so hard as he would of received them so late. This was reflected in the very late start.
The race director for the interclub should be utilised somewhere else
where her skills maybe suited..
The meeting was ran in an incompetent manor, which forced the meeting
to run the latest of any race meeting I have ever attended. Previous state
run meetings as in the Interclub and State Titles most of the officials
knew in advance who their respective coordinator was and what was required
off them.
She had not organised most of the officials and was very questionable
about trying to contact people. The first time most volunteers were contacted
was Sunday morning. One of our States hardest workers was publicly berated
and humiliated by the thus being told she was not required. The Race Director
is renowned around Victorian BMX circles for being rude and abusive to
volunteers in the sport and it shows when a fair percentage of the states
regular officials and workers refuse to work at meetings she has anything
to do with and the ones that do work only do so under sufferance just
so the meeting can go ahead for the riders and the good of the sport.
No matter what the track is like there will be differing opinions on
them and the suitability for a titles meeting. The track itself was up
with the best prepared State Title tracks I have been to. It was well
groomed; it had a good mix of jumps to suit all riders and all abilities.
If you can jump you will get an advantage in some places and if you are
a cranker or sprinter you got an advantage in places, but the advantages
were even to everybody.
Now the surrounds were something else. There was a distinct lack of decent
facilities such as toilets, commentary and the canteen even though the
food was probably good drew a fair amount of comment. If it rained I am
sure the surrounding area would have been a major mess.
I do not hold the club responsible for this all of this, as I am sure
they are trying their best. BMX Victoria the body that awarded the event
did once upon a time had a criteria that had to met and if they give the
event to a club they should make sure that the criteria is met.
Last years interclub and State Titles were better organised as the two
leading ladies of Vic BMX were playing off against each other to see who
could do the best. This year one of them is otherwise indisposed so this
has left the other to her own devices and it looks like it was beyond
her abilities, or she has too much on her plate. Maybe she needs to trust
and let others do things.
It should not be assumed just because you worked at last years events
that you will just do the same this year. People like to be asked, that
is asked well in advance. It is not like the Interclub and State Titles
have just sprung up. Why were last years coordinators not asked earlier?
I am sure if they were a few things like the Staging area, scoring, starting
and such would have been a fair bit better.
The Event Management group should consist of people who have ran successful
major sanctioned meetings. IE: Eastfield, South Eastern, Knox and so on.
To run a decent State Titles some wholesale changes are required.
The President and Secretary of BMXV should not have a lot to do with the
meeting as they should be concentrating on running day to day stuff. You
don’t see the president of BMX Australia doing the entries for the
Aussie Titles.
A new race director is required ASAP Maybe John Mc Neil, Ross Gardiner,
Robert Burr, Mark Chastenouf etc as they have all ran major meetings.
A new race secretary to handle entries and race admin. Di Lacey or Jannet Popko ?
Last years coordinators need to be asked and if they accept immediately assemble their teams.
The club should look at selling sites to extra food vendors. For example a doughnut van could pay the club $200 for 2 days. The club gets the money just for supplying customers and a site for the van.
BMXV take responsibility for its decision to run at Sunbury and assist
the club however it can to make the track and surround as presentable
as required for a State titles meeting. BMXV should use the status of
itself and the State Titles to obtain deals with hire companies for cheap
or free in lieu of sponsorship for the supply of toilets, decent generators
and maybe site huts for scoring and race admin.
The Riders should not be penalised to get the meeting up to scratch. The
entry fee should not be raised to get extra money to cover any extra cost
to make the Titles run. The entry for the state Titles should be no more
than the entry for a major sanctioned meeting or no more than $10 dearer
at the most.
Now you may ask what do I know about running meetings? Prior to taking up BMX 6 years ago I was involved in the running of 4 Australian Moto Cross Championship meetings in varying roles from race director to event chairman. The last motorcycle event I was involved in was an International Moto Cross as race director. We had over 500 competitors and well over 8,000 spectators to deal with. The event was a success because we worked as a team, entrusted, delegated and followed the 6 P’s proper preparation prevents p#*# poor performance. I have used this philosophy for all the BMX events that I have been involved with over the last 6 years and been part of some very successful meetings. Most clubs learn from each meeting and make the next one better. It so disappoints me that in this 6 years BMXV has not. As with other clubs Knox BMX Club encouraged new members and members that only ride clubbies to come and help the club win at the interclub. Hey this meeting is supposed to be the pre titles so it should be the second best meeting in the state. What they saw was a shambles and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t ever go to another open meeting. I wouldn’t if I was just starting.
I am not asking for the meeting to be moved and I don’t want it to fail. Lets pull together and BMXV pull your heads out and make this happen. If South Australia and N.S.W. can we should be able to BETTER
Graeme Anderson - new to BMX
My family and I are quite new to BMX. My son has been riding for 12 months
and my daughter and I about 4 months. I recently received entry forms
for the 2004 State Championships and I must say that I was horrified at
the high cost of entries compared to every other meeting we have attended.
I understand that this event is supposed to be the pinnacle of all events
in Victoria however it seems a bit steep. Having got over the entry cost
there are several points I have major concerns with for this meeting.
The Sunbury club have a good track that no doubt they have spent a lot of time and money developing however with all due respect to their club the facilities are not up to the standard expected for a state championship.
In summary many of the tracks shortcomings can be overcome by hiring a PA system, extra toilets and some quick shades for shelter. I am not sure if BMXV are capable of taking on constructive criticism to get their act together in just over a month.
15/10 One Bicycles Voucher - last days
If you've been considering redeeming the exclusive One Bicycles/DP1/BMXUltra.com
10% discount offer for all One Bicycles frames there are one a few days
to go.
It's 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.
15/10 One Bicycles interview
The fastest growing name in BMX right now would have to be One
Bicycles. Find out how they went from hand painting number plates to mixing
it with the big names.
Click here to read the
interview.
14/10 Track Attack update
Thanks to Brian Lacey, president of Victoria's Eastern who run the Track
Attack series, we have an update.
13/10 Track Attack 2005
We have received a number of enquiries about the 2005 Track Attack series,
6 races held over 9 days in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne in mid January.
The thing is there has been no information released about the event so
far, but from what I can make out it will be on again. Hang tight and
we will do our best to dig up an update.
13/10 BMX at the NYC triathlon
Sometimes we take life (and BMX) a little too seriously, and
then something will pop up that makes us realise that we should just look
at the lighter side of things and have a little fun. There's a story on
the Haro Bikes website about Ahin Savara competing in the NYC triathlon
on a BMX bike, it's well worth a read. One thing is for sure life is not
all about winning.
Check it out at www.harobikes.com/bmxnews/092104.html
12/10 Wade Bootes is innocent
When a drugs ban is announced amongst the BMX community you can
be sure that rumours will spread like wild fire, it's no different for
Aussie MTB/BMX legend Wade Bootes. The fact is Wade is a victim of tightening
Anti Doping policies, if it was a more serious offence he would have faced
greater punishment than a 6 month ban. In his long career as a Pro BMXer/MTBer
have you ever heard of him being banned for drug use before? I know I
haven't, and I've known Wade since his Cobra years from the mid-late 80's,
when he used to race aginst my brother.
For Wade's side of the story check out www.daleholmes.com
and look at the statement made by Wade on October 10.
12/10 Victorian State Championships
It's funny that BMX Victoria never seem to pay attention to their
riders. There have been many suggestions over the years as to how the
Victorian State Championships can be improved, but since I received the
entry form yesterday it's apparent that they just don't care enough about
the sport or their riders to make a change.
The entry fee costs are still extremely high (where does all that money
go again?), they are still running Elite and Jnr Elite classes (despite
the fact they just don't get enough riders to make it exciting to watch
and most other states run A/AA pro), and even worse they haven't made
the effort to update their sponsors logo for the entry form, the Dirt
logo they are using is at least 3 years out of date. The closing date
for the entry form is 3 weeks after the entry form arrived, for those
of us that get paid monthly this is a real problem. I've decided not to
compete at the national titles next year, looks like it will be the same
for the Victorian State titles.
Why would anyone want to ride at the Victorian titles event next year
if South Australia will have their state championships open and at Mt
Gambier. They have cheap entry fees (nearly half the price), A/AA/Vet
Pro classes, their event is run so fast they get through motos in less
than half the time that BMXV do - 4 rounds of motos in just over 4 hours,
on top of that their tracks are far more exciting to race on and a great
challenge for the riders.
11/10 BMXUltra.com unofficial Vet Pro series
We at BMXUltra.com would love to see the Vet Pro classes grow
in Australia and have thought the best way to help it would be to create
a series of National scale. The full blown series won't start until next
year, but to get things started and to iron things out like a scoring
system, etc, we will be scoring all Vet Pro races until the end of this
year.
What is Vet Pro?
A money class for the 30 and over riders. For the event to count the name
of the class must be Vet Pro 20 inch or Vet Pro cruiser, a class called
"Bruiser Cruiser" will not be counted. The class must be advertised
on the entry form and results sheet as Vet Pro. There must be a minimum
of $150 total prize money for the finalists. There must be a minimum of
4 riders competing.
How will the series work?
It will be up to the vet pro riders to let us know when there's a race
meeting coming up, sending us the entry forms and information so we can
help promote the events. Then, once the event has been run, sending us
the full results from the event. Points will only be scored from official
results.
Why a series?
We believe that a series, however unofficial, will promote Vet
Pro classes throughout Australia and help to promote the clubs that support
it. It also adds an incentive for the riders to race at more Vet Pro events.
What are the prizes?
At the moment we have two sets of ATi Jackson grips, a Transit
3 DVD and we're working on more.
Points system?
We were going to use the prize money as the points system, but
it can be difficult to find out, instead we'll go for finals points only;
8 points for 1st, 7 points for 2nd, 6 points for 3rd, etc.
What about the other pro classes?
We are happy to keep scores for all AA/A Pro classes male and
female, if there is a Vet Pro class at the event, but rely on people sending
us the results. There will be no prizes for those classes.
Points so far:
| Event | Bellarine Spectacular |
SA Titles | Cash Dash | Warrnambool | The Dome | ||
| Location | Bellarine, Vic. | Tea Tree, SA | Oakleigh, Vic | Warnambool, Vic | Knox, Vic | ||
| Prize money | $300 | $600 + payback | $150 + Payback | $250 + Payback | $300 | ||
| Date | 19/09/2004 | 02/10/2004 | |||||
| Class | 20 inch | Cruiser | 20 inch | 20 inch | 20 inch/ Cruiser |
Total | |
| 1 | David Comport BMXBits |
6 | 8 | 14 | |||
| 2 | Shane Jenkins BMXUltra |
7 | 6 | 13 | |||
| 3 | Jamie Bullows Harding Cycles |
4 | 7 | 11 | |||
| 4 | Craig Walczuk Redline/Total |
8 | 8 | ||||
| 5 | Ben McDonald | 5 | 5 | ||||
| 6 | Greg Siinmaa Sinister |
5 | 5 | ||||
| 7 | Michael White | 4 | 4 | ||||
| 8 | Andrew Jeffree | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 9 | Greg Oberti | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 10 | Brett Malic | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 11 | Cameron Murray Blowfly |
2 | 2 | ||||
| 12 | Raymond Ross | 1 | 1 |
If we are missing the results from a Vet Pro event near you let us know.
08/10 South Australian titles photos
We got a few photos from Tea Tree Gully, click
here to check them out.
07/10 South Australian titles report
part 3
The Pro womens class was an interesting one, 9 riders and only
1 would miss out on the final. In the motos Kerrie-Lee Lucas looked like
she was beaten by the likes of Susan Kirkham and Sally Thomas, it wasn't
the case by the time the final came around. When the gate dropped she
jumped to the lead and stayed there, Kirkham slotted into second and Thomas
in third.
In the A Men class there were 2 full gates, any combination of the riders
could have made it through. The 2 Victorian riders in the field Vet Pro
Shane Jenkins, who had two falls in qualifying, and the well travelled
Ben Carlos were amongst it. They found themselves fighting it out in a
run off for the last spot in the main. Jenkins got the early lead and
held it to the line. When the gate dropped in the main there was a wall
of riders heading for the big doubles at the end of the first straight,
then they filed into single file. Clayton Smith took the win over Chad
Higgins in second and Ben Warner in third.
In the AA Pro there were only 9 riders, 3 of them Victorians. To look
at the field you would expect that Leigh Huitema would be the one to miss
out, he proved everyone wrong with some good finishes in qualifying. It
was Victorian Levi Collins that was eliminated. Many of the riders had
picked that it would be a 1-2 finish with Mike Fenwick taking first over
Brian Kirkham, and that third onwards could be anyone. That's how it went
down. Fenwick jumped to the early lead with Kirkham on his tail, it was
Jonathan "Jon-Jon" Hoare who sat in third most of the way around
the track, closly followed by Aaron Lumsden. Jon-Jon landed a jump awkwardly
and washed off speed allowing Lumsden to slip into third. Richard Barker
finished 5th, Michael Wellman 6th, Leigh Huitema 7th and Brock Tuckerman
in 8th.
South Australia put on a great State Titles, with any luck the event will
be open again next year at the Mt Gambier track.
Photos coming soon.
07/10 Northern Park Cancelled
There was a sanctioned meeting scheduled this Sunday October
10 for the Northen Park track (AKA Lalor Park), it has been cancelled
for some time. The club is in a rebuilding phase which will include new
club rooms and a rebuilt track. The track changes, due to commence soon,
will make the track more fun to ride and more challenging, positioning
it as one of Victoria's best racing and training facilities and should
be completed by early 2005.
07/10 UCI Oceanic Round 2 entry form
I have received a number of emails about the UCI race in Perth.
Here's the proposed 2005 series dates (I believe it's subject to change);
Click here to go to the racing calendar for a copy of the UCI entry form.
06/10 South Australian titles report part 2
The sponsorship department was headed up by Vet Pro rider Brett
MaliC, who did a fine job, he worked tirelessly in chasing up the prize
money for the Vet Pro. Brett managed to put together the biggest prize
pool for Vet pros ever in Australia. The final pool, after all riders
had entered, was around the $1000 mark. But the sponsors got more than
their monies worth. The race program and the track were plastered with
sponsors logos and signs, the companies names were read out over and over
again throughout the weekend, it was impossible to have sat at the Tea
Tree Gully track all weekend without having at least 5 brand names permanently
burnt into the back of your eye balls. The list of sponsors was impressive;
Major
Sponsors
REDLINE Bikes
ODYSSEY Bike Parts and Accessories
POLAR Heart Rate Monitors
RYDGES: HOTELS and RESORTS South Park Adelaide
STANDISH CYCLES Westlake's and MorphettVale
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Smart Choice
Minor Sponsors
Adelaide Crystal Glass
Montane Security
Boss Racing Differentials
BMXUltra.com
BMXstars.com
Metropolitan Fire Service
VET PRO PERPETUAL TROPHY DONATED BY
OMEGA TROPHIES
You think that's impressive? 256 sponsors signs and banners were displayed on and off the track.
When it came to the racing there were 3 gates of 30+ Vet pro cruisers,
not only fighting out for a share of the prize pool, but rights to be
the first man to have their name inscribed on the huge Vet Pro perpetual
trophy and other goodies donated by sponsors for the consolation final.
In the motos 3 out of the top 4 qualifiers were Victorian riders, David
Comport (BMXBits.com.au), Jamie Bullows (Hardings Cycles) and Shane Jenkins
(BMXUltra.com), the South Australian amongst them was Ben McDonald. The
others in the mix knew anyone in the final could win it, they included
"Mad" Brett MaliC, "Radical" Raymond Ross, Michael
White and Greg Oberti. The fourth Victorian in the field that was an early
favourite, Dean Coles (BMXStars.com) was chasing titles in 2 other classes
and just didn't have the legs to keep up the pace in 3 classes, he had
to take on the consolation finalists, which he managed to win after messing
up his gate and giving the others a substantial head start.
The Vet Pro class was the biggest of the Pro classess at the South Australian
titles, and no one could pick a clear winner although there was a particular
South Australian who thought he had it won and wanted everyone to know
about it. It took only 40 seconds for him to be put in his place. When
the gate dropped in the main everyone was watching, waiting for the carnage
and to see the first rider across the line. To the surprise of many it
was MaliC who got the jump on the gate, leaving the Victorian's to chase.
Before the first step up Ross and Oberti got tangled up and Ross went
down. MaliC unclipped on the big double and was in trouble, Jenkins and
Comport pounced. Comport had the better line for the sharp left hand corner
coming from lane 6, Jenkins had to cut a tight line from lane 3. Comport
exited the corner a clear leader, as Jenkins struggled to keep his feet
on his platforms Bullows took the high road and railed into second place.
McDonald slotted into fourth behind Jenkins. White and Oberti in fifth
and sixth with MaliC trying to get back amongst them, but in seventh with
Ross back in the eighth spot. Despite a late charge by McDonald that's
how they crossed the line.
The best part of the weekend was at the line, all the Vet pro riders from
both finals were there congratulating each other and I can assure you
they are all looking forward to the next time they will get to race each
other. Maybe at the Knox 'Dome.
(Sorry that's all I have time for today, the other Pro finals tomorrow)
06/10 Avent/Bombshell news
FACTORY AVENT / BOMBSHELL'S ALISE POST RACKING UP TITLES - Blue Springs,
Missouri - 13 Girl Alise "The Beast" Post is on a mission this
season to win every ABA class and cruiser title possible and she's well
on her way. With a class and cruiser double this weekend at the Redline
Cup Central in Missouri, she inched ever closer to pulling off the dubious
feat. Post has already secured ABA World Championship titles in class
and cruiser in Nanaimo, Canada in August, Minnesota class and cruiser
State champion titles last month and, with great finishes at the ABA's
Blackjack Nationals in Reno last month, moved into the number one position
in overall National Girls' standings. Post has been ranked number one
in National Girls' Cruiser standings for the majority of 2004 and is currently
district number one on both bikes. Next up for Post is the District title
double, ROC double, and the illustrious double National titles last achieved
by Ashley Recklau in 1996. Post has won both titles; National #1 Girl
in 2001 and National #1 Girl Cruiser in 2003. Make sure to check out Alise
Post at the ABA's Fall Nationals in Del Mar over the Halloween weekend.
FACTORY AVENT / BOMBSHELL'S TORY NYHAUG WINS CANADIAN NATIONAL TITLES
- Chilliwack, BC, Canada - 12 Expert Tory Nyhaug capped off a successful
Canadian season by bringing home two National Number One titles in class
and cruiser. Tory was the man to beat going into the Canadian Grands in
Chillwack, BC and did not disappoint, backing up his 2003 National Number
One title with two in 2004. Tory has had a successful year so far also
winning both classes at the UCI World Championships in Valkenswaard, Netherlands
in July. With his success so far in 2004, Tory has been named "Male
Athlete of the Year" by BC Cycling. Tory is in the hunt to repeat
as NAG #1 in class and grab his first cruiser NAG #1 at the ABA Grandnationals
in November. Look for Tory to continue his winning ways at the Fall Nationals
in Del Mar in October.
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).
05/10 South Australian titles report part 1
Before I get started on behalf of the Victorian riders who attended
the South Australian championships I would like to thank the officials,
the riders and the sponsors for their hospitality and the great racing.
I hope we have a chance to race in SA again soon, and that we see you
all in Victoria.
The South Australian titles was one of the best meetings I have raced
at this year. Come to think of it it's one of the best State Championships
events I can remember racing at, and I've been to 21 consecutive Victorian
State Championships. When I try to think what made it such a great meeting
there were a bunch of reasons;
I could just keep going, because even off the track there were literally
hundreds of sponsor banners, cheap food in the canteen.
The track could have done with some work. The corners had been effected
by heavy rain fall and were quite rough, but in the most part the track
was a lot of fun, and when you think about it, it's not like we are racing
veledrome, besides everyone has to ride the same track. I'd much rather
ride a challenging track that's a little rough than a track that's flat
and boring.
(That's all I have time for today more to come tomorrow)
Click here to view
the results.
05/10 UCI Round 2 at Perth
Round 2 of the UCI Oceania Series will be held in Perth at the Cockburn
BMX Club on Sunday November 14. There is a club event incorporated in
the round with $2000 + payback for A and AA Pro.
Click here to download the entry form
from our racing calendar.
05/10 Frankston "Helltrack" entry fee
change
This just in from the organisers of the Frankston Helltrack meeting for
the 14th of November.
"We have decided to bring the entry price for bruiser cruiser down
from $25.00 per person to $20.00.
We sincerely hope that this will bring the bruiser cruiser riders to Frankston
to race because we have heard rumours that they weren't entering for various
reasons."
04/10 South Australian titles winners
We just returned from a road trip to Adelaide, South Australia
at 3am this morning, which is part of the reason there were no updates
on Thursday and Friday, sorry about that.
Just a quick update on the South Australian titles that was run at the
Tea Tree Gully track on the weekend.
Winners:
Vet Pro - David Comport (BMXBits.com.au)
Pro Women - Kerrie-Lee Lucas
A Pro Men - Clayton Smith (Tuff Neck)
AA Pro Men - Mike Fenwick (Specialized/Fox)
More details in a race report to follow shortly.
04/10 GT News: Madill and Allier win in Beijing
TAIYUAN, CHINA
September 17 & 18th, 2004
"Hyundai/GT Team Riders Thomas Allier and Luke Madill were both invited by the Chinese government and UCI World Cycling Organization to compete at an invitational BMX race in China earlier this month.
Day one at this, the first event of this type in China, was the Chinese
National Championship BMX race. Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics will hold
BMX racing in it for the first time, the Chinese want to be on pace with
the rest of the world for the BMX race event, so they searched the country
for
the best BMX racers, and invited them here for the National Championships
on Friday night. All of the international invited riders went out to cheer
on the Chinese riders and meet the fans, as Thomas and Luke were treated
like rock stars while they were there. They had no idea what they were
in for on Saturday, as it was there turn to race.
As the guys made it over to the track, they could not believe their eyes, as the area was packed with fans cheering on the GT riders, as well as all the others in attendance. With a feel much like the World Championships, the atmosphere was electric and it motivated both Hyundai/GT riders, so much so that they finished 1st and 2nd with Thomas taking the top honors, and Luke in tow for 2nd.
The guys were honored in style with a grand podium appearance, words
from the towns mayor, and a standing ovation from the excited crowds."