BSX2016 saw the eleventh running of the one on one sprint trials Royal Children’s Hospital fundraiser. The little backyard track nestled in the hills 60kms north east of Melbourne’s CBD has hosted thousands of people and hundreds of competitors over the years. There have been visitors from North America, Europe and right across Australia and New Zealand. There have been big names of international BMX including a number of BMX Olympians, there has also been a number of riders who have grown with the event like Josh Callan, Bodi Turner, Wade Turner, Tom Siinmaa, Connor Hunter and others. But what is it that draws the crowds and the riders? BSX is difficult to describe, it’s a multi layered structured event that strips the sport back to it’s bare minimum and puts emphasis on fun. For many riders, after two days of competition at the first two rounds of the Track Attack series, you would think it would take a whole lot more than just that to draw a crowd. Sure, it’s a fundraiser, and it’s a very different race to the norm, but the key element is that it’s fun, an event created by riders for riders.

For many years BSX has been building momentum it has already raised over $40,000 for the Royal Children’s Hospital and thousands more for the Kinglake West CFA who provide the BBQ each year and are the exclusive provider of food and drinks for the event.

12 & Under Eliminations

The 12 & Under Class was a big success at BSX2015 so it was only natural that it was brought back to be included in the line up for BSX2016. Joel Marsh, who won the class last year returned along with some great talent that included current and past world champions. The highlights of this class for me was watching Liam Walczuk jumping through his time trial, he didn’t put in the fastest run, but it was impressive how much he’s developed these past couple of years. The gromits were originally included in the event because Liam wanted to ride at BSX like his father, thing is he did just that at BSX2016, I’m sure he did his parents proud. Another was watching Kinglake local Byron Blyth tear up the track like it was his own. His confidence, and speed, increasing each round until he got to the final, and when he appeared to have the lead heading in to the last corner he washed out handing the race to Joel Marsh. That’s not to say Joel didn’t earn the win, he proved he’s a worth champion once before and backed it up with a second straight win.

30 & Over Open Wheel Eliminations

The 30 & Over class has been all about Simon Anderson, in nine years he hadn’t dropped a race, sure he’s probably made a mistake or two along the way but nothing catastrophic. A number of riders showed up to try to snap Simon’s exceptional winning streak. Bruce Morris and Jason Bergstrom made the trip down from Queensland to join in on the fun. Dane Anderson, who had been knocking on the door of making finals in the Open Men’s class these past few years tried his hand at the 30 & Over, and of course there were all the usual suspects. There were some great races through the day the Morris Vs Walczuk showdown in the second round went down to the wire, not only a mate against mate, state against state, but it was a race for a spot in the finals. It was Morris who took the win by the smallest of margins. Simon Anderson proved that he’s a robot, he went on to win his tenth consecutive BSX, an accomplishment that just makes me shake my head in disbelief even now.

Open Women Eliminations

The Open Men’s class had a very young average age. One of the great things about BSX was it allowed younger riders to race against the stars of BMX, and a whole bunch of younger riders took to the challenge, just as Iesha Anderson had many years ago. Iesha Anderson had won BSX2015 with Jarrah Hecker keeping her honest, but in the time trial where Jarrah had earned the top seed it looked like the tides had turned. A highlight for the day was Vanessa Gooden Vs Emerald Blyth (another Kinglake local), Vanessa made a mistake that just nearly gave Emerald the win, and it would have been the upset of the day had she managed to pull it off, it certainly got the crowd on their feet. The finals showdown was a tight one as expected. Iesha managed to hold off Jarrah to take her third straight win, a chip off the old block.

Open Men Eliminations

Track Attack had been light on for Victoria’s AA Pros, it appeared as if they had gone into hibernation, but they showed for BSX. First Brandon Tehiko, the Josh Callan, Tom Siinmaa, Wade Turner, BSX2015 winner Levi Collins. Connor Hunter was also a surprise, changing his work schedule so he could compete at his eleventh straight BSX event. There were some awesome displays of bike skills, none more that Josh Callan’s ability to manual just about every jump on the track despite them being more like dirt jumps than race jumps. One of the most anticipated races of the day was Callan Vs Tehiko. Josh’s experience at the event shown through as he took the win. The B-Final also proved to be entertaining. Wade Turner Vs Levi Collins was more than just another one on one race, Wade wanted to prove a point and had waited a year to do it, but after getting the jump on Levi out of the gate Levi had pegged him back but Wade was too fast in the last half of the track and took the win and bragging rights for the next 12 months. The main event of Callan Vs Siinmaa proved to be a tough one, Callan had won the event four times in the past, Siinmaa had been in the finals a number of times but was still yet to take a win. Siinmaa appeared to get the snap but once Callan got into a rhythm he just pulled away and took his fifth BSX win.

There was a lot of hard work put into the event in the months leading up to the big day we would like to thank everyone who helped but especially Glenn Main who worked tirelessly to get the track in prefect condition. Our many volunteers who helped keep the event running smoothly on the day, and did a fantastic job helping us to raise money. Big thanks to MCs Travo and Shaun, Cameron Murray and the BMX Victoria scoring crew and to Jess Anderson and the rest of the track crew, and everyone who supported and attended the event, or watched on the live stream, without you all the event wouldn’t be possible.

BSX2016 is presented by BSX Inc/bmxultra.com & proudly supported by

Gold Partners
Dirt Designs (www.bmxultra.com/dirt)
Airsho
A-Team Disto (www.ateamdistro.com)
iPiece Productions (www.ipiece.com.au)
Bell Helmets (Monza Imports monzaimports.com.au/cycling/?page_id=4203)

Silver Partners
WD-40 Bike
Phil Kaye Racing (GHP Australia)
Profile Racing (ECI Imports)
BMXMAD
Ringmaster Images – Action Sports Decals
Ken Collins Racing

Bronze Partners
Planett
Box Components
Tangent Products
Tioga
Redline Bicycles
Snap Fitness