The USA BMX Grand Nationals – Does the #greatestraceonearth live up to the hype?

I call down to reception at 11.30 Sunday night and ask “what time does Walmart open till?” I’m told that though it’s not open 24 hours, it is open to midnight. I leave to go and pick up a six pack with instructions from my fellow travellers not to buy any crafty shit. They needn’t have worried; the most expensive six pack was nine bucks and Mexican domestic beer. I walk back because this time Michael Tucker and his boys aren’t there to offer me a lift to reflect upon the most intense weekend of BMX racing I’ve experienced since the Australian National Titles in 1984. I sit in the hallway while the Affoo family pack bikes and trophies and Shirley says that Thursday felt like a month ago. Indeed it did. Shaune just whinges about the Mexican beer and I am satisfied at my choice…. Both about the beer, and coming to race the greatest race on earth!

From Australia, it’s a lot of time spent in planes to make it to Oklahoma. Some of us that made the trip this year spent up to 40 hours traveling from our home towns and cities to the Tulsa Expo Center and for me on QF7 from Sydney to Dallas, there were 15 hours of thinking “what the hell am I doing spending all this money to possibly race only two race laps on the other side of the world?”

But I had to find out if what I grew up reading about in magazines in the 1980s was true. Was the ABA (now USA BMX) Grands the “Greatest Race on Earth”? You see, it’s different from traveling to the World Championships. You’re not going to bring home a “W” (world) plate and I guess that was what ultimately tipped me over to deciding to go, because as much as the racer I am, titles don’t really mean that much to me these days. Of course, they are very satisfying to win, but that feeling (for me) is fleeting. More enduring is the friendships and riding. That, and the sense of accomplishment of maintaining the bike skills and speed to be competitive in the modern era of track design at nearly 50 years old.

And I had to see if I was as fast as the “Americans”. Or were they aliens with extraordinary skill and speed and would just hose me down the drain and back to Australia? During my “pro” years from the mid-80s to mid-90s, my friends had gone over and come back fast as hell. Most notably Paul Addams and Anthony “Howie” Waye. They’d come back as much tougher competitors. Addams was always tough as hell, and H came back a different racer. He flat out dominated! For any youngsters reading, have a look at (what is now the National Elite Title trophy) and you’ll see both those names on there more than a couple of times.

I’m relieved as I hop on my last flight to Tulsa from Dallas to see my bike bag being loaded right under me. The baggage handler didn’t go for a PB from the cart to the conveyer belt, and picked it up and placed it down quite gently. In that bag was one of only two Colony BMX cro-mo race frames in existence. But it wasn’t the baggage guys making me nervous right now as a cro-mo frame could take a beating, it was that fact that not only I’d be racing at not quite 100% due to an injury I’d been managing for a couple of months (massive shout out to my physio, Jordan), I had only 5 weeks beforehand bolted together (okay, Ev from LUX BMX did) a prototype race frame that I planned to test at a few club nights and open days towards the end of the year. Then get together with Clint (rider/owner of Colony) to talk feedback/suggestions on changes for production. Not race it on one of the biggest BMX stages in the world! I’m not the type of racer that adapts quickly to new bikes, so my nerves were hyped up.

I bump into the Hollibone family randomly at the airport in Tulsa. They were waving at me and I was just wondering who this group of people had mistaken me for. I grab my bike bag from some dude that was just casually taking it from the baggage guy that had wheeled it out! Jump in an Uber to spend a couple of days shaking the jet lag in Tulsa. There’s not a whole lot to do there and my practice (a whopping 30 minutes!) wasn’t scheduled until 9.30pm Thursday night. So being only Monday night, I had a few days to chill. I was pleased with my decision to roll in on the Monday after I see my mate Steve Ewart on Thursday morning at his cruiser practice. He looked like death warmed up after arriving on the Wednesday.

I bolt together the Colony, find a coffee roasters nearby, and spend Tuesday and Wednesday shaking off jet lag, riding a cool ditch and drinking double shots. Americans are super friendly and the recent election of Trump is a hot topic with a few people asking me as an Australian, what did our country think of the election? Oklahoma is a state you can carry a hand gun, so I refer them to the Sydney Morning Herald as a resource, rather than risk offending a “citizen”.

Wednesday I move into my “Grands” accommodation, which by Sunday night, I was extremely thankful it was located on the fairground’s site as the days are long. I feel sorry for the (racer) parents of young racers who spend up to 15 hours or more inside the shed.

Thursday is a long day as my practice is so late, but I’m lucky enough to grab a couple of laps in the morning’s cruiser practice on Sarsha Huntington’s cruiser. I haven’t ridden a 24 for a while after mine tried to kill me and it feels slow and unresponsive after a long layoff. I decide not to race cruiser and just concentrate on the 20. But the track is quite simple and the general consensus is that USA BMX aren’t really interested in building a “technical masterpiece”, but rather a track that they can run over 750 motos on without a stoppage every 30 minutes to pick up body parts. There’s no block format here, just good old fashioned all racing together (for the amateurs) and 750+ motos takes nearly 8 hours to run. That’s ONE round!

Practice finally rolls around and I get on the gate very aware that I have 30 minutes to get it sorted and relieved to find that it’s just a heap of dirt like any BMX track and nothing is really tricky, except the double into the first corner. But as 46 expert, no one in my class is nailing it like the pros and I’m satisfied that I can race it. I even get a gate next to my Rail The Berm colleague, Skyway Nick, and challenge him for a run to the first jump. Then, as practice winds up, I sneak back over to the second straight for a run at the third’s rhythm section and Billy Griggs pulls. We have a quick chat about his Australian trip (I had raced him a pro final at Ipswich that Jason Naumann took out) and then he says “show me what you got” and we fire into the second berm and down the third straight. I’m a 15 year old racer again, not a 49 year old BMX boy-child.

The Friday Race of Champions kicks off at 7.30am and as I’m in moto 680 something, I get some breakfast around 8 after wishing my roomie good luck in his first Open moto. I still have a few hours till I race. As an international rider, you can race this event and get a few more laps of practice in. The locals have had to go few pre-qualification for it. I try to relax as my race is ages away, aware that you can’t stay “on” for 6 hours. I go to Starbucks, head to the track to find 300 motos to go, head back to my room and gauge when to head back. At around 12.30 I race (it could have been later, the whole event melded into one long weekend). I win and no one is more surprised than me. The ABA transfer system is alive and well here. You get two motos and if you finish first or second in the first moto, you transfer into the next round. If not, off to moto two you go. Same deal, first or second and you’re through. Or you’re watching the rest of the night. Every race is a final. So now I calculate that my next race (a quarter final) will be around 6 and head back to chill and keep an eye on the same live feed you may have watched to see hour the motos are progressing.
I’m having issues with my rear hub and it’s slipping, which isn’t the most confidence building mechanical. It’s engaging under power, but when I go to set my pedal on the gate for my quarter, it drops straight down to the bottom! I quickly set back up, but my first crank is set at around 11 o’clock. God knows how, but I transfer. There’s only 5 in the quarter and I round up the last guy to finish in a qualifying position for the semi. Danny from Rival volunteers one of his boy’s wheel and I’m thankful for both his help, and that fact that so many Aussies are here.

I’m more settled and hit the semi a little happier, and calmer as I’m not worrying about my hub exploding down the first straight under full horsepower. I miss the start and face a wall of riders in the first corner, eventually passing a couple and look for a move in the tight last corner but again there’s a wall of bikes and I slot in to cross the line knowing that I’m not getting completely blown out the back door.

But the racing is intense! The long days, the totally foreign environment and a field of solid riders who are all fast. These guys run Novice, Intermediate and Expert classes, and even in the oldest group I’m in, there’s 91 riders all up. With 49 in the 46x class for the Grands and as I look at the my moto for Saturday, I know I’m in for a tough ride.

To be continued…..

ABOUT BRUCE MORRIS #84

• Brisbane Australia
• BMX Racer – 35+ years
• Fitness Professional – 25+ years of operating gyms and training people
• Coach 84 BMX Training – Coaching the 30+ racers. Spanning performance, fitness and healthiness