Stu Thomsen was the biggest names in BMX racing in the infancy of BMX. Not only did he dominate on the race tracks across America and across the globe, he was also quite handy in the skate park.

We caught up with Stu for an interview while he was visiting Melbourne recently after making a guest appearance at the BMXPO Show and Shine in Sydney.

We got to talk about the early years, how Stu found BMX, his thoughts on the early downhill tracks and BUMS in particular and the legendary Yamaha Gold Cup at the LA Colosseum. He also talked a little about the legendary SE bus trip, about his time on SE, and his signature STR-1 frame that became the iconic Quadangle, and his time on Redline and Huffy, his bike shop and how he came to work in the Police force. We also asked him about his thoughts on his new SE signature STR-1 29er, BMX racing today and for helpful hints for riders looking to make a profession out of BMX racing.

I’d like to thank Stu for his time, and to Glenn from Bicycle Works for organising the interview and making it all possible. Also a special thanks to Russell Brown for helping me with some of the camera work.