Things like Transit Race DVDs are a little slow in getting to Australia, but well worth the wait. With the lack of TV coverage on any channel these days, including cable TV, it’s difficult to get a fix from the US BMX race scene, but Transit Race 3 hits the spot.
The races are from mid to late 2003 and from all over America, including legendary tracks such as Rockford, South Park, Louisville and the purpose built 2003 ABA worlds track in Reno, Nevada.
Aussie race fans will be able to pick fellow Australian, Felt’s John Johnston in A pro at the Rock, South Park and an indoor event. This footage would have been from his trip that finished just before the UCI world championships in Perth. Kamakazi also makes the odd appearance, look for the lump on his back after he was hit by a car, it’s in the downhill section.
The Transit interviews are well worth checking out. Colin Stiles interviews pros in their home environments, it’s alway very relaxed and casual. The Randy Stumpfhauser interview (while he was still on Huffy) is no different.
Randy talks about racing, his trophy room, his training compound, married life, nearly retiring after back to back knee operations and a whole lot more. If you Aussies were wondering what he thinks of Australia check out the fridge.
If racing and interviews aren’t enough for you there’s a little dirt jump and skate park action, as well as a crash section and a behind the scenes look at the X Games Downhill. One thing that I skip though now that I have seen it once is the Mudstock footage from the NBL grands. With 4 days of rain leading up to the event there was plenty of mud and it was too wet to get on the track. It’s worth a look for a laugh, but not something you could watch over and over again. Maybe it should have had it’s own special features section from the main menu.

Rating 18/20:

Comments:

• I love BMX race videos and would pay $AU60 for one of these, which is what it would cost if you bought it direct via mail order after freight. $US21 retail.
• The music is cool, but was lacking during the X Games Downhill. I’m guessing that the guys at Transit wanted to capture the atmosphere, but when you watch it you feel like putting on a CD.
• Not much can go wrong with a DVD. It’s NOT region specific, so should run on pretty much anything.
• It’s a clean DVD, the footage is good but there’s a little bit of an audio problem during the Stumpy interview for a second or two and there’s a bit of static noise during the X Games footage.