BMX Weekly

Just wrapped up our BMX Pro for a Week summer camp season and I thought it'd be a great chance to bring on the wife to help answer some of the questions we get on how we operate camp and all of the behind the scenes activities that go into making camp successful. And, as always shout-out to both Tyler and Kas Brown at San Diego BMX for a great partnership.

2022 World Championships wrap-up podcast with Tyler Brown. Check it out.

Quick catch up and Podcast with Tyler Brown early in the morning at San Diego BMX as summer camp season kicks off.

Tyler gives us the scoop and info on the HOLESHOT CHALLENGE (Sept 10th) he's putting on at @sandiegobmxracing during the State Finals weekend. He's already got some great sponsors, they'll have live feed and it's looking like a great payday up for grabs and a cool concept of racing. Tyler gives us all the details.

We also hit on last weekend's European Championships and some of our picks for the upcoming World Championships in France that kicks off next week.

Cheers

As we hit summer and there's so much going on in the racing World, I thought it would be a good chance to sit down with Tyler Brown over at San Diego BMX and catch up on everything.

We talk USA BMX Nationals in Tulsa and Nashville, last week's World Cup in Scotland, who's looking good for Papendal and some of the thoughts on Team USA at the moment.

We also talk about participation numbers in the US, some of the things Tyler has got going on at the moment, Vet Pro talk, Connor Fields, social media and more.

Check it out.

My friend and fellow British BMX Hall of Fame collaborator, Mike Wong, recently made the trip over to California, so we took the opportunity to drive up to Huntington Beach to catch up with Paul Roberts to record this podcast.

Mike has been riding BMX bikes in some capacity since 1981 and running his own bike brands, Dialled Bikes and FTB BMX, for the best part of the last 20 years.

We cover our reasons for starting the British BMX Hall of Fame project, address some of the social media comments we've seen/been made aware of since announcing the Hall of Fame, and finish up with some healthy debate as to who we think are the main contenders to be nominated and inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Headed to Huntington Beach to meet up with Paul Roberts and fellow UK transplant, John Povah to record a podcast.

John is one of the early guys from the UK BMX World making the move to California back in 1989 and is still out here today.

We start with John getting into BMX in the 80s born in Croydon starting out in the race World, Hillington Hawks Club then moving more into Freestyle getting on Raleigh and doing Demos with Andy Ruffell and the Raleigh Team during the mid 80s BMX craze in the UK.

We touched on the local London Scene during the 80s before his move to California. We then talk the early 90s Freestyle scene, living with Chris Moeller and John Paul Rogers, building ramps, POWs, learning backflips with the Wildman at Sheep Hills, team managing for Schwinn with a star-studded team including the likes of Jay Miron, Joey Garcia, Brian Foster, Dave Osato just to name a few.

John talks about after Schwinn and Rooftop getting him a job at Etnies and some of the riders he worked with during the early years to being back at Etnies now and how things have changed for a TM as Social Media comes into play in today's World.

John also talks about being a member of the IBMXF when Freestyle was looking like it was going to get in the Olympics with all of the behind the scenes/politics and meetings with Mat Hoffman, Stu Dawkins, Ian Morris, Bart de Jong and co. and some backroom goings-on that resulted in IBMXFF getting pushed aside and UCI going with FISE into the China Games.

John also gives his thoughts on the Games themselves, Jamie Bestwick executing a plan for Team GB and the impact following the Games.

Lots more covered and a big shout-out to Paul for assisting with this one. I know jumping into the Freestyle conversation I was happy to sit back and let Paul take the lead with the questions and enjoyed listening to the conversation. John is 40 years deep in BMX and we only skimmed the top of his continued successful career and touched on some cool stuff he has in the works in the future. Thanks, John and hope everyone enjoys this one.

Cheers

Great to catch up with Rich and Marc Moore from SOURCEBMX who are out in the US and came over to the house for a catch-up and a Podcast.

It's amazing to see what the boys have done with SOURCEBMX from their early race days to opening their first BMX shop and now to what they have grown SOURCEBMX into, which is a globally respected and successful company in the BMX World and they do it with the same passion they have for BMX.

We hit on the early days of Rich and Marc discovering racing, the Bexhill / Hastings scene looking up to Keith Duly (@jump_club) as the local race legend and working with him today with Jump Club and the rebuild of the local Bexhill track that should be complete in the next few months.

We chat about some of the competition the brothers raced against from Kelvin & Liam Batey, Marcus Bloomfield, Peter Fieldhouse, Laurence Mapp and Stephen Murray along with some of the teams they rode for.

Rich talks about all the BMX Media he has done over the years shooting for magazines and testing products. Marc talks about placing 3rd at the 98 Worlds, spending time in the US working at Profile and opening a BMX shop after returning from the States.

We talk about SOURCEBMX, the growth over the years, getting in early on online sales, Warehouses in the UK, Kentucky, and Germany with over 70 employees in addition to sponsoring teams and riders including Kelvin Batey, Kye Whyte and Shanaze Reade during the early days.

We touch on the SOURCE Park, The Battle of Hastings, events, some of the brands they work with, the future, getting more involved in BMX RACE and so much more.

Great chatting with the boys and I personally want to thank them both for supporting everything I do in BMX from teams, to grassroots programs and basically anything I have told Rich I'm involved in - he responds with, "Yep, we're in". They are a breath of fresh air in the BMX industry to work with and great to hang out with.

Cheers and hope everyone likes the Pod.

SOURCEBMX.COM

@sourcebmx

@thesourcepark

@sourcebmxrace

Back in Podcast mode and first up was a trip to Haro's HQ this week to catch up with longtime friend James Ayres, who is Haro's Sales Manager and a guy that always has so much passion and loves to talk all things BMX and bikes.

James goes into full detail on the ups and downs of the bicycle industry over the last few years since the Coronavirus hit, including the scenario when everyone was canceling their orders to empty warehouses and the bicycle industry as a whole having a bike shortage during this time.

Of course we do throw the conversation back to some mid-school Snap Magazine days talk from GT launching the Ultrabox at Mr J's Strip Club, to thoughts on Joris Daudet equaling Pistol Pete and Gary Ellis with 4 ABA/USA BMX titles which of course lead to GOAT talk. Has the Jackal, John Purse, been overlooked? And, so much more..

The second Podcast I recorded a few weeks ago while down in London was with another longtime friend, Keith Duly (Jump Club). We start out with all things Jump Club which is supported by both Source BMX and S&M Bikes. Jump Club is not just your normal traditional BMX race team but is also very community focused, infused with fun and includes road trips supporting the brands that support BMX while teaching/coaching riders on the team and that winning is great but it’s not everything. Their program emphasizes BMX as not only a sport but also a lifestyle.

Keith talks about the growth of Jump Club over the years, coaching and also discusses the drop-off in BMX racing at the 15/16 year old range and ways to keep those kids involved in BMX – giving them other options and ways to keep them incentivized.

We talk sponsors, longevity, keeping it organic and the importance of building and maintaining long-lasting relationships much like Keith has with brothers, Rich and Marc Moore at Source BMX, Ian Morris S&M (4Down Distribution), Etnies, Bicycle Union, SourcePark, and BMX.Photos. Keith has also garnered support during his race days from Hotwheels, Seventies (Stuart Dawkins), New Deal, 2B, JIVE, UGP, Redline, GT, and Mongoose just to name a few.

Keith goes into detail about growing up in the Hasting’s BMX scene, Bexhill Track’s early days riding with Dave Bishop and Ricky Rat, The Backyard Jams over the years, The Chasm, Chris Moeller, Dave Clymer bumping into Mat Hoffman at the supermarket racing in London in the 80s/90s, looking up to some of the riders and characters from those times from Martin Parker, Dean Iddiols, Winston Wright, Bobby Hyde, Chico Hooke, Paul Roberts and so many more.

We also chat about Keith’s race days making Euro Finals and winning 3 x King of Dirt year ends, getting magazine coverage and his parents involvement in BMX along with some of the guys on the media side that has carried on documenting BMX and racing after the 80s bubble busted, and he pays respect to guys like Mark Noble, Steve Bardens, Mark Richards, Will at Dig who have done so much for the British Scene and BMX over the years.

We talk about needing more creative minds in BMX racing like Ronnie Bonner and Chris Moeller, the need for today’s riders to get more involved, have a say, racing’s development and its future. Keith talks about working for Hastings Council these days as a Leisure Manager, sports development and community outreach programs and the importance of keeping people active. Sometimes it’s good to check in with yourself and evaluate what you are doing and find innovative ways to grow BMX.

One thing that stuck out from what Keith said is that we need to balance today’s landscape in racing with coaching and all the money funneling in from the Olympics and the need to stay involved and riders not losing control of their own sport, and in turn keep its soul alive. WE need to remind British Cycling/UCI and some of these other federations that BMX is not just about being the fastest and securing medals. There are also lots of other reasons why BMX is awesome.

Check it out.

While in the UK, I managed to record a couple of Podcasts. Last week while down in London, I met up and recorded the first one with Tom Lynch and the following week I will post the one I did with Keith Duly (Jump Club), both of which I really enjoyed doing.

Tom Lynch is one of the riders in the UK that inspired both me coming through the amateur ranks in the 80s and many others in the UK during his time, with his riding style and coming from behind for wins. If you were around who can forget in 1986 when Tom won the Superclass European Championship finals in Weiterstadt, Germany at just 16 years old against the Powerful Dutch Amev Team.

Tom shares his early days training and taking racing seriously at a young age, getting on Patterson and battling for the UK titles in probably one of the hardest UK age groups in history with the likes of Stu Diggens, Darren Wood, Whoppa Watkins, Steve Greaves, Lee Alexander, Dave Morris, Tim Print and the names go on. Tom talks about winning 15x at the 85 Euros in Spain fresh on Redline (Patterson frame with Redline stickers), going there with a plan, being in the zone and executing it and becoming the European Champion.

Tom talks Kelloggs, getting on Robinson and working with Tony Hoffman turning Superclass at an early age and changing teams to ASR. He battled the likes of Darrin Stock, Andy Welsh and a fresh and hungry Neal Wood when he turned Superclass. He also went up against the European talented riders from Xavier Redois, Eric Minozzi and the strong Dutch Superclass contingent.

Tom talks about getting on Haro racing, Mike King and then getting on Elf and turning racing more into fun as he transitioned to working as he headed into the 90s. We chat about LRP (London Rocket People) the Jive guys, riding with Will Smyth, Rom and early Backyard Jams.

Of course we talk about Tom working at the London Ambulance Service HQ in Waterloo (Cycle Team Hub) as a Cycle Response Unit Operations Officer and all about the programs. He deservingly received an MBE and meeting both the Queen and Prince Charles. Tom was the first official British Cycling BMX Coach. He shares the early days of the program with a young Shanaze Reade, Liam and Charlie Phillips, the Murray brothers, Joey Gough and so much more.