Lane 8 BMX Podcast

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Evan Schaefer started his for pro season in Houston this year He says it took him by surprise in how hard the racing was. This comes from a guy who's been racing with the pros in the Florida state series since he was an amateur. He says the toughest part is fighting for every position. 

His first half of the season was plagued by a hip injury, then a dislocated shoulder and now a bad knee. So at the moment Schaefer is focusing on his health. Mentally it's been tough on him. 

Schaefer says living in Sarasota is a blessing. He lives only 30 minutes from the facility that has a supercross track. He believes it gives him an advantage and a sense of comfort. 

At five Schaefer started riding dirt bikes. His parents got him into BMX because they thought it was safer. Look at him now going head first down an eight meter hill. 

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George Goodall started racing in 1979 when his friend Jack invited him to a BMX race. He was living in Boulder, Colorado with his dad at the time. His first race he got last in every Moto. A month later Goodall made the box and the rest is history. 

George says riding the streets of Boulder helped him become one with his bike. He raced a lot on the local scene at the Adam's county indoor and at Castlerock. He attributes the rides from Robert Raymonde's dad for helping getting to races to improve. 

He didn't hit the national scene until he was 15 years old. Goodall says the national racing wasn't easy for him. By the time he was 18 years old he turned pro. He sums up his pro career even after turning AA pro twice as a "5th place semi guy." He would eventually retire because of family commitments. 

As soon as his son was able to race Goodall turned his attention from show cars back to bikes. He would eventually race for Redline. Some people have all the luck when having teammates like Jason Carnes, Denzel Stein, Alise and Sam Willoughby to Jeff Upshaw. The team would eventually fold and Goodall would end up racing for his current sponsor Supercross. 

I had a lot fun with this interview. Goodall is funny, informative, and an all-around good guy. 

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Martti Sciortino is a member of the Italian National BMX Team. He's a six time national champion and a 2 time European Champion silver medalist.  

This interview took place right after the Sarrians, France World Cup Races and just before he flew off to Argentina for the final World Cups of the season. 

Sciortino is a really chill dude. He's raced all over the world including here in the U.S. and Grands twice. He says he likes racing in the states and that level of competition is high. His only gripe is that he thinks the tracks aren't technical enough. Sciortino says racing the elite class can be humbling. He says he's never been a first straight guy so he's had to learn how to maneuver within the pack.

He started racing in 2004 when he was six years old. His parents took him to a track about 30 minutes from their home. Sciortino says he got good quickly but by the time he was a teenager things got tough. He considers himself a late bloomer. 

Sciortino says he's fully focused on making the Italian Olympic team heading to Paris in 2024. He'll be 26 next year so he'll decide whether he wants to take his racing a bit further to the L.A. Olympics. 

Outside of BMX Sciortino recently finished his degree in sports science and is planning on pursuing his masters.

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Weston Meurlot is a cool ass dude. I've spent some time around him because of racing the Florida State Series. He's down to earth but focused.  

2023 is his first year in the pro ranks. So far it's been a steep learning curve but he's adjusting. Meurlot started his season in Houston, Oldsmar, and then Tulsa. Oklahoma is where disaster struck. He was there training at a USA Cycling camp when he crashed face first into a jump. He lacerated his kidney and spleen and strained his PCL in his knee. Meurlot was out of racing for a solid 3 months. He said the hardest part about recovery was sitting still. 

For the past three years Meurlot has been coached by Arielle Martin. He says she's tough as nails and quite analytical in her approach. Meurlot says she's the perfect coach for him. 

Meurlot says getting to full health is his goal and he's looking forward to the rest of the season. 

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Nathan Anderson is truly one of fastest and most skilled 15 experts in the country. He rides for Black Widow, a team that is always in the running for bike shop team of the year. 

Anderson's season started early and it really hasn't let up until recently because he also plays football. So, this kid is having to split his time between training for BMX, football and school. He credits BMX for giving him the discipline to manage it all. 

This year he's accomplished his first goal of winning a state championship. Now, he's trying to get in the N.A.G. 5 challenge at Grands. 

I've known Anderson since he was probably 8 years old. He's always been a good kid because he has great parents. I would also say the folks and teammates he has at Black Widow have helped to keep this kid focused and humble. To tell the truth I'm biased and I wish him nothing but success in whatever does. 

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Jessie Smith is one of my favorite interviews so far with this podcast. Yes, this young lady from New Zealand is a six time world champion but it isn't just her racing that I adore about her. It's her self awareness. Jessie was at the top of a young career in BMX and realized something wasn't right. She needed and decided to work on her mental health and she made the decision to step back and focus on it. She says she simply couldn't figure out her "why" when it came to racing. 

It's been several years since Jessie made her decision to take time away from elite racing. So what has she been up to? Well, of course she's worked on her mental health but she's also worked as a house painter, day laborer, farming to working at a motorcycle shop among other jobs. Jessie says she's trying to live a full life. 

Jessie says she's blessed to have a great core of family and friends who have supported her journey of inspiration, revelation and pride learning who she is away from the bike. Don't sell her short Jessie is looking to race again.  She says she's been riding a bit. So, I say watch out ladies Jessie Smith is coming. 

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Jake Peebles started racing in the summer of 1996 just before turning six. His first race was at Oak Creek BMX which is still going strong to this day. He says BMX was quite a learning curve. It took him 3 years to make a national main. Peebles says he's thankful to Greg Hill and Harry Leary for their guidance when he was young. 

By the time he was sixteen Pee blew had won Grands and was picked up by Dan's Comp. He eventually went pro in 2010. He says the toughest part about going pro wasn't the physical but the mental aspect. He says if you're used to winning and then struggling to make mains it's easy to lose confidence. He's thankful for the A pro class that gave him a chance to ease into the pro ranks. 

In 2012  Peebles tried to make the long team for the Olympics but because of a crash he didn't make it. 

He started his team J.E.T BMX in 2014 because of his love for coaching and desire to pick his own sponsors. 

Presently he's coaching, running his team and racing Vet Pro

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Elwin Remmerts is a BMX talent. If you watch him race or even practice you'll quickly understand why I said that. He's incredibly skillful and smooth around a track. 

Remmerts started his 2023 season in France. From there he hit the Euro Cup races in Verona, Italy, Zolder, Belgium, and recently Portugal. He's also raced World Cups this year in Papendal, his home track to train on and Turkey.  At the Dutch National Champs he struggled a bit but his best lap of the day was the final. He ended up 5th in the race. He only has about four races left in the season.  

In this episode we talked about his start in BMX and traveling with his family including his uncle to races. We spoke about him joining BMX JETT with South African Tyler Klumper, and about his future plans with racing. 

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Dion Newth is from New Zealand. It's roughly two weeks out from the worlds in Glasgow, Scotland and I reached out to Newth who races in the 50 -plus class in cruiser. I was curious how things went for him. He ended up 5th which is a bit of a disappointment for him. 

Newth began racing when he was 10 years old. He raced until he was 30 years old and then walked away from the sport. And within that time he says for 10 he simply rode a mountain bike and enjoyed life. He even moved to Australia for a bit. But in 2015 he got the bug again to race BMX. Since then he's won 8 national titles, 3 Oceania titles, and a world title. 

Dion says there was a point where he dealt with some mental health issues and he credits BMX for giving hime some focus. 

Not retaining his title Newth says it has lit a fire in his belly to come back in 2024 and win it all over again.  

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It's almost two weeks out from the Worlds in Glasgow, Scotland and I got a chance to sit down and speak with Colombian Carlos Ramirez. If you don't know he ended up with 4th overall. 

Ramirez says he had to work his way through the LCQ or last chance qualifier to move on. He says the track didn't fit his skill set. Ramirez says the track isn't his favorite. 

Ramirez says he hasn't produced the results he's been looking for in the World Cups and at the World Champs this season. He says he's made mains but that's not enough. 

The rest of Ramirez's season is filled with racing He's got World Cups, races on the U.S. circuit, races in Colombia and finally Grands.