Anyone Race Central PA early 80's Options

[jwillman74w]

I had not thought of Keith Hird in years, I was a very close friend of his back in the day. One of the best road trips was going with him and his family to Charlotte, NC. in 84 or 85 for the Nationals at the speedway. Clymer was simply awesome to watch.

[BShute]

I had not thought of Keith Hird in years, I was a very close friend of his back in the day. One of the best road trips was going with him and his family to Charlotte, NC. in 84 or 85 for the Nationals at the speedway. Clymer was simply awesome to watch.

Clymer an I had it out a few times.
I think we swapped back and forth wins as a Pro at a few Nationals

when he was on, he was on.

when he died his hair purple I couldn't be seen with him.....lol (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

here is Me, Jarrett & Clymer in a NBL B Pro race in 87.
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a Woodward finish
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me & him in 19th & 20th in Pro ABA points for middle of 1987
(IMG:http://i40.tinypic.com/2ibgnwj.jpg)
and him and Townsend squeezing me out at an ABA Howard County National main
(IMG:http://i41.tinypic.com/28apa4w.jpg)

[TeamSparkyrad]

I raced at Stormstown (near Penn State, State College). I'm pretty sure that Clayton John was the the TO at the time. Raced Dillsburg, Woodward when it was ABA back in the day...Went to the camp they had and had Mike Poulson showing me around the track for a week. That was awesome! There is Valley BMX as well...That is near Athens PA...

[althouse]

I was/am from central PA,we raced Reading,Phoenixville,Hickory Run and Lebanon..all were NBL..there was a track on the west shore near Dillsburg that was ABA..some of those tracks were not around to long(Dillsburg,Hickory Run) there was also a ABA track right along the PA Turnpike,also not there anymore..Pine Grove had Sweet Arrow,already talked about...also a short lived track at Sleepy Hollow MX park..they now use whats left of it for lil MX'ers...We mostly raced in Jersey cause the racing in the early 80's was much better..i think P-ville was the only one to have any NBL nats at it but Reading had PA states alot..York also,but that was ABA i think too..we did not race alot of ABA other then Nats...There was also some indoor stuff around that time frame in Harrisburg...and in Valley Forge at the Military school that Suburban put on....that should be it i think for South Central PA...ask Lopes, he never forgets....deluxxy

Don't forget lititz, kutztown, and bensalem.

[rkymtnhi72]

(IMG:http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx17/Rkymtnhi72/Jimmy_BMX_2.jpg)
(IMG:http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/xx17/Rkymtnhi72/Jimmy_BMX.jpg)

Hey guys, my name's Jim Dever. Here's a couple pics of me back in 1985 (13x) I believe...maybe 1984. The first one is from Reading...not sure what race that was..but most likely a State Qualifier.
Second one is the NBL PA State Championship in McConnelsburg...1st place. Got the #2 plate in PA that year and 2nd place at the Johnstown State Championshp race in 1985 with #3 plate overall for the year.

My first race ever was as a 9 year old beginner at the indoor track in Valley Forge. I remember that wooden gate/start hill and first jump seemed enourmous at that age. I raced NBL and ABA for Suburban Schwinn bike shop from 9 till I was 14 all over SE PA and South Jersey. We had a pretty decent little team with Scott Hartman, Jeremy Cattarat, Henderson Cho and others. The tracks I raced most were: Bensalem, Phoenixville, Reading, Flemington, Howell, Vineland, Deptford, Clayton, Egg Harbor. I was at that War of the Stars in Phoenixville too and we were sitting right next to that killer drop off before the tabletop in the first straight. Talk about action...there were some unbelievable crashes at that race. I was at the North Park War of Stars when the lightening bolt hit the gate and blew that dude off his bike. I'll never forget the screams from all the little girls at the track when the thunder hit..it was like a bomb went off. Won a Simpson helmet one year for 3rd place at the Ironman Classic in 1983.

I was probably at the King Manor indoor track near King of Prussia 3 or 4 times a week for races and practice the winter it was in existence. My dad actually announced races up there too.

This site brings back some real good memories from maybe one of the best times of my life. Nice to see how much those days meant to so many people....it was truly a unique experience. It would be cool to catch up with some guys I know from back then.

[trickstar]

Jim,

FYI

1983 Iron Man, 11 Expert class shows results of 1st place Jason Theodore, 2nd Jimmy Dever, 3rd Tom Rubel.

[C. Allen]

I was reading through some of these old post's and I wanted to inform you all on some sad news I found out recently.

Joe Swords unfortunately passed away while on Vacation in Daytona Fl in the Spring of 2011.
Joe was an amazing BMXer and will be Greatly missed.

Take Care,
Craig

kmart, I remember Joe Swords. Ran a lot of ABA stuff and I have a video of him at the ABA Grands around 88 in the future pro race. He used to race for Peddlers in the purple and black uniforms. I have a ton of pics from the Woodward nats from 88 and 89 also. I used to race at Valley Forge and Bensalem.

[BShute]

Joe Swords unfortunately passed away while on Vacation in Daytona Fl in the Spring of 2011.
Joe was an amazing BMXer and will be Greatly missed.

Take Care,
Craig

just the other day I found out about Joe Swords passing. I noticed his sister Mary talk to another old BMX'er I know int he news feed. she is trying to get him added into the PA BMX hall of fame. I added her and told her I was sorry to hear about his passing. I knew him, Dain Hursh and others out that way by going to races and seeing them in some ABA race. nice people all of them.

[teachbmxcharlie]

I worked at Woodward during the summers of 86 and 87 with my good friend, Dave Masterson. While we were both Long Island riders who raced locally at Newbridge Rd., Woodward was our home-away-from-home track during the summer camping season.

Charlie Farrell