Sweet Arrow I never got to race but it was open when I raced in the area 89-90 after moving back to NJ.
Sweet Arrow was ABA if I remember right and was on the road from York to Cedar BMX. It was near the split from 81 and 78 in Pine Grove, PA. I raced York alot (89-90) but I dont think York was open till 82 or later.
Some long haired hippy, no good varmit, 1 pedal start, named Shannon also raced York back then.

Sweet Arrow was in Pine Grove PA. It was often refered to as "the cow path". In the early days other than the first straight the track was very narrow and after the second turn it wound uphill to the finish line.

The original York track (York Cycle Raceway) opened in June of 1983. The track was located on the west end of town behind Miller Automotive. It moved to the current location around 1986 just after the name was changed. The name change was due to the track being run by a parents organization, the bike shop was no longer involved. Joes father Don Sword was the original head (president) of the parents group. Dons Swords could have passed for a member of ZZ Top.

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

I raced Woodward a lot. And the North and South Park nats in 85. Any one here know Spanky from York? If so how is he?

Spanky is the same person as Spang, John Spangler. We eased up on the nickname after high school. I talk to John all the time. Tried to Nextel him tonight but he didn't answer. Give me a name and I'll tell him you said hello.

Thanks Raybeard. Mike Meckenberg. We were coming back from South Park one time with his dad driving ( painfully slow) and had oreo races. We would drop em outa the back windows of the van and which ever one went the farthest won. Good times.

Funny story. I went to many races in the back of that old Ford work van. Was his old man wearing the black beanie. In 25 years I don't know if I've seen him without that beanie. LOL! I'll talk to John tonight.

I forgot about the beanie!!!!!

John took me to the skate park in York. He jumped into the halfpipe which has about a foot of water in it. He sees it mid air screams like a girl gets his feet off the pedals and sends a wall of water up 20 feet. I still laff at that.

That would have been the Thunderdohm. We rode at the skate park alot back in the day. The park was abandoned almost as long as I can remember. Some areas had standing water all the time. There is some film footage of Thunderdohm in some of the Dorking in York videos that Mark Eaton has done.

Where you from the York area back then? I would assume that was back in 1985. Everyone that I rode with back in the day with the exception of Spang quit riding in late 84 or early 85. We all got cars and bikes were a fading memory.

No I was in Vienna VA. with vabmxdad tearing up the streets. I stayed with spang for a few days after a national. Yes it was in 85

Glad to she this topics got some of y'all membering the the good ole ones. Pine Grove that had to be the closest track to us. Ole Pine Grove. We used to go to Magic Skate park in Reading also, those were some fun times.

I am new to the boards and have not previous posted, but this page certainly caught my attention. I raced against Joe a few times in some "trophy dashes" at my local track, but we never shared the same gate 'in class' cause he was a year older than me. Yeah, Joe absolutely dominated anyone and everyone that lined up beside him at B-N-B. (from what I recall, his dad owned [still owns?] the York track, Bumps-N-Berms). I only raced at B-N-B a few times due to them having a similar race schedule as my local track.

My local track was in Dillsburg, PA, (called the Greater Harrisburg Area BMX or just Dillsburg to the locals) just a few miles from Joe's home track in York. I raced mostly from '84 to '86, but I did run a few races in '87 as well. I raced a few different bikes over the years, as did most everyone on this site, but my last two seasons were on a Profile Champ Pro and/or a pink Hollywood f/f with a full compliment of Hutch goodies. Unfortunately, both soldiers are long gone now... I sold the Profile in the early 90's and the Hollywood was stolen while I was at a local mall in 1987. A$$holes... 20+ years later and i still get upset when i think about it!!!

That is also the reason I came across this page... I am looking at getting back into the collector side of things, and will definitely ride them too, but I wanted to see what's out there and how much $$ it'll take to recreate my last and stolen racer. Yeah, I almost choked when I started seeing the costs associated with such a venture. Oh well, I gotta start somewhere.

Sorry for digging out a page from years past, but I'm glad I finally found some racers that may have shared a few gates with me in south-central PA in the mid-80's. Some of the fast guys that I can remember from that era and area:


1) Mark Keller
2) Joe Swords
3) Rich Stetz
4) Tad Fleshman
5) Craig Kelly
6) Scott Blumanstock (sp?)
7) Todd Wyant
8) I can still see their faces, but cannot remember the names of all the fast ones. Sorry guys!

Oh, yeah... GREAT SITE! There is such a wealth of knowledge, superb bikes and good people in here!

- Mark

Hello and Welcome Mark,

Was the dillsburg track always at the Kings Kids Camp? I remember I race the track directors son a number of times in either 83 or 84. I recall the track was closed for a short period of time around 1982 when the track director changed.

Some of those names sound familiar. Scott Blumenstock (SP) made a come back around 2000 along with Steve Mainsfield and other guy thats name slips me at this moment. Scott was a very stylish jumper. Made it look easy and smooth. Tad Fleshman sounds very familiar.

Thanks for the warm welcome, Ray!

You got it... Right behind (beside?) the Kings Kids Camp. The sign for the KKC still stands to this very day.


Tad was in my class all through elementary and middle school so I knew him really well, and in the 85/86'ish I rode a little with Scott B. at a track he built directly on his parents property in Carlisle, PA. It was a small track with some really crazy jumps... I was always in "awe" of his riding skills and the fact that he allowed a few of us younger kids to kick-it on his practice track. He would take us in the den and show us all of his trophies, which was in the hundreds at that time, and then say... some day you girls may have a similar collection. LOL!

A funny story about Fleshman... He bought the first GHP Pro I (in white, I believe) in the area, but wasn't that happy with the color once the bike was assembled. He knew that I just had my Hutch Pro Racer f/f refinished in black and was super happy with the paint quality on the Hutch. I knew the owner's son of a small body shop, and asked if he could do the same with his "one of a kind f/f in our town". Later that week he brought me the GHP f/f to have done in CANDY APPLE RED, but of course something got mixed up at the paint booth!! I ended up retrieving a BRIGHT ORANGE (non-candy at that) GHP Pro I and having to explain the massive f-up at the body shop! My parents thought we were going to be forced to buy him a brand new f/f 'cause of the grave over-site! I called and told him my sad story of betrayal, and that he could come check out the GHP that is now located at my house. Long and short... He absolutely loved the color and could not stop talking about the unique shade of orange. It was a good story BITD with an even better ending!

And, yeah, Tad was SUPER fast and always looked the part of a factory rider!

- Mark

My sons raced at Lv Bmx, Kutztown Rad track, Lebanon, Poplar neck-Reading, Bensalem, Valley Forge-supertrack, Bensalem, Sleepy Hollow, and those early Woodward national races. It would be cool to see those pictures. Remember the Pedaler team from Lansdale, Keith Hird and Dave Clymer were on it back then

I raced at a horrid track out in Johnstown, PA.
I went there for a triple point race when going for the number #1 that year.
I forgot everything about that track the minute I left.

Woodward for a few Nationals and of course South Park

the home of the "waterfalls" ?

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

here is Me, Jarrett & Clymer in a NBL B Pro race in 87.

a Woodward finish

me & him in 19th & 20th in Pro ABA points for middle of 1987

and him and Townsend squeezing me out at an ABA Howard County National main

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...

Don't forget lititz, kutztown, and bensalem.

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.

Jim,

FYI

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