I moved to Austin in 1990. I had heard the stories of legendary bmx'ers from around here from the 1980's. Kevin Hull, Eddie Siegmund, the list goes on. I had met Kevin Hull, but people always wondered what had happened to Eddie.
Flash forward to 2006. We get word that this legendary Austin bmx'er is going to open a track. Seems he is involved with a car racing track, and wants to put a bmx track in the infield! I go down and meet him, twice now. The track is ten minutes from my house.
Now that I've met Eddie, he is a great guy with a similar passsion of old bmx, like mine. It seems odd that I grew up in Iowa and he many miles away in Texas, yet we have very much the same memories and views on bmx.
Eddie has let me scan some old pictures of his for your enjoyment, much like the reily photos from Cali that you see on vbmx. These are from his personal collection, so most have never before been seen by the public.
And, his track in 2006 is coming along very nicely. Here we go......

[ March 25, 2006, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: pquinnbmx ]

One thing I noticed about most of his photos was how often he had a number 1 on his plate! If you look closely, it looks like all three riders were number one but Eddie and the Hutch guy had to cover up the plates with letters, the CW guy kept his number 1. I love this photo, from a bmx standpoint. I think he said it was at a national in California, maybe Stockton. Look at this lead! And, look at that funky drop-off berm, and all the people in the stands. Skyway days, probably 1982 or maybe 1983.

[ March 25, 2006, 12:58 PM: Message edited by: pquinnbmx ]

very cool pic dude.......love that drop-off berm.....looks like bmx to me....no asphalt....newp.....nothing but dirt.....more pic's please...

There are more photos, I just gotta post them. Yeah, I like the berm there, look how tall or NOT tall the berm is.

Check out the banner in the background, looks like a old ELF emblem. Is it?

Hey Pat, tell Eddie to get on here someday. I remember that skyway ad where he is standing on top of his TA, one hand one foot, demonstrating the new frame stand attachment from skyway. His rear foot was wedged WAY in there too, I swear he didnt ride out of it, lol.

The banner says, "Quality Racing Products" --did not scan well. I agree it's a lot like elf logo. I tell Eddie to get on here all the time, he's busy but maybe he will.

Now, flash forward to about 1986. Eddie has a custom light blue ESP frame. I think that's Todd Mitchell next to him. Can you name the team members? White zeronine duds.

on the far left is Jaclyn Cheidester (spelling)

Is that Brad Finnell on the far right?

yes, he said brad finnell was there, i think you are correct. all I know is I moved here in 1990 and a lot of these people were done racing by then. except todd mitchell.

Pat,
Tell Eddie that I said hello. Him and I were teammates for a short time before his father passed.

Great to see he is still giving back to the sport.

I will tell Eddie for you , D.

Troy Jensen is #9
Trey Walden is #2

Todd Mitchell is #1 next to Eddie

Taken at the Hirsch Memorial colliseum in Shreveport, LA / The ABA Cajun Nationals in 1986

Brad Finnell is #1 on the end / I heard Brad was confined to a hospital bed

Eddie was a great guy , I used to race Eddie, Shane Hill, Parnell Haley, and Troy Jensen in many great races all around Texas and the country.

That must have been the parade lap. I see the GT colors in the back. If that was the ABA Cajun Nationals in 1986 I'm right behind them just out of the picture.

Thanks for sharing Pat.

Corrected after looking at the picture again... that may be the Bicycle Harbor team behind them. If that's the case Galen Starlin is probably behind them in that shot.

[ March 27, 2006, 11:13 PM: Message edited by: Deanna ]

i can do a photo suite on it and lighten up the people back there

I could not sort out the background pixels on that last one, but it does look like bicycle harbor. OK, this one is from the Rebel days. Most of these kids have rebel shirts on. Eddie says it's on the bleachers at a track in San Antonio. I think the timeline for his teams would be: Eddie raced from 1979-89 roughly. Early 80's were Rebel, then Skyway, then maybe Titan, then ESP, then Excalibur.

Here is one for Deanna, what the heck is this GT uniform that Kevin Hull is wearing??

I wonder where the "Sheep Dog" nickname came from...... Classic photos!

The times I remember the most of Eddie were when he was on Skyway.
Fast and stylish!

Pat Quinn,
Hope you're doing good my friend. Rockford this year?

[ March 28, 2006, 03:20 AM: Message edited by: JohnnyJohnson OMAS DirtSlinger ]

I wonder how many people have asked Eddie, "Got any ESP stems?" Hahahaha!

I'm compelled to say....
ESP stems are made by Flying W BMX. Marty Ehnat out of Washington was the guy behind it.

What products did ESP make besides frames?
Was there a factory team?
What year did they the company start and end?

I quit racing in 85' and missed his endeavor.

Pat,
That jersey Kevin Hull is wearing is the company M.F. a.k.a. (Bob) Morales- (Eddie) Fiola. Think they had a freestyle company together for a little while. Not sure what products they sold.
Must have been wearing it for fun?

Kevin came up with some crazy t-shirt and jersey designs. He had control of the screen printing machine at GT and knew how to use it. I guarantee that jersey is one Kevin thought up on his own and just printed. It was not a production jersey that's for sure. I'll have to email that picture to Kevin. Him and I have been in contact quite a bit lately.

Thanks again for sharing Pat.

That is Eddies Dad in the background with the Rebel hat on , the track is River City BMX in San Antonio.

Eddie's dad was one of the greatest Dads in BMX
always there to lend a hand to anyone that needed it.

That River City track was a great track the 1st straight was all down hill ..

ESP was started in Early 1986, the Factory team is on the page 1 of this thread:

riders included :

Eddie
Todd Mitchell
Troy Jenson
Brad Finnell
Trey Walden
Jackie ?


I believe the 1st national I saw them together was the 1986 Cajun Nationals in Shreveport, La

The team was started by Ed ( Eddies POP )

They made frames only / really looked like Titans /
funny since the ESP team was made up of ex-titan riders / I believe the frames were made in Houston, tX by the same person who made BLAZER Frames.

thanks

Kelley

johnny is correct on the jersey. short lived deal. i bought one on ebay 4 yrs ago.

Juan Johnson: Yes to rockford. D. you are welcome, and thanks to Eddie for sharing, also. mongoose flash, i think the titan and esp frames may have been made in san antonio, not houston. I'm trying to track down the welder, who is still around and came into Action Bikes bike shop recently.

Now check this out. Eddie is holding what appears to be cash money. And, Andy Patterson chugging milk? Remember in the movie, "Old School", where it is determined that milk is "not a good choice" when one is running and is thirsty? Funny stuff. What year were they on Skyway? I'm guessing 1982-83.

Eddie's holding money because.......
IN THE 80's, THE AMATEURS WERE GETTING PAID!

Or maybe he beat up Andy Patterson and took his Pro earnings????? Hahahaha!

Maybe that jug is full of MUSCLE POWER. That protein mix that sponsored a lot of Pro racers back then. Did they drink that stuff with milk or water? Could swear I saw Andy wearing their logo around that time.

looks like eddie has a pen there, maybe he was signing autographed bills for the fans

I remember when my friend Jimmy Taylor beat Eddie at a national and it was a huge deal because he never lost.
I used to have two Rebels. An old Johnny Reb looptail and a General Lee with the Cyclecraft rear end. They were good bikes besides the breaking...
I also met Kevin Hull at a National in San Antonio and he was a great guy.
Good stuff.

I think you are right

ESP was real similar to the Titan Frames

it was houson or sanantonio / I do believe the same welder did the Blaser frames as well


Tell Eddie he rules Texas BMX

the picture of Eddie and Andy, they are standing in front of Eddies Pro-Trac trailer that they pulled all over.

and Eddie did pull in fat cash from contingency sponsorship

from what i understand, the blazer deal was a seperate deal in houston/lufkin. i gots more pics of the trailer.

I just wanted to tell pat and all of yall thanks for all the memories ....It was good to hear from all of you ..the best years of my life were spent on a bicycle and bmx is the best family you could ever ask for .....sorry for taking so long to respond to yall i'm just tryng to get this bmx track in the best shape i can for the kids and adults who are going to ride on it....i wish all of you could come down and be here .....agian thanks for all of your support...


Eddie Siegmund

Eddie are you atarting a BMX track?

great to here from you, wow I can remember racing many times with you and Shane Hill at the early capital city track next to the cafeteria and VFW as well as allover texas..

awesome that eddie got on here, welcome!! he is running a new track in kyle tx in the infield of a stock car track!!

Eddie,

I only raced you once BITD at an ABA Nat in Bellmore NY (I holeshotted you in the main and you passed my like I was standing still!!!), you were riding for Titan at the time, you were by far the nicest of the National Factory riders I have/had met and raced against. You raced fast and clean, glad your on the message board and glad your spreading the BMX love to the new generation...

Ken Martin

Eddie came to Capitol City BMX yesterday and hung out during the races. It was great to see him again. Sorry I didnt talk to you Eddie, you looked busy talking to everyone about your track in Kyle, and the old days.
Pat was right, you have grown! I think you should definately be on a cruiser! Wait till you see how many of us big guys there are! When Pat and I were at Pearland a few weeks ago for their State Qualifier, there was about 6 of us that would meet the standards for the 300 Club.

Isn't that GT jersey on the previous page the Morales/Fiola freestyle jersey? I definitely remember it from the MFM back in the day.

I think you're right on the jersey. I just saw one in an '84 GT video.