Changstar,

E-mailed a couple shots from ABA Anaheim, SEP 1980 to you.

JT

JT,

Just wanted to say hi ...

I seen your screen name pop up.

Thanks again for the GT drop nose seat ....

I appreciate it !

Rob

Thanks JT, by any chance do you have any pics of me? I would love to have some new/old pics for my album.

Changstar

Lookin Good! I used to use those brake levers when they first came out!

Hi Rob,

Happy New Year! Nice to hear from you. Hope your builds are going well.

Take care.

Jim

Changstar,

I don't believe that I have any stills of you. At least I haven't run across any. When you started to "mature" as a racer, I was only shooting video. I believe that there are several videos of you at Hickam BMX in the mid-80s.

JT

Someday I would like to see those. Hey JK you asked me about my carreer in racing, what about you? I always remember you as a top local and seeing you race with Rock and Sano. When was your Jag days? When was your Mccully days and what were you on then? What happend after Mcully and what became of the team. I remember a young mechanic at Mccully that was on the team, I think his name was Duane. I was in awe of all you guys on the teams, any team. I would ride my bike from Kuliouou to Safari's and just stare at all the bikes and trophy's. I also remember a pic on the wall of a drag car of some sort and thought man these guys are the serious racers of anything. I guess racing is just something in your blood that we all have, Bikes, cars Pogo sticks whatever we want to race.

Changstar

Changstar,

A little background.

The Safari name originated from Earle "Safari" Char who ran the Renegade series of drag race cars. The Texas Renegade was a 55 Chevy, Renegade II was a 41 Willys, and the 3rd to 5th being top fuel dragsters. The pix that you saw was Renegade 5 published by Sports Illustrated taken at a Winternationals at Pomona, CA. He also drove the 62 & 63 Castner Fords and the 64 and 65 Pflueger Mercury Comets. My involvement was as pit crew only.

Safari Cycle Accessories is my company and was involved in mini-cycles, motocross, outboard tunnel hull race boats and BMX. So yes, the Safari name is associated with a lot of different types of racing, but sorry, no pogo sticks :-))

JT

Changstar,

We dug it out some last night after practice. I believe Jim Drake will be out there today prepping it further. Thank you for all your hard work on the gate Klaus!

jk

I know my Dad was friends with a Sanford Char and he is related to Earle, maybe brothers? We would visit a shop on Waimanu St near Ala moana when I was very young. My Dad was a drag racer too, many of our friends were from the old Aloha motors so we were all the Dodge guys. It was my Dads knowledge of drag racing that he put into my BMX racing. Till this day I think we have the most detailed and scientific gear chart ever. I still take a look at it from time to time. My dad also taught me early on the importance of the hole shot and why and how it effects the race. I think my Dad was the first to plug in the gear, the tire size and the crank size on one chart. We also did a ton of testing to see the limits and variation between spinners and power guys. We used Rory and Malvert as our guide for spinners, man those guys could hit some RPM's. it took years and 1000's of sprints to log it all and sort it out. It was not unusual for me to get in 200-300 time trials on a weekend. Hey JK, when you gonna share your story?

Changstar

i know it took what seemed like forever, but i finally finished fabricating the front of the gate, and will weld it to the slab tomorrow. btw, chang, thanks for losing the old bracket!

Sorry I didn't lose it, it just went with the old gate. You guys gotta see this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd-O-XqriDM

Changstar

he almost made the front wheel over the third one. that would have been cool.

Not sure what to say but I'll give it a shot:

I started riding in 1977 I think. I had one of those Schwinn Sting Rays that I thought was the height of coolness back then - Candy Apple red frame, chrome springer fork, 16" front wheel, chrome ape hanger style bars, generator headlight, tassles on the grips, reflectors, etc. Then one day my uncle Eric and I went up to Triangle Park in Palolo Valley. We heard about guys racing their bikes and stuff at some track in Kewalo Basin and that there was a jump at Triangles. We turned the corner by the church that still says "Jesus Coming Soon" - I was amazed! There were so many kids on bikes that I had never seen before. A lot of them were riding Schwinn Sting Rays like mine but they had motocross parts on them - knobbies, grips, crossbars etc. I stayed there until dark watching guys ride. I stayed off to the side under a tree - on my candy apple red Sting Ray that suddenly felt lame.

When I finally went home. I couldn't stop telling my parents about what I had seen. That I was going to start riding BMX and race! And I was going to be fast! I started to figure out what to do with my Sting Ray. I changed a few parts; like put on a bmx style seat, took off the springer fork, and removed the kick stand. I was up at Triangles everyday after school. Then one day I came home from school and sitting in my bedroom is a brand new blue Mongoose with Motomags and my dads old drag racing glitter helmet hanging from the bars. I couldn't believe my eyes I was jumping up and down with sheer happiness. Like most families back in the 70's we had money issues - so coming home to a surprise like that was just incredible. I raced that bike stock the very next race at Kewalo Basin.

The Kewalo Basin track was on an old landfill I think. It was mostly flat, no starting gate. The start was a line etched out in the dirt - like you do when racing a friend at the beach or a running track. There was glass on the track here and there. There was even a Keawe tree in the middle of it all. Dennis Saiki ran the starting whistle at my first race. You would start off - hit the first short straight then powerslide into the first left hand turn. Go through kind of like an "s" turn or off camber turn past the Keawe tree. There was a small 1-2 ft jump near the Keawe tree. Then you would come up over a mound of dirt through some bushes and turn down to the left, over the last jump and you were done.

The Kewalos track even had its own resident homeless person. He was a cool old dude that we called Samu. I had a few good chats with him when I was a kid. But, back to the racing part.

I had Wendell Tanaka in my moto's at my first race. Damn he was a fast cat. He later rode for The Bike Shop. I took last on the 1st moto, 2nd to the last on the 2nd moto. In the 3rd moto there was a tie up on the first turn with all the riders except me in dead last. I passed everyone on the first turn. It was all becoming a reality. I told my parents I would be fast! I flew the jump past the Keawe tree and started to hit warp drive. Then I could hear my Dad and his drag Racing buddies screaming and yelling for me. I lost concentration shortly after that and decided to look back to see where everyone in my moto was. When I looked back Wendell Tanaka was right there on my back tire already. I panicked and crashed! I took Wendell down with me in the process. The other riders passed us before we untangled our bikes. I got back on my bike first and scrambled and headed for the finish line. I was so happy - I had beaten Wendell Tanaka! I later went to shake Wendell Tanaka's hand but he would have none of it. He was really Habut and blamed me of course. But, I didn't care - I finished my first race and I was hooked from then on.



jk

Great story, JK.

I bet that brief moment of winning stayed wiyh you and pushed you even more. My very first race in my first moto. I got the hole shot and led to about half track, and then my chain came off. That race and the next 3 years I never led a race or won a moto. Never even made it out of the moto's. It took 3 years to make it in to the finals. I think I made a few finals but never trophied for a while. I won my first moto at Castle park. Last place for 3 years man.

Changstar

ohh the gate is in!!!!!!!! Still need to place studs in the concrete to hold the rear of the ram, it's that triangle piece in the pic above. . Ari said he can do it this Sun, so there is a good chance we will have gate practice on Sun. yaaaahooooo.

Changstar

Took me over 2 yrs to make it to a Semi. Remember those semifinalist trophies that they used to give out. Basically just the base of the trophy with the bmx rider on top of that? That little trophy is the one that meant the most to me. Getting out of the motos back in the 70's was no easy task.

Rust glad you like the story - brought back a lot of good memories thinking of that.


Gate?!!!! OK now I got butterflies!

jk

JK,

Great story. Would like to see other old school racers put their story in print. Rory, Jason, BU, Kata, KLAUS, others......

JT

JT,

Definately - I think we all have some interesting memories with it all. I would love to hear from everyone as well. I really like the one you told me about Philipart visiting your old shop when it was in Waipahu. The guys at Safari took one side of Philiparts Dura Ace cranks off and put it back on the bike off by 90degrees. You gotta love Phillipart - man he was always fun to ride with.

jk

Sorry, this is not vintage, but this is where all the Hawaii topics are posted.

This morning's Honolulu Advertiser ran a front page story on the DLNR approval for the operation of the Sandbox. So far, only the BMX and RC car tracks are open WED & SUN.

The story gives a brief overview of the frustrating years that Reid Shimabukuro and other volunteers have endured to get the Sandbox this far. Kudos to Reid for his unending energy in making the Sandbox a reality!!! On the BMX track side, mahalo to JimD, Jason, Ari, Jeremy, KLaus and a host of others who have put in many hours of hard labor and to the shops & companies that have contributed $$$.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/...ight+from+state

JT

Actually, it was 180 degrees off so that both crank arms were aligned together :-)) Yeah, I still think of Eric, the only blond hair guy in the gang riding thru Waipahu and Kalihi. Must have been funny, but a little scary.

JT

Yes.....Huge Mahalo's to Reid and Wayne Rhoden. We cannot thank them enough......please take the time to thank them if you see them at the Sandbox. If it wasn't for them we would still be wishing we had a race track.

I gotta hand it to JimD too. He has kept the ball rolling on the bmx track and selflessly puts in many hours prepping the track each day before practice.

jk

I'll put my 2 cents in..................My good bike was a Firestone 3spd with slicks, got it for Christmas. About a month later, changed it to coaster brakes and learned how to powerslide on it, with slicks, thought I was bad. hehe I used to watch my neighbors ride their stripped down DT yamaha in my back yard, which is now HCC, and started copying what they were doing. Then at Christmas 1977 my mother bought me a Schwinn Scrambler. Meanest bike I ever did see. It had 105 gauge spokes, ACS wide flange hubs, Ashtabula forks and cranks, but the most important thing was the Eagle Mx Tires! I used to sit in my living room and just stare at those things!

Just by chance, I was riding by Kaiulani School and saw what could be a jump. So I started jumping it, flying about 5 inches off the ground, and thinking I was bad again! hehe Soon after that, I don't know if you guys remember them but Kirkland Tabanera, his brother Kendrick, Raine Nitta, Alex Adams, Todd Yamaguchi, Malvert Benigno, his brother Michael, and others started riding there.

Soon after that we started racing. We made a layout at the access road to HCC. We had all kinds of tracks. There was the forward figure 8, the backwards figure 8, the oval track, the Grand Prix track and a host of others. We would take a sighting lap so everyone would know the track we would race. Then we would line up in the parking lot, sometimes 20 wide, and we would have someone drop their hand for the start.

A little later we started to look for ways to make our schwinns lighter. hehe We started cuttin the small tubing off at the seatpost, then putting hose clamps around the seatpost area where we cut it, thinking that it would hold it together. We also cut the sissy bar, then clamped them to the seat stays? close to the seat post and then marvel how our bike weighed just 30 pounds!

My frame soon broke and I was scraping up some money................more like begging my mother to buy me a new frame. My friend Dale Hayama told me of a place that had frames a reasonable prices, The Bike Shop. I went there and bought a Webco steel frame for 40 bucks, I was so stoked! Dennis was nice enough to give me payment plan on the 40 bucks!

We would hang out at The Bike Shop, and Eki Cyclery, so we knew Ed and Dennis. Then Dennis asked us where we rode and came down to Kaiulani to watch us ride. He let me ride a CMC bike that he had........7 1/2 inch ashtabula cranks, Redline steel forks, box bars, ashtabula stem, that thing was TRICK! We all couldn't believe that he would let us ride it! Soon after that he and Jim at Kailua Bike Shop got together and set up a race between Kaiulani and Kailua at Kailua Dump. We had racing and trials elimination style. That was the start of bmx racing in Hawaii. A while later Dennis and Ed started talking about putting on races at Kewalos. We and others helped build the track, the layout was all Dennis'. We started racing from there.

My first race was my most memorable one. I remember racing with David Wakatake, he and I were the closest competition. I don't remember what format we used to use, but I remember winning all my motos. Then in my last one, or in the final, I had a half a lap lead in a 2 lap race, until my friend Mark threw his bread wrapper and his bar pads on the track because he was disqualified for something, which they then stopped the race, claiming dangerous objects on the track! It was then restarted and I ended up with third. David won and I don't know who took second. Man, I was so pumped to get a trophy! My mother has it till this day.

After that race, Dennis sponsored me and gave me a Mongoose frame. I couldn't believe it! He also got me sponsored from BMX Products, something that I will always be thankful for. From the second race on to the end of the year I went undefeated, won every moto, and ended up with the #1 plate. David was in a younger class dominating it. A lot of people in the bmx community, along with Dennis, Ed, Skip Hess, gave me a trip to the mainland to race, the Mongoose Nationals at Devonshire Downs. We stayed at Skips ranch. I would like to thank whoever was involved with it!

I later got sponsored by Eki cyclery. I first rode a Schwinn SX1000, a Sting, my favorite, then the nicest bike I had, which was a Jag with Roger DeCoster stickers. It had Bulleye hubs, blue spokes, Araya 7x rims, Dura Ace cranks, and a Atom drum brake which Ed and Dennis Nagaoka machined to fit in the frame.............TRICK! Ed then got me a factory sponsor with Robinson Racing. Full factory sponsor.! Raced a couple of years for Robinson, then got sponsored by Jim at Safari Cycles. Jim was the closest thing to a factory sponsor without being factory. He would trip when he would want me to run something new but I didn't want it because my parts were still good. He would have to explain to me that I'm supposed to be riding with the parts that he was trying to sell, then I understood.

After Jim I retired from racing, came back when my oldest son was 8, then retired again. Looking back on all my racing, I have to say that nothing compared to racing in Hawaii. It was serious but not too serious so we still had fun. To all my former sponsors and people that helped me out I would like to say thank you. When I was that age I didn't really know how popular I was and really didn't know how to behave. But it is an experience that I wouldn't trade for anything.

I'll put my 2 cents in..................My first good bike was a Firestone 3spd with slicks, got it for Christmas. About a month later, changed it to coaster brakes and learned how to powerslide on it, with slicks, thought I was bad. hehe I used to watch my neighbors ride their stripped down DT yamaha in my back yard, which is now HCC, and started copying what they were doing. Then at Christmas 1977 my mother bought me a Schwinn Scrambler. Meanest bike I ever did see. It had 105 gauge spokes, ACS wide flange hubs, Ashtabula forks and cranks, but the most important thing was the Eagle Mx Tires! I used to sit in my living room and just stare at those things!

Just by chance, I was riding by Kaiulani School and saw what could be a jump. So I started jumping it, flying about 5 inches off the ground, and thinking I was bad again! hehe Soon after that, I don't know if you guys remember them but Kirkland Tabanera, his brother Kendrick, Raine Nitta, Alex Adams, Todd Yamaguchi, Malvert Benigno, his brother Michael, and others started riding there.

Soon after that we started racing. We made a layout at the access road to HCC. We had all kinds of tracks. There was the forward figure 8, the backwards figure 8, the oval track, the Grand Prix track and a host of others. We would take a sighting lap so everyone would know the track we would race. Then we would line up in the parking lot, sometimes 20 wide, and we would have someone drop their hand for the start.

A little later we started to look for ways to make our schwinns lighter. hehe We started cuttin the small tubing off at the seatpost, then putting hose clamps around the seatpost area where we cut it, thinking that it would hold it together. We also cut the sissy bar, then clamped them to the seat stays? close to the seat post and then marvel how our bike weighed just 30 pounds!

My frame soon broke and I was scraping up some money................more like begging my mother to buy me a new frame. My friend Dale Hayama told me of a place that had frames a reasonable prices, The Bike Shop. I went there and bought a Webco steel frame for 40 bucks, I was so stoked! Dennis was nice enough to give me payment plan on the 40 bucks!

We would hang out at The Bike Shop, and Eki Cyclery, so we knew Ed and Dennis. Then Dennis asked us where we rode and came down to Kaiulani to watch us ride. He let me ride a CMC bike that he had........7 1/2 inch ashtabula cranks, Redline steel forks, box bars, ashtabula stem, that thing was TRICK! We all couldn't believe that he would let us ride it! Soon after that he and Jim at Kailua Bike Shop got together and set up a race between Kaiulani and Kailua at Kailua Dump. We had racing and trials elimination style. That was the start of bmx racing in Hawaii. A while later Dennis and Ed started talking about putting on races at Kewalos. We and others helped build the track, the layout was all Dennis'. We started racing from there.

My first race was my most memorable one. I remember racing with David Wakatake, he and I were the closest competition. I don't remember what format we used to use, but I remember winning all my motos. Then in my last one, or in the final, I had a half a lap lead in a 2 lap race, until my friend Mark threw his bread wrapper and his bar pads on the track because he was disqualified for something, which they then stopped the race, claiming dangerous objects on the track! It was then restarted and I ended up with third. David won and I don't know who took second. Man, I was so pumped to get a trophy! My mother has it till this day.

After that race, Dennis sponsored me and gave me a Mongoose frame. I couldn't believe it! He also got me sponsored from BMX Products, something that I will always be thankful for. From the second race on to the end of the year I went undefeated, won every moto, and ended up with the #1 plate. David was in a younger class dominating it. A lot of people in the bmx community, along with Dennis, Ed, Skip Hess, gave me a trip to the mainland to race, the Mongoose Nationals at Devonshire Downs. We stayed at Skips ranch. I would like to thank whoever was involved with it!

I later got sponsored by Eki cyclery. I first rode a Schwinn SX1000, a Sting, my favorite, then the nicest bike I had, which was a Jag with Roger DeCoster stickers. It had Bulleye hubs, blue spokes, Araya 7x rims, Dura Ace cranks, and a Atom drum brake which Ed and Dennis Nagaoka machined to fit in the frame.............TRICK! Ed then got me a factory sponsor with Robinson Racing. Full factory sponsor.! Raced a couple of years for Robinson, then got sponsored by Jim at Safari Cycles. Jim was the closest thing to a factory sponsor without being factory. He would trip when he would want me to run something new but I didn't want it because my parts were still good. He would have to explain to me that I'm supposed to be riding with the parts that he was trying to sell, then I understood.

After Jim I retired from racing, came back when my oldest son was 8, then retired again. Looking back on all my racing, I have to say that nothing compared to racing in Hawaii. It was serious but not too serious so we still had fun. To all my former sponsors and people that helped me out I would like to say thank you. When I was that age I didn't really know how popular I was and really didn't know how to behave. But it is an experience that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Rory,

Thank you for sharing!!!!! That was great to read. I remember that jump by your moms apt behind HCC. I went there with you and my uncle Eric when I just started riding. And, I have to say you were always professional and represented every sponsor you had like the legend that you are!

jk

killer stories jk and OG!!!

Rory,

Great story!!! Thank you for sharing.

I must say that you were one of my riders that I really enjoyed working with. Your problem was that you were too humble and rarely asked for anything except maybe a Carlise (SP?) front tire. The 1983 black chrome GT that you campaigned was so nice. Had a blast at the ABA Fremont race where you won a little $$$ in A Pro. We also got to see one of the Star Wars movies with no lines compared to the insane lines in Hawaii.

I actually convinced GT to put you and Ken Van Orman under the factory team and got the yellow factory jerseys for both of you, but you retired. Hope you kept the yellow jersey.

JT

Hey BU, how about your story

JT

That was awesome Rory. I am positive that if you stayed on the mainland for a longer time you could have gone on to do even more. It is just so much to take in and learn to do hitting one big race weekend. And you still did so good making short trips to the mainland. If not for you many after you would not have as much because you paved the way. I thank you cause I followed the path you built. What were the first races like? How many riders and how fast did it grow? By the time I came in (1978) it was huge, cambels seemed packed. Very intimidating. SCA can tell your BMX story too please. You know I still remember how excited I was that you considered me for your team, even though I did not make it, that was a sign that I was getting better. Those were the days that having a sponsor meant more, today seems like if you are buying enough stuff you can get sponsored. I mean now we have factory sponsored novices????? I don't get it.

Changstar

+1


I am hoping that you guys are willing to share more "stories" of our bmx days. Rory's story was such a treat to read. An "inside" view from the beginning of it all - from the first no. 1 rider no less. I was honored to read that.

Lets hear it guys.....sca, BU, Rust, Ari, Buddy, Jeff Wandell, Ken Sugai, Klaus, Joe, Phillipart, P, Kata, and everyone else.

Maybe we can put these sories together collectively into a project of some sorts?

jk

Rory and Jeremy,

That was some interesting read. Rory I remember when you came to the races with that brake system.
When you were riding the Sting bike . Was it easier to ride than the Robinson? The front end of the bike looked longer and harder to ride into the turns.

I didn't know that Jim from Kailua Bike Shop set up a race. Steve was the one more involved in the racing when we rode for Kailua Bike Shop.

Either way with out the events that occured. BMX Racing would never have been started with out people that had visions to start it up here in Hawaii.

Thanks to all the people and shops that got it started and continue to keep it going in Hawaii.


BC

Let's hear from the actual racers first. It would be awkward for one team/shop to post without the other teams/shops being invited to do so (assuming they are not reading this thread). I would be happy to add my perspective to my former rider's posts.

If this ever gets compiled and published (SoCalDude where are you?), I would be happy to add the Safari story....which is very long considering that the team existed for only around 9 or 10 years.

JT

My racing career = "Always the bride's maid, never the bride"

Always "choked" in the mains.

I had heard at one time someone was putting together info but I never heard any details. was supposed to be a book I think. At least we are still connected with many of the originals that can tell the story from the begining. I think the sport has been around long enough to not be a fad, and has a history that should be documented.

Changstar

There are a lot more story's than just how we did on the track. Getting new bikes and parts, the many adventures just riding together. A whole chapter could be about Tantalus.

Changstar

So true about Tantlus, good call. That was the start of "downhill" on Oahu as far as I know. (IMO) I think the Haleakala bike tours got the idea of shuttling dozens of bikes up the mountain from BU's grandpa's "boat-van", haha.

+1

I am sure we all have some great stories to share. BC? You must have some great memories riding with your brothers. Its great to read Rory's posts. I totally agree with Rory about the Schwinn Sting "lurching forward off the start". The Sting was an incredible bike. You could literally feel the bike pulling with every pedal.

jk

I never got to ride a Sting but remember the test in the mags. At the time Donny Atherton was winning everything. At the time I was still on a Webco. Would have liked to have tried one. I do remember another bike that seemed to pull well, 1977-78 Redline Proline. A kid in the neighborhood had one all tricked out with alloy everything. I rode it and it got up to speed quick for a 44/16 and 170mm cranks. I am sure the super light parts helped but it just felt fast.

Changstar

Was anybody riding in Hawaii Kai about 1977? I used to go to a big empty field there that had some jumps. It was on Hawaii Kai dr just after you turn on it from Kalanianaole on the right side. It was before the bridge. The main jump for us was 2 small mini half pipe type jumps that you would drop in and fly out of. They were right in a row so you could jump twice, real tight maybe only 4 foot deep. Man I would get a solid 6 inches high off those and felt like a king. This was a time that I was still working on learning a bunny hop. I could do it but getting up a curb was a 50-50 shot. Some kid told me to turn my hands around and it was easier(palms facing up) like a dork I did it.

Changstar

Rory,

Sorry I was not one of those persons. I wish I was there to see that event.

If anything I would have to guess Kevin Murnin or I still can't remember his first name only his last name. It was Cambra .

Maybe even Keoki Rodrigues might have been one of those guys.

As for riding stories I wouldn't know were to start.

I have to assume that the stuff we did was like other guys that rode back in the day. We rode Sun-Sat. Sun/Sat usually 0800- till dark like 1800/1900 Hours. Mon-Fri from 1500 till 1800/1900 and not a care in the world. All we did was ride. There was a group of about 20 of us that rode/raced BMX. There was me and my two brothers.The Yonamine brothers Evan and Myles.The Tam Ho brothers Lex and Lance . Robert Williams, D'armond Cook, Garrick Isaka(RIP), Kerry Kamanu, Belden Hee, Wilfred Oguma, Mark Tam. Mike Kuroda, Garrett Lau and whole bunch of other guys.

We used to ride in the area were now stands a housing development next to Heeia Elem. School.
There used to be a swimming hole but it was covered up. We would all meet there and practice and we had a small track made out and run races. We even had a gate that my dad made and we hid it on the site.It was made out of that pipe that the electrical wires are routed through. So it was light and a two man gate. We would practice for hours and when we got hungry would all go to Safeway and buy these large doughnuts.They were huge Safeway called them Texas doughnuts.

We also rode in back of Safeway were there is a sub division. That area was mostly jumping and trying to do tricks. You would ride from the road and drop into a ditch that was about 15-20 foot drop to the bottom.

We also rode at nearby King Inter. and played chase master on bikes.

We also rode at Heeia Elem. School were we would map out a track and race against each other.

Occassionally we would ride to Kailua to a place next to a canal that had a sand jump.

I guess for the most part when we rode we tried to sharpen our skills and have fun at the same time. We always tried to think of ways to prepare ourselves and improve our riding skills.

That was pretty much how it was like riding on the winward side

Woke up too early this morning (4:00), so I'll ramble on a bit.

Here was a typical day for some of us "town" guy back in '80-'81. Everyone met up at Washington Inter. about 9:00am. We play chase master, do races in the parking lot and practice roll backs and 360's and "rock walks".

Then go down King St., thru Kaimuki H.S. and up to Cannon's Club, session on the jumps over there, the big wall jump and the three lower jumps.

Then ride out to Hawaii Kai, race the moped, roadies, etc. Get to Hanauma Bay entrance, but instead of going down to the beach, we rode up the little service road to the top of the bay. There's an old military look out bunker on top where we would hang out for a while before racing down the narrow 6 ft. road going mach speed, holding our bars close to the stem and tucked down with our stomachs on our seat for max aerodynamics (lol) and at the same time dodging the millions of honey bees along the way. Then back to town racing the mopeds again.

Back in town we'd eat lunch at 7-eleven or FastStop, the microwave burritos were awesome, actually cheap, haha.

After lunch, it was up to Paradise Park jump. An awesome jump, everyone could get some mean air on that jump, at least 5ft, and the landing was always comfy. Then after having some fun there, everyone raced down the road back to UH.

We always had a route thru UH, started at the girl's private school at the top and down the sidewalk of the East-West dorms, past East-West Center, cross Dole St., down the "rolling" pathway, jumping them next to the "circle" dorms and come out the Waialae end near the "Tea House".

Then stopping by the Humane Society jump, and have some fun there, that was a good natural jump. And then back to Washington,hang out a bit then some guys had paper routes and we'd split up.

That one particular summer, all the town guys did really well in that race season. We would put in so many miles of riding every day, looking back, it was an awesome training schedule. But we didn't see it that way. Ah, the good ol' days, no work, no bills, no worries.

Tantlus trails are a whole different and wild story.

Phew! Now I'm tired.

Russ

BC and Rust,

Thanks for sharing. Riding during those times were an epic adventure to me. Riding from sun up to sun down. Rust, I remember a lot of those things you mentioned - the UH jump, crossing the bridge over the river by that Tea House on the way home. Racing roadies on Kalanianaole. The Humane Society jump. Chase master at Washington Intermediate. Remember that .05 cent hot dog place across the street from The Bike Shop? We used to live off of those.

jk

Bakery Kapiolani



*I love this picture*

Those are the ones! They were so filling.

jk

Guess who was at the track yesterday..........TG.

jk

Aaaaaand? Tell us more. He he he. Kev give me a call.

Changstar

When I first moved to Mililani (1978)I was already riding but just started racing. I didn't know anybody but I would see this bike leaning against a wall at a house. I never saw the rider, just the bike. It had a number plate so I wondered who it was. The bike was a Mongoose with a JMC fork and mis matched hubs. I think it had a Phil Wood front and a Bullseye rear, Dur Ace cranks. Sooo trick. Then later I would see the guy, but always from far away. We used to have a jump on a street corner that was a park. You would start in the street and cross the sidewalkand jump into the park. This was a daily stop. One day while heading to the corner I saw someone already there jumping, he could do one handers and one footers. It was the guy with the trick bike. We started talking and made friends, That's how I met Klaus. Funny for a long time we would see each other from far away and never approached each other. I was intimidated cause he had a double digit number. Remember when a double or single digit number had a lot of status? When we finaly met I found out it was not his real number. Many adventures were to come.

Changstar

He was just checking out the track - no bike. He stayed for about 2 hrs or so. I didn't chat with him much.....From what I remember he said he has a 20" and is looking for a 24". He said Moki and Miki will be racing - 20 and 24 respectively. Whether or not that's current info I don't know. I am actually looking forward to seeing him on the track for several reasons. First - I dig it when anyone from our generation shows up and rides. And in a twisted way I want to see him try and live up to his own hype.

jk