I hate to be the one to break the news but, that was the July 30th 1979 Schwinn summer Tour.

I still have the patch from it. You can see it on Conley's web site. www.alltheracing.com under the photo section of the Old School site.

Thats why the Schwinn guys had Stings already Brad...

MC- Thats Bobby Woods and Richard Zagards or Kevin Jackson behind DC and ahead of You..HaHa

[ April 12, 2007, 11:15 PM: Message edited by: Jeff Manning ]

MANNING-You are correct. It was the 1st MN State Championships there I was thinking of. My bad.

Check your PM for the rest of my thoughts

The poster from that tour

Mannings Patch from that race tour

Mark,

Give us the rundown on melding the new/old at these designated races. I know you have some stuff planned but I'm not sure the rest of the readers do.

Displays, racing, etc....What's cooking in the series?

You know what I would like to introduce to the New Schoolers? RELAY RACES! Old School Style!

And the important lesson to be learned here (taught by us OSers) that new school seems to LACK knowledge of so often, is "Always race to the finish"!!!

Here is how it works.

We HAVE to designate teams at registration, or during "last call" before the event if you have room for more teams.

Rules:

4 man teams.

Registered, first 8 teams to register.

There had to be one person registered in each of 4 age groups; 8 and under, 9-11, 12-14, and 15 and over. (Team Spirit, and working and playing with the big and little kids together, and other values) (AND it encourages interaction between BMXers, when a team needs a rider in an age group, they have to "Inivte" someone on to thier team, and get to know someone new at the track, and make new friends.)

The first racers went off a gate start. Sometimes we tried it "In any order you wanted", but the teams that chose to run the little guys last put a lot of pressure on the l'il guys at the end when a 18 year old was gunning them down, so, "Youngest to oldest" works best.

When the rider crosses the finish line, he has to drop his bike inside the "Box", and RUN up to the starting gate, and TAG the next racer on his team before they can go!

Now if you want to see racing again, from start to finish, THAT will do it, because each racer is under pressure to perform to the last inch of track and to the very last rider, TO THE FINISH! Becasue prizes are to 8th place, and the best oens are the earliest ones, so it's not over until the last rider crosses the line. VERY good for the crowd too!

Sooooo, Lay it on us Mark. But that would be my biggest desired contribution to the Old School Meets New School "EVENTS" that I would like to see run at these races!

I will gladly help print up rules, and registration forms, and decent prizes will up the effort factor in the racing here too! I'll help any way I can with it.

A team entry fee, can make better prizes, ...or free, which can encourage participation. A happy medium can be had there too..

Next!?

[ April 13, 2007, 06:44 AM: Message edited by: Ted Carl ]

Jeff, I had the same patch along with the Grand Nationals patch and some others... Mark, I think they were in those pics that you so graciously scanned for me, do you still have them? Please say yes!.

Roger that on the Stings in 79.

TED-Great Ideas! I will write a little more about this a little later.

BRAD-I think I seen the patches in your stash when I had it, but didn't think about scanning patches then. Take some pics of them and I'll drop em in your "Brad's Bucket-O-photos"

[img]http://alltheracing.com/bradsbucket[/img]

Minnesota's Big Event! and I believe the only coverage we had in BMXA, if I am not mistaken?

Mark Conley REPRESENTIN in the Cruiser class at the Rondo Classic, nice work old man! Nice work Sandberg, that Owens character was a tough cat to reel in, Denny was cool cat!

You see Miland luring in there too?
Rock!

What, no pics of me crshing into the spectator?

Okay, is my imagination, or has anyone else had to log in everytime you re-visit the site? PITA!!

I am always luring...always have been/will be around here. I dont know about making it for the OS event(at least the 1st one?) But you never know. I've been known to sneak out of the house once in awhile. I think I may have tweaked my knee at the Race for Life night at the barn. I think I reinjured my right meniscus-again-. I had a surgery for a meniscal tear about 3years ago. My old body is starting to read like a grandfather clock....BOING! GONG!@ there's my knee...must be time to have fun again.

each of 5 age groups; 6 and under, 7-8, 9-11, 12-14, and OSer over 30yrs must be in the race. also a girl must replace one of the age classes.

ted , love the idea but , get the new schoolers to interact with the old schoolers by adding a OSer to the race.

mark & ted, i can help if we do it on saturdays race ???

[ April 13, 2007, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: scott Boecker ]

Actually, I was thinking of an additional Relay.

The standard one as originally spelled out, so that if they have fun, and want to keep doing it at all the races, that the rules kind of get standardized.

But, for the Bonus round, I was toying Father/Son teams. 2 Father/Son pairs per team of 4. However, It aint working so far, as some of the "Sons" are big kids. The quantity of pairs may be low too. Besides, I'm still not sure I want to get kilt racing. ....Our ideas, thier testosterone, is ok with me....

I DO however think that the OSers should enter a TEAM or 2! MC's kids, paired with Cal, Cal, Jeremy, Maddy, and others. Then those of you OSer's who want to race, still qualify for 15 and over, and can join in on the OS team! Scotty B, and Brad, and Paul, can always play anchor on an OS team!

BTW, girls, cruisers, and tricycles, all qualify.


AND... you get to make up NAMES for your teams! Which always added to the fun! "Team Old School Myocardio Infarction". "Team Medivac." , I am sure the ideas will flow freely!

Age groups are the only limit!

I'd love to hear from some guys like Cash, and Bryan, and a lot of other "Non Minnesotans" on ideas to try for these gigs in the name of OS/NS fun!

[ April 13, 2007, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: Ted Carl ]

BTW, Im not sure how it would work out at the barn with the finish so far from the gate, crossing the track.

Maybe the finish would be a lap and a half, in turn 2?

Sounds like fun guys.

Thanks for stopping by today Mark and Paul, it was cool to see ya...

Those do look cool!

I vote Friday night as the key day for the first OS/NS event.

John, the last time I saw you was at the one lunger 100. Vern & I raced together and you were having problems with that "stock" HTS Lynx.

Another "10 Minutes with Mark" (I gotta come up a different name)

This would be Mike Peterson (mikkopeters
) Mike is a major asset to helping put on the old school-new school series for me. Mike has done a few of these events of his own, and is one of the most personable new friends I can say I have added to my long lists of great people. Should there ever be a Minnesota BMX Hall of Fame (don't worry, my wheels are turning) Mike's pic would be right there,as a major contributor to supporting and promoting old school BMX in Minnesota.

He did however, fail to get me some photos of him, so I am forced to post the only one I have....

Mike Peterson.....



Name: Mike Peterson

1. When did you start racing?
I never raced. I had a track on my parents farm and ran little neighborhood races there in ‘86 and ‘87. The last race we held had a purse of $7 and we had teams even! Fun times. I found freestyle in '85.

2. Where was your hometown when you raced.
I grew up in Menahga MN, no hometown track.

3. What was the reason that you started?
I saw the after school special “Winner Loses All” and knew that I had to get into BMX. My cousins also were a huge influence on me. We were constantly building jumps and riding all day long. It was all dirt jumping and street thrashing, but it was totally BMX.

4. What was the Highlight of you’re career?
Riding/ skating with my buddies on my half pipe all night long. Summer of ’88 was completely insane. We cruised around like a gang with a launch ramp hanging out of the trunk of my car. We’d go lake jumping at a drop of a hat.

5. What teams did you ride for?
The group of guys I rode with was called “Damn It All”.

6. What was the highest State rank you held? N/A

7. When did your BMX career end and why?
I was still riding when I went to college in 1990, but BMX was going underground. I recall years that went by when I would not see another kid on a BMX bike. When BMX Action folded I felt like I had lost a huge part of my identity as a BMXer. That magazine was my connection to other BMXers and was a constant that I could rely on. I parked my BMX bike in ’96 and rode mtn bike for a few years. Thankfully, I did keep all my BMX stuff.

8. Tell us about yourself now, and where you currently live.
I live in Richfield with my wife and daughter and try to build one bike a year. I started up MN Faction a few years ago to get some of the MN freestylers together, it’s grown into a cool group of guys.

9. What is something that you learned from BMX?
To believe in myself. I always felt like I was part of something really cool and that gave me a ton of confidence.

10. Tell us one funny story that happened during your career.
We threw a party after school on a Friday night, and we had quite a few kids hanging out at my halfpipe. At one point, my buddy and I both dropped in at the same time. We had a doubles routine all worked out, and one of us would call out who was going to go high and who would go low. Neither of us called out what we were going to do and we collided in mid air and got all tangled up. I slid to a stop right in front of a group of girls, my buddy rode away unscathed.

11. What was your favorite bike from back in the day?
I was always partial to Red Line 800p or an 86 RL 20II. They seemed a little more dialed in than anything else at the time. A Hutch Hollywood would be right up there though. Mike Miranda always had his bike tricked out.

12. Who were your BMX heroes?
From the BMX side: Harry Leary, Pistol Pete, Billy Griggs, Dave Cullinan
From the freestyle side: RL, Wilkerson, Blyther, Dominguez, and above all, Dizz Hicks

[ April 14, 2007, 08:16 PM: Message edited by: Mark Conley ]

I FORGOT! Mike's web site is www.minnesotafaction.com

TED-Keep the ideas coming! I have been busy, but am copy and pasting your thoughts. El Mikkopeterflamer shared somemore tonight as well.

Mikko- You Rock! Your a really cool guy for a freestyler...HaHa...Keep Mn. Faction alive..
Great Interview you guys.

MC- Great job on the banners, where did you get them printed?

Doug's (Barn) Wife printed them for barn useage

Speaking of Doug (since I know he secretly reads this stuff when his wife goes to bed, and dreams of rubbin wheels with that Springer guy someday )

Can't remember if I posted his elderly rebound into the racing scene or not, but I believe they gave him the name "The Blueberry" at one of the barn races....



Here, he is still gasping from excitement that he crossed the finishline.



On a serious note:(although I was serious about^^^), give this guy a big THANKS when you see him, for keeping Minnesota BMX alive during the winter months. He is the backbone of Rehbein's, along with "ALL" the other great staff there that put a lot of time in, because they love the sport.

Their site www.rehbeinsbmx.com

.

Mikko,
Good to get a little background on you. I always wondered what you deal was?

But we all appreciate everything that you've did for the gatherings. Even though was just see each other a few times a year, your a good friend and that time you even helped when I had my computer problems...Much appreciation..

Now if I can get you that, 16, so you can start building that up..

Great write up Mikko! Your a stand up guy and awesome for organizing Faction events for us to gather and I really appreciate that! Your a super cool kat with an infectious energy for the love of the sport. I know your going to be a long standing friend...

Big Doug (The Blueberry), what can we say! HUGE, HUGE thank you for being the glue that holds this all together thru the winter months. Doug and his support system there at rehbeins is TOP NOTCH!

Thanks guys! Its been awesome to make so many friends over the years, we're going to have some fun with these events! If you don't know me, come up and introduce yourself!!!

And thanks Mark for posting the mini inteviews, it's a good way to get to know our fellow MN (and beyond) VBMXers. I am looking forward to even more of these posted, we have a rich history of this sport. We run the full spectrum of world class racers to street thrashers and everyone has a part in BMX in this state whether they like it or not.

Putting together the BMX events has been a great time, it's worth every minute that I have put into it. And I have to give props to all the guys that have stepped up to lend a hand when I needed help! Your help is what makes these events rock. I knew that there were other guys out there that would like to get together to talk BMX and there are still many more fellas coming out of the woodwork and we'll have many more events to hang out at!

The New School Meets Old School series is going to be a great chance to get connect with even more old schoolers. Check the schedule, get on the phone, look up some guys you used to ride with and get your butt out to meet some other local BMXers! Get your kids out with you, this is a great oppertunity to get them stoked on racing too. And if you're lurking, show up!!! Everyone is really cool.

Viva Mark Condo!!!!

[ April 15, 2007, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: mikkopeters ]

I originally intended to space these interviews a part a little more, but they are coming in faster than I expected.

Next one up is Mr. Brad Apold.

I have known Brad and his family for MANY years. Brad's and my connection with cycling carried on into mountain biking for a few shorts years of getting to ride together again, before we lost track of each others where abouts. So now after all these years it was once again, a great thing to be reunited with him and communicate regularly.

It was also nice to learn after all this time that Brad was still a part of BMX and still continues to ride mountain bike.

My favorite Photo from Brad's collection on my site..



And a recent one of him from a gathering that was put together as a surprise birthday party for me in Januray from this year, where MANY old friends showed up and were reunited once again.

Amazingly, Brad still rides as good as he did when he was 16 years old!



Name: Brad Apold

When did you start racing?
1975

2. Where was your hometown when you raced
Austin

3. What was the reason that you started?
The Schwinn Scrambler brochure had pictures of guy racing and thought it looked like fun

4. What was the Highlight of you’re career?
Racing the ABA Grand Nationals

5. What teams did you ride for?
Rydjor Bike shop, GT Co-Sponser. The CYC thing just never panned out.

6. What was the highest State rank you held?
# 3, then quit later that year and finished # 8 for the year MN-2

7. When did your BMX career end and why?
The sport had run its course with me.

8. Tell us about yourself now, and where you currently live
Married to my Wife Karen, have 4 kids, Sarah, Hannah, Brock and Sophia. Living in St. Michael, MN

9. What is something that you learned from BMX?
That winning isn’t everything

10. Tell us one funny story that happened during your career
Shan Lynde was left at a truck stop after ordering hash browns, then after realizing he was getting left behind, he comes running out of the truck stop..

11. What was your favorite bike from back in the day?
GT pro, but the DG California is still my favorite bike. I only really had one bike make, and that was the GT. The CYC Ames frame was really a GT “pedals ready” standard frame rebadged w/ some minor changes.

12. Who were your BMX heroes?
National- Pete Loncarevich
Local- Mark Conley, Dave Christenson, and of course Howie & Jeff Manning.

Nice write up there brutha Apold. One of things I enjoy most about BMX is you and I riding to the barn practice sharing stories, what an awesome sport! Good job man

Great interview Brad-

That is a great picture of you on that Schwinn! You look like a young John Tomac, Actually you look like Johnny O'Mara trying to manhandle a CR 500..HaHa

I'll never forget those days my Dad and I came down to Austin to pick you up so we could go reek havoc on those Iowa guys and show them what the Minnesota guys were all about. Fun times, I miss them!!

We're going to have to try some MTBing in the near future..Stay true to what you do!!!

John, that one lunger race was fun, but boy was I sore after that thing.

I moved on from Vern's business about a year ago, but he's doing fine. His boys are getting to the age where they keep him pretty busy.

Thanks guys. Now I'm not 100% sure if I was #3 when I quit (memory sometimes fails me), but I know I finished #8 that last year.. Doesn't matter really and maybe I can find the ABA standings sometime.

Can't wait to see the others info... cool stuff!!

Here is the final artwork that is headed for the printers today for the back of the shirts.

All tracks have confimed their participation.

I added the "Big D" in there, for Dan Ulwelling who was a great friend to many, and a huge loss to the cycling community, as well as a Minnesota BMX pioneer. I figured Dan should be a part of this even though he is no longer with us.

[img]http://alltheracing.com/OSNSFinalartwork[/img]

That looks AWESOME Mark!

I miss Dan.

Frigging sick!!!!

It needs a picture of me crashing into the Spectator at the Rondo Classic... LOL! j/k, looks really sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was hoping to get a freestyle bike in the pack too.
Could you redo the artwork so it would be a little more correct? We need pegs, rotor, standing platform, basket, rack, stereo and all the other things that make a freestyle bike super fast.

Sure Peters, I sent my thoughts to you about that. Chech ur PM

I got your PM but it was all asteriks and stuff.

Wait a seccond. Don't you think it would be awesome to have a freestyler in there? Like some guy that just rode up and started jamming outta the gate and wailing on all the locals? Maybe you could have a 2 shirt series where it would show the freestyler crossing the finish line in first doing a one footed framestand and some other stuff. You'd sell out in like one day.

Let me know if you'd like to run with this idea!

Ya, I'll keep that in mind....this one took way to long the way it was.

I started a CafePress store that's going to be available soon, that would workout in there so I don't have to pay for more screens this year

Have the Freestyle on the backside. Have a Half pipe with Mikko on there... haaahaaahaaa... classic!