Jared

I'm running both bike, not sure what Chris is doing but typically does both. I run a 41-18 on my 24. 40-44 cruiser class I think there is about 5-6 guys.

That class was smokin at the regional jared !That and the 35-39 has got to be 2 of the toughest classes,i think rather then blazin speed its like the guy in 4th place is just as fast as the guy in 1st they get side by side and its tough to pass.Practice your starts [you were never afraid to jump so you have a advantage]There was a guy winning 40-44 at the regional that was app.6' tall 300 lbs and very thick ,but fast .
Me and kevin mckinney just went to kg and got him a general lee 24 so he can ride again -his knee is pretty shot but hell be out there again having fun.If im not mistaken eddie combs just turned up into that class too 40-44
41-18,39-17 seems to be the norm

If figured 20'would be too easy for my big butt to get hurt on at first ,so im only running 24'-i still do not plan to race 20 except maybe the oldschool race if ever.

Oh man!!...here I am, all the way out here in Arizona and trying to figure out a way I can make it back to Ohio for a local race/old school Ohio reunion.
Like you Jered...what am I thinking!!
I'm actually planning to go out to So. Cal. on Aug. 23rd for an old school get-together that even the great OZ from BMX Action (RIP) is planning on attending (to shoot photos even!!) but now I'm wanting to make it back to Ohio for this get-together on the 24th!!
Steve, I think it's cool that you are back into the sport and have done so much already to try and bring back the old guys and the excitement level that was around back then. The Ohio scene back in the 80's was as good as anywhere else from what I remember and I think the local scene could probably use a good kick-start from all you old superstars. As for me, I turned 36 just two days ago and recently purchased a cruiser, so all I need to do is find the time to make it back for a visit!!
Do any of you remember these guys... Scott Smallwood, Tom Cantrell or Toby Hawk?? I still keep in touch with them occasionally and could certainly see someone like Smallwood being into this old school race. Not to mention, he could spread the word about this race faster than the internet. He's one of those people that seems to know EVERYONE!!
P.S. Does anyone know what Ed Morris has been up to? That guy was awesome!!

None of us could forget scott squirrelWOOD lol.I remember his baby blue free agent when he was 15,poor guy had a receding hairline at age 10 -oh well dont feel bad scott i lost my hair a few years ago too.
I accually sat behind him at the christmas race in 99 or 00 and he didnt notice me ,but geoff ssengoba did he broke his hand that day [was hoping to bump into him at waterford but hes living in fla now]
Scott and greg beam were both getting real fast in 93 when i quit ,i remember when i broke my foot coming back and allmost getting beat by them both believe me it took everything i could muster to stave those guys off as well as eddie combs [i wouldnt live it down with kevin mckinney if i let eddie combs beat me ]...Scotty yoculete beat me some and so did matt pohlkamp that year all at columbus indoor .
Scottwood used to come to middletown and visit his grandma but i think she passed away havent seen him in 3-4 years i think he seen my son when he was 2?Scottwoods a trip to say the least good guy though..

Steve, I was roomates with both Beem ('93) and Smallwood ('95-'96) and have so many funny stories about those guys that I still look back on and laugh. Both of those guys could keep you laughing non-stop with the things they would do and say.
I haven't talked to Beem in a long time. Although I was recently emailing with Mike McHue and he say's that Beem comes up his way alot and they do some skating.
I talk with Smallwood every once and a great while and I know that he recently became a father and last I heard, was racing sport bikes and doing pretty good at it. I'll have to give him a call soon and get him to jump on this site. I KNOW that dude has some stories to tell

Did Scott Smallwood have a brother named Brad? I raced a Bradley Smallwood a few times at different state races and nationals, he was a really cool guy from what I remember. I have video of us racing down at Marietta and I went down in the last flat corner and his front tire ran over my face and left me with a big black eye. Good times.

Hope to see you guys tomarrow its stormin like gene norman here in middletuckey right now -hope it stops ....

Steve, what is the exact address of the track? Greg sent me an address from the NBL site and that is different than what is on the Cleves site.

If I come 71 south to 275 west, then where? Mapquest says 128 to 50 into town, but what road do I turn off of once in town and on 50?

Theres a bp station in town on 50 go across street over the railroad tracks south on same street as bp [theres signs saying bmx track]
Bring your mickey thompsons heh- heh the first straight is a drag strip!

Smallwood is racing road bikes now (and motorcycles too i think). He stopped by Heer Park at the end of last summer while out on a ride and said he might come back out sometime. He came out to the Delaware indoor a few years back and was still fast as hell. And, while i dont know Toby, Dave Murray was always talking about the trails he had at his house.

Charlie

Brad did a flat pedal 35 and over 20 and cruiser last year at Lay bmx in Toledo modeled after the no bull in Warsaw. Lot of fun , a few riders had not been on a track in a while. No license a couple of NBL riders from Lansing came down.

Heyyyy whats up Ric, been a while man. Good to hear from you. Sorry it took me so long to reply, "life" got a little busy this past week. So Tim's a new dad huh? Same here. I have a little girl who will be two in August. Tell Tim I said hey and congratulations!!
So are you still in Cincy? I'm living over in Dent now, about 15 minutes from the Cleves track. We got to get together some time to catch up. Shoot me an email (Ryan523@yahoo.com).

I raced one time at the akron state race. I am way out of shape for that long track. I'll try to make it to some more.?? I'll have to get on my JAX rollers from 84 and make a come back for the O S Race. I have an S&M Holmes that squeaks and creaks with every pedal and an openface helmet. Just can't seem to come off the money required to upgrade. My wife thinks furniture for our addition we built on our house years ago should come first. I will try to be at the race. The only difference this time would be that getting aggressive in the turns would just be lack of control, not throwing elbows. Can we just race to the first turn? I might have a good chance. 2nd turn 25%. Past that ? I think Ric should come off some old plates or make some new ones for the event for trophies w/ #1 through #8. I think you should ride with an old state plate if you have one. So what if you have 3 #1's !

Hey Eddie,

Are you still in Canton? Ever run into any of the old 30th street crew (Chris Ries, Brian Case?). I'm in the Boston area with my family and am racing again...my seven year old son has been at it for the last two years and my bro takes my nephews to Akron to race...the circle of bmx life! Although I am a couple of years older than most of you on this thread (raced Todd Hido, Brad Lyons, Tom K, etc.), it has been cool to read all of the nostalgia bits. The 80's bmx scene was pretty nice!

Bob

PS...did I sell you those JAX rollers?

If i race the os race it will be on chucks 85 ripper [ill rock the other 87 #1 i have ]i wont race my cruiser ,and i wont be in the running for the frame -i have no will power to race 20'again im having too much fun on cruiser .And after 6 months back im still very squirlly myself -i dont think ill get smooth again ?
I did see a few more faces at the regional ,made some new friends ,offended some ,seen some old friends but it was all good.I appologized to eddie combs for referencing him in poor taste [he said it was on for the main sunday he would puke if he had to to beat me !]
My cracks on here are in fun and i mean no harm -many people cracked on me bitd too.Remember i supposedly raced with my pinkys in the ends of my bars with no ends ,always changed my gears- the list is long ..
Jughead told me the other day i was to squirlly bitd that i should never consider clips
I really hope all you guys show up,hamilton just redid thier track and its prolly the best down here in the south west now and they have a race on the 23rd the day before the st final .Eddie you and cc and maverick and protour should ride down together for the race .Well try to get you some gear [i think the track has some helmets but if your like me loaners are hard to find cause i have a xl head.]

Eventually ill post some of you on this post from the 86 memphis race [ i finally got a dvd burner and plan to upload most of the mains on you tube on a rainy day.]

Ok heres some ohio riders from memhis in 86 jim wahl ,mike k,and bill au
You guys just check the you tube later instead of me posting them all in here for more it takes like a hour to post 2 videos so it will take awhile to get most of the mains on there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24K3-cbo2OY

This one has lawan cunningham,mike lausman,steve smith 13 expert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw7r9tu-Bd0

This one has billy norman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBkqDG7myJw

Eddie,
I love the idea of just going to the first turn 100% and then slowing down. Maybe we could divide up the track into sections. Each as each section is complete during the race we can give out a trophy for those results. Three different results for one race!

And it might be a good idea to have a defibulator at the finish line for some of us and a hot chick for some mouth to mouth resucitation!!!

You guys are killing me!Ketterings track is very short now since they rebuilt it-not much longer then hilliard youll be fine.I like the rvh plate idea -dont know if ric will be down ?

I know all you guys remember david hapner -he raced for whitmans from the dayton area- bumped into him at kettering today we let him ride our bikes and i think we may have another 35-39 up and coming fast dad we just got to get him a bike...Seen jughead too -he thought i forgot the woodward experience lmao!

NOW YOUR TALKING!

I am in Canton. I haven't seen those guys for ever. I took my boys up in the woods where 30st used to be last fall. Still a few mounds but all overgrown. Kinda sad. If it wasn't for Brian Case, I would have never been any good. I have a cousin in Boston. Great to here from you. Your TableTops are still Legendary in my mind. I should buy that chunk of land that with no access and restore 30th street. I'm a grown up now! I bought mine from Brian Case when he quit.

somebody needs to find videos of the ohio state races........ those were some good races

I know someone who has them all his initials are t-l

would that be turbo T L?

mmm hm.Accually his dad prolly has them but id say thier in a locked vault in ky with all the states gold reserve

Thanks man...at 40 yrs. those compliments actually mean something! I have to admit, I was glad you were a class or two younger than me...you were freakin' fast.

I was recently looking at photos from 30th st. and those jumps look pretty lippy for the mid-80's....I think we were ahead of our time! I have great memories of going back and forth with Case for the fastest lap on that track...beat each other by hundredths of a second over the course of a couple of weeks. Pretty insane, esp. when you consider most of the time we all rode in shorts, no shirt and no helmet. Ouch.

One day I crashed into a tree on the inside corner of the first turn. When I woke up it was dark. No helmet and by myself. I bent my forks so bad I had to push my bike home. Thank God I only lived 3 blocks away. I had a two man starting gate with lights and magnetic release. We would take it to 30 th st and schraders and race each other. You had to have some balls to win at 30st .Narrow and trees. At schraders we ran motos. Doni hire and billy au would come, The toth brothers, and lots more. Schrader's Dad would run the gate. We would have 6 to 10 motos. FUN TIMES! I let someone borrow my gate? never did get it back. I'll see if I can find some old pictures.

Oh crap...good one. I still have a patch of skin on my right knee that is completely numb from a time where i slammed it into a 30th st tree at full speed on the back straight. Schraders track rocked pretty hard. Nice berms for a track in the woods.

Steve,
Just seen the memphis video's you put on youtube, Did I send you all the races or just some of the mains,? I can't remember I have been so busy with work, I know I sent some to Billy,

This thread needs more photos; come on people fire up your scanners!

fire up yours big boy!!!!!!

Nope i only have the fist disc and its only about 70% of the mains i think -billys been super quiet he said he make a bunch 4 everyone ...
The videos take 4 ever to load on u tube i dont mind doing it ,but i been so busy lately.
I AGREE THERES SOME STINGY PEOPLE not uploading pics in here ...CMON post em up

I am trying to make some copies of the discs. Having some trouble with my player. Should have it fixed over the weekend and I can get a bunch made up and send them out to whomever would like a copy.

Those of you with the technology - I have the 85 Memphis race on video. It was shot by Bob Lyons and has all the motos for anyone from OH that was there that year. TONS of footage. I can offer it up if someone wants to go through the work of converting to DVD.

I have approx. 87 Marietta National, 86 Christmas Classic, and 86 South Park national. I also have a ton of State footage from around the same years and locals from Akron, Stow, Brookville, and a few others. All in all I have about 24 hours of footage. I am working on converting them all to DVD soon. My in laws got a converter and I am going to get them transfered over soon. I will let you guys know when I get it done.

protour77,

I'm looking forward to that project being done, be sure to let us know once it's done and I'd gladly
flow some cash your way for a copy!! I didn't start racing until spring of 86 and nationals didn't come until 87 I would imagine, but I'd love to see some footage of those tracks from back then. Those were great years for Ohio BMX!!!

thanx for coming to get Carl Potts and myself for the Marietta nat. , sucks I got sunburned in the back of your truck. I wonder where Carl is these days.

HEY IM TRYING TO LOAD UP SOME ASAP...I GOT 5TH IN THE M B-PRO MAIN THAT YEAR IN MEMPHIS,,IF YOU GET A CHANCE KEEP ME UPDATED IF IM ON THERE,,OK PICTURE TIME,,,COUPLE OHIO BOYS AT NORTH PARK P.A.14 OVER OPEN MAIN,,LARRY YOUNG,,RUSSEL POTTER,,ME HEADING INTO TURN 2,,NEXT PHOTO,,ME WITH ELBO GUARD OUT FRONT,JEHF HALE,BRUCE BROCKERT,,SOME OHIO STATE RACE,,NEXT,,,HUBBARD BMX RACEWAY,,YEA WE WENT UPHILL TO THE FINISH,,CHECK OUT THE WHEEL COVER,,,ILL POST MORE LATER,,AND THANKS J-RAD FOR POSTING,,,,

Those areawesome pics jim ! Dont yell in here youll get us in trouble ..Try un capping your key board ,keep the pics coming those are totally rad!

If I'm remembering correctly, I once drove half way to Dayton to pick up Sean Dunn and Carl Potts and then went to Marietta the next day. Does that mean that Ricksimpson = Sean Dunn???

Crab, keep postin' the old pics. Those were good! One of these days, I'm going to buy a scanner and then I've got a few later 80's pix I can post.

Sean, if that is you, I'll tell the whole story of having to pick you and Carl up. I remember some pretty funny stuff from that weekend!!

Thanks for the pics Crab; I forgot all about Larry Young, that dude was fast! I think that's Dan Beem behind Brockert; could be at the 81 state race in Marietta?

hey thanks for the tip,i found a picture of the dayton international race,im 51c ,rich zagars leading john anderson and buddy coors down the last straight,,,,then a pic of a south park nat with me 51c andy zirzow cw gary ellis kuwahara,,well when i find more ohio stuff ill post,,

This whole thread is AWESOME! Those video's on You Tube made me have flashback's. protour77 if you or anyone else can make the DVD's of the 86 South Park Nationals,86 Grands and 86 Christmas Classic. i would pay whatever. The memories those would bring back would be pricelss. Someone P.M. Me with info.

Thanks,Tom Andrews

Jim,

Great photos! Hubbard was the the first place I ever raced; that last uphill straight was an absolute killer, especially for an 11 year old on a JCP special! Post more of hubbard if you have them.

I think that you and I nearly ran into each other (literally) head-on in the parking lot of the hotel at the Dayton Worlds. We were both flying through the lot around around a blind corner and just missed killing each other...very freaky....was that you?

Larry Young had the coolest style ever.

Bob

yeah, that weekend was a bit strange, good to see you on here Brian.

Cool shot from the Dayton Worlds. They very quickly bulldozed those whoops b/c lots of people were getting hurt. I also remember Timmy Judge and Greg Grubbs doing huge turn downs (or Learys) over the camelback...pretty rad.

man, we are getting old! keep thinking young. I know my mom has hours and hours of videos of 80's bmx. It would take a month just to watch them. I'll try to talk her into getting them put on dvd. Heck my mom still has all the nbl mags that came to house. moto sheets like mad. I thought she was crazy then. Now its like this thread - a time machine - great typing with you all.

nice to have you here Eddie

the crazy thing is that all of the memories seem like they just happened....it doesn't feel like 20 or 25 years ago. But then I look at the photos and it all looks so ancient! Damn.

Dunn, How's it going buddy. It's good to hear from you. Tom Cantrell told me that he's seen you and Jared out snowboarding this past winter or maybe the year before.

Anyway, here's what I remember from the Marietta weekend. I'm guessing this was very early 90's. I was sound asleep since I had plans on getting up super early the next morning to drive down to Marietta. I was woke up by my mom who told me there was someone named Sean on the phone. Half asleep, I had no idea who she was talking about. I answered the phone and was told by Sean that he and Carl Potts were driving to Marietta and their car broke down. They wanted to know if I could come pick them up and take them down with me and a couple buddies the next day. Thinking that they were somewhere in the Columbus area, I reluctantly said "yes". Further questioning revealed that they were actually in Springfield. Which from where I lived, was easily an hour drive. Not bad but it was the middle of the night.
Fast forward to the next day, and we're cruising down to the race. Sean and Carl in the back of my pickup truck with all the bikes and gear. After awhile, I hear mega-laughter coming from the bed of the truck. I glanced over my shoulder and remember seeing Sean halfway standing up wearing nothing but a sock wrapped around his "junk", and showing any passerby's or anyone else that would look. Funny stuff and a haunting image to this day!! lol..

I have no idea how I did in the race that weekend, but I do remember the drive...lol..

P.S. who is ricksimpson?? And how's the family??