Don't think it was Brookville, it was probably Delco. When the track was in the old spot in the park we used to jump into the lake on hot days. Couldn't get away with that now that the park is all cleaned up and respectable-like.

Believe you are correct with Delco. Always so frickin hot there for the race. I will see what photos I can dig up and post. Steve, I just sold my old orange/white cyclecraft that we got from Whitmans for the team. Still got my orange JT leathers and jerserys though (and my cruiser). They still have a national at Akron?

Im just getting back into racing[since oct] they did have a national at akron last year .Norwalk had a regional too.Yeah it was delco ,my dad wouldnt let me do the lake jump with you guys .You may be thinking of billy norman -his dad had the parting shot in the back of bmx plus jumping into the pond...
I also remember they had a vine/rope back in the creek near the delco factory if im not mistaken that was the first swim hole even before the pond jump ?I remember todd backflipping off the rope into the hole -again my dad wouldnt let me do that either lol..

Also dont take offense if i left your name off ,you guys who are regulars in here before me know your included on the list too..
I think i still have a whitmans jersey from 86-7 and a ohio presidents cup jersey about the same year?I still have my factory mcs jersey too..I wish i wasnt such a money monger as a kid and offed all the bikes and stuff as i went along ..

Raced 78-85. Norwalk (when they raced on the motocross track) Burbank, Vermillion, Elyria, Avon Lake ect. Have vidio of all except vermillion tranferd to DVD. Used to ride the pits/brickyards ect. Run into Billy Morris/Rich Yxothimer once in a while. Some of you might remember Jim Cowley-he was killing it untill he broke his neck last year. Not to many cool stories cept I had fun racing as a kid. raced Avon Lake wearing a gas mask once (punker).

They had 2 states at avon lake and vermillion in 82 i think ?i didnt make it to them but i raced wapak,madison,celina,kettering ?and the final at west jeff ...The finals were at west jeff in both 82 and 83 i think

I grew up in Chillicothe and raced for the first time in 1981 (age 11 BTW) at the Madison track in Columbus. After that I made the rounds at Fort Hamilton, Kettering, Madison, West Jefferson, Springfield, Hilliard and Marietta on a regular basis until about '86.

I was in the Springfield area last September with my Dad while I was home visiting (I have lived in CA since '89) and he wanted to stop by the Clark County Fairgrounds for some big antique show. We walked in to one of the buildings and I had this weird deja vu sort of moment like I had been there before. After about 10 minutes it finally hit me...this was the site of the Springfield indoor track that I raced at back in 1981! I will never forget racing on those concrete floors with wood starting gate and single wood jump. I especially remember jumping the gate during a practice session and going straight over the bars onto that floor head first which was not fun at all. We then decided to drive into town and try to find our way back to the Lagonda BMX track. We drove straight to it like it was 1983 and didn't miss a turn. Unfortunately, the track was bulldozed years ago but the lay of the land is still the same with the flood wall and the creek or river whatever that is on the other side. The LBS is still there on Mitchell Blvd across from where the track was located. It was a Schwinn shop BITD but not anymore. Same guy still runs the place and he assured me that there was not a single NOS nut or bolt to be found anywhere in the place.

A few names that some of you might remember from my home town of Chillicothe include: Matt Bethel, Greg Cutright, Mark Poole (member here), & Jamie Sharp. And one name from Marietta that I won't forget because I was always chasing him was Jason McNutt. His parents, Ruth & Jim, ran Holeshot BMX out of their home in Marietta and they were always setup at the races. I called Ruth a couple years ago to catch up and as soon as I said Chillicothe she knew exactly who it was. Great people!

Cheers!
Alan

Enough Allready. As if I don't feel old enough. I owned a LBS in Springfield BITD and worked on the
Springfield track. Probably would know alot of you, but I would remember you all from chasing you out of the creek or the parked cars(we knew what you guys were doing). Some of my team members were: Jason Stanley, Shawn Redmon, Shawn Bone, Mike, Angie, and Mark Flora, Billy and Jennifer Norman. Just to name a few. If any of you are on here send me a PM.
And If any of you read the Ohio NBL site, YES, We have been working since Sept. of last year to reopen Springfield. More political hoops to jump through than I have ever seen but not giving up.
Please keep posting the pics, It sure brings back alot of memories.

Thanks for the memories
Kevin Colvin
MJC Cycling

My name is Andrew Black. I remember all of those guys I was a skinny black kid (lol) from Columbus, Ohio. I raced form 85-87. I used to ride for the bike shop in West Jeff Corderco, I had AJ Black on the back of my jersey. There were some fast guys back in the day. Doni Hier was another fast one. I remember Billy Ross dating a female rider by the name of michelle (she beat me in a open race when I was a begginer at the kettering track. I will post pics when I get time. I left the sport at 15x. I remember when I was forced to turn expert at a state race, cant recall which track it was but I was on the gate with the fastest guys in Ohio. Came out the gate with a holeshot and was surprised as hell and got to the first turn, went wide and just froze up all the riders passed me by. I remember Nate also.LOL

Hey Jim, what races do you have on DVD? I would love to burn them. I raced at Avon Lake, Elyria, Vermillion, Burbank... all of those tracks all the time. I won a few state races there 82-87, although you have a few years on me. I'd still like to watch.


SO a question to all, which was your favorite ohio track?

Even though he was very fast and did very well,i officially name Doni Hier as the dirtiest rider from ohio,i raced him a few times in open and watched many of his motos over the years.He had many talents ,one of his best was the gate 8 to 1 lane change before the bottom of the starting hill

Heres a few more names to add:
Mike,Tiffany[homada homada homada] Reddy,Scott Stevenson,James Pahud ,Jd Finney,Greg Boring,Chris Cline,John Fecke ill have more im sure !

On this subject any of you interested in some kind of get together at the state finals this summer?Maybe a Retro lake jump /food if its at kettering?Would be very cool to see all of you guys /gals again.Big Nard owns the blockbuster in springboro i bet i can get him to attend..
Btw I think kettering was my favorite track maybe stow/ brookville was a close second.

Another name that I have not seen yet in this thread is Matt Ling. I thought for sure he would make a name for himself on the pro circuit but I lost track of him after I stopped racing. Anyone know what ever happened to him?

I heard that quite a few times about Doni. I stayed at Scott Stevenson house a few times. I remember his house being around the corner from the West Jeff track. There were many fast guys from Ohio without a doubt!

Although i was from MI i raced Ohio often in 85-87, and yea, OL DONI HIER was dirty, you forgot JimWahl who still shreds today. I always liked the brookville first straight .....if you were on the outside gate you you had to pull about ten extra pedals scince the it was on a curve...
OHIO had some fast guys/gals during this time period!!! I love coming to HiLLARD as my mains were like regionals...au, MIKEY K doni, zimmer, wahl, David Wold from PA, amondo from INDY, BIG BARRY B etc..fun stuff!!!

Anyone remember the HAPNER HAPPY WAGON david hapner travled in? it was like a big bread truck.

i might be coming in on the tail end but..HEY CHRIS CLINE who was the other half of the bruise Bros? tim Binning had hiesler, who was your wing man?

I kind of liked the track in akron and I remember how cold it was inside at the Hillard track. I had my first race at the pataskla track . Lawan C, Bernard Gant, Mike King, Darwin Griffin, Doug Davis, Terry T and Ron Walker on crusier to name a few out of state guys. 14x,15x,17x, 18 & expert during that time frame was VERY tough.

"Old Elbows" Doni was not too bad, he just thought he owned the whole track. You just had to be ahead of him and it was not a problem. Hey Andrew, thanks for jogging my memory of Michelle. All I could remember about her is that she had some HUGE boobs that were fun to play with. She was Denise Carters younger sister. Wish someone could shed some more light on what happened to Doug Jicha. The summer I was dating Michelle I hung around him a lot him being with Denise and me with Michelle.

Steve, I would be up for that little get together down in Kettering. Even though I still live up in Cleveland, I do a lot of work in Columbus, wouldnt be nothing just to shoot over to kettering. We got some time so lets see what comes about. Also, when are you going to have that DVD burned, love to get a copy. Later

whatever happened to Doni. ?? rememebr the whole season he wore neon colors and his JMC matched or was repainted every week?

Not sure what happened to Doni. I remember that season. He was "between" sponsors i.e. kicked off one and looking for another. It was his way of either advertising himself or just drawing some attention to himself which he loved!

I remember the hapner name.
I remembered a guy that hung out with barnhardt last night and i cant remember it now he looked like a young robert blake[beretta] and talked kinda italian too ill remember it later.
Doni rode for dk til -air shot im guessing 86?Then went on to titan and quit around 88?Dont think he turned pro but if he did i guess he didnt do well cause he couldnt do his patented corvette lane change him and barry mac had it down in hilliard !
Ill ask bob about the state finals and when /where they will be ,rumor is the gold cup will be at kettering too.Im guessing 1 of the state races will be at ft hamilton this year since the aba/bob picked them up this year too.Im going to stop in and see if i can get big nard involved on this thread asap
louisville bmx has the dvd i bought one from him its well worth the $ i dont have a burner and he spent the $ to sell some on here if he cant hook you up i might be able to in the future when i get a burner [i hate to step on his feet he bought his burner to make my copy]

I got Jim Wahls name in there a lil late but i did remember a few posts back...Hes prolly the pride of ohio racing all these years and still being as good as he is [i can think of another wildman with less bmx races]Way to go jim !PS jims in joeys dvd fightin with billy au in memphis 86!
BTW i nominate Jim as the Cleanest rider i know to come out of ohio,jim was often a brides maid to other riders in mag coverage and props much like myself ...But he had plenty of wins and props by people who knew him!

YUP ol ELBOWs Doni turned pro and won the NBL grands B pro money in late 80. riding for titan he was runnin the nic name PITBUL.. PERFECT. I can still recall alotta my mains at Hilliard. One stood out in winter of 87 Me, AU, Zimmer, HIER , Mikey K, JIMW, Amondo Hopkins, Barry McManus. the first corner was CRAZY. The other guy you mentioned being Italian, was JIM the CRAB Caraibia, he rode a blue elf and wore a black zeronine kit, short squat and and lotsa power...who was the kid Ryan Persinger? he road for EDDIE nelsons team Mcfarlands i recall him being pretty quick for youg guy. EDDIE flew too he always seemed to get overshadowed, Rich Hiesler too he made the 16x main at the Grands one year when the comp was unreal.... goodtimes. The comp was ALWAYS tougher in OHIO than MI!

Well Hello Ohio thread! Nice to see some of the names here.

Steve Smith! Howya doin? Still in the Middltucky? Remember The Coasters? I swear that place made me into the racer that I was. Last I heard, you were racing cars? How's the family?

I still get toghether with Rick Heisler and Tim Binning on occasion, down here in Cincy. I'll tell them to check out the thread.

Few more fast old school Ohio names:

Mark Hayes
Tom Arnett
Kenny Schneider
The Hale Brothers??? (Fort Hamilton's finest from the Mid-70's)

Hey mikey! You gotta dig out some of yourall pics [like your old race inc]
I stopped over and talked to your dad a few weeks ago.Good to hear from you .He also said from what i remember you or tommy had a boy of racing age ?Get him out here !
After the drag racing i got into offroading suzuki samurais -still do some ,and convert older ones to efi as a side job .Now im back into bmx -allready have my first injury broke my chain and busted my wrist pretty good but im not done yet ...
Hows the acl i heard you was starting to give pohlcamp some heat down in hamilton and tore it up?Last time i seen you was prolly at the coasters in 93?I saw Tommy at my parents about 6 or seven years ago how is he doing?
I heard he had some health issues with a tumor or something -never trust second hand talk?
Speaking of hamilton there going to be open this year aba under bob bruns and gang -prolly even have a state race !

steve,
You want to send me the the disc and I will be more than happy to burn a bunch of copies and send them back to ya. I can make copies for anyone that wants one. More than happy to oblige.

JEFF and MIKE HALE fast dudes of the EARLY 8o's.... and LONG HAIRS to boot!

Robert, Tim Boring and I were the Bruise Bros - primarily because we seemed to be wrecking alot at the time and the name sounded cool! I am amazed anyone other than he and I remember that at all!

Tim's brother, Greg, is on this site and still races.

Steve, I didn't realized you drag raced! What did you race and where? I spent 12 years drag racing after BMX and just sold my car in 2002. Still have a vette I play with. Now that I am racing again, who knows how much I'll drive it this year.




Mike, if you see Rick Heisler again, tell him I said hi. If I recall, I think the last time I saw him was at Billy Au's wedding.

Chris Cline

I need to rescan it at my sisters but it was a 10.20 no nos tempest with 455 pontiac power .

But who was the fastest in billy ross's basement on the pitbike?

Great thread. I'm not sure who any of you guys are, but I was and remain friends with a lot of these guys. . .Jared Raflik, Steve Paul, Bill and Nikki Danishek. I raced 1979-1984, mostly in Hamilton and Kettering, but also hit the indoor tracks in the winter, Brookville. Never knew Ted Jackson as a BMXer, but raced mountain bikes most weekend with him 1992-1994.

Here are some pics I posted recently on BMXMuseum.

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I have lots more from the Worlds, a WoS race in Kettering and pics of me, Jared, Steve Paul, Roger Williams, etc. but I guess I've exceeded my 500K limit. Can't upload any more.

Nikki married Jared Raflik. They have a couple of cool kids and live outside Dayton. Jared is DK's product manager now and works with Billy.

I have some old pic of you and her at WOS South Park Pa, I think 1986?? Also some from the Ohio Center X-mas classic with Me,You,Nate C, and I think Mark Dolby?? Here is my email ablack1971@hotmail.com so I can send you some pics from back in the day.

Im working on getting billy norman to check in , im serious about some sort of get together we need to pass the word to everyone we still talk to or know how to get ahold of.

borntooloose, who are you? I remember that race you wore that gas mask, hilarious. My basement was so frickin small, I must say it was a blast flying around down there, sliding out into the washer and dryer, trying to jump off that little concrete lip. Not sure how many times I hit my head on the floor joists.

ablack, sent you an email to forward those pics. I am going to look through my moms old photos albums and see what I can dig up. Whatever I can find I will scan and post or send out to whoever wants em.

Bill check your email. There are some pics of myself with Doug Zimmer, Bill Au, Mike K, Doni and various pic with you in them. Just send the pics with those guys that are in them if you can or just post on here.

If you need photobucket help send them to me ill post them up.

Few more names Jenny/Brian fitzwater,Mike schaffer,Ryan bruns,MATT POHLCAMP,Michelle dean,lisa vondera [tom jr knows her well i heard bitd?]James -duece- good
I know hes not vintage but one of my new school friends from dayton is taking over bmx and WILL be the TIGER WOODS of bmx within a year if he gets his head on straight -even from dayton !JEFFREY UPSHAW The kid has more talent and speed then anyone ive seen in 28 years ..

O-H-I-O


One of the Hines brothers from Marietta checking in. Troy raced for awhile between 1998 and 2000, Keith Mulligan remembered him and he had a pic in GO (or whatever it was then.) Tony started back in 1998 and still races today. We started a team (hbr) in 1998 and have been going since. I have a 15 year old that rides for TL on Factory SE. Cool story that Troy rode for Todd's dad and TL has a Hines on his team 25 years later.

Early 80s BMX in Ohio was the best of times. Great hearing all of the names and strories. Steve, maybe I missed it, but Troy may be disappointed in you. I have a few tapes of 1 or 2 seasons from the MCS days that TL's dad filmed. Bob's commentary always made me laugh. I'll leave you with a pic of Troy............

Steve- thanks for the thread, way cool

TROYS NAME WAS HERE I COULDNT FORGET HIM!
You other 2 [bros] were fast as heck too!
I was just thinking of Troy i was looking for some results of christmas race when we were on mcs and he won one of them and i tanked the whole weekend [accually from what i remember john purse rode me high in 1st turn in all my mains seems like i remember returning the favor and troy snuck by us both for the win...
I feel like a dummy cause i seen troy race in 2000 at the christmas race and didnt go talk to him[some other riders from ohio kinda ercked me that day-i was just watching]Tell him i said hi.I thought that was you and your son in the mains in 35-39 cruiser and the youngster im going to need a buddy in the class when i get out there im trying to shoot for bridgetown idk yet?

Found it. Getting old I guess, glasses may have helped. Good to hear you're back riding, enjoy it. Stop by the HBR trailer at a race and say hi.

Greetings Ohioans, Somebody on here mentioned a track in Avon Lake. From the mid 60's to the early 90's my family was there many times to visit relatives. From where the pool and ball fields are I would walk or ride my bike on a trail behind the church across the street almost to the rel's backyard. I spent many a day at the pool, sliding on the skating rink (winter only) behind the fire station or wading through chest deep water to fish behind the steam plant when the stripers were running, but with all the pedalling around I don't remember ever seeing the BMX track. Where was it...Thanks, Eric

Avon Lake BMX track was off RT 83 & Lake rd. There was a park there with a pool & playground.
Jim Kavalec

Beating you and Purse was a proud day for Troy, we have it on film

I'll tell Troy hi for ya, we understand how busy races can be. That's Tony in the 35-39 class, he's everyones buddy. I'm sure he'll remember you, say hey if you see him. I actually made hime ride a 20" at the Orlando national for the first time in 24 years

Couple more pics from a magazine ad featuring Lausman, it ran around 2000. Troy said 2 seconds later him, Purse and Milham were on the ground. Way cool...........

Jim K, you still have your harley? I see you about every 2 years riding pass me on Lorain.

Jim K, How about that old skatepark in Elyria we went to and I went through the ice!! What ever happened to that place? I know it was closed when we went there (a little B&E), I can never remember where the hell it was exactly. And how about the Lake jumping off the pier in Bay!!

And last but not least, how could I forget the big old blue caddy you had, exhaust fumes and all!!

Ok i thought this was tony so this is todd?I remember you had a cool elcamino right?Funny the things i remember.You were the eldest too.Shame they dont remember how many times troy beat mike lausman im sure it was prolly 50/50 ...I also remember troy beating barry mcmannus some at hilliard [i had trouble beating mac only very few times]I will say hi i remember tony!
I was watching tony live on go211 at wpb didnt know he was in there til i heard his name still had a hard time iding him if you have a recent pic of him in uniform you oatta post it so well recognize him?
Wonder where this picture was taken at of troy- indy?
I remember racing troy at state races when i first started[maybe 9 or 10 yrs old like 82?] he was on sew ups and beat me very bad i think it was before my birthday like always ....i remember racing tony too kinda young at states and getting smoked by him!

Steve,
whats your email? got a bunch of pics to email you so you can post em here