Just wanted to share a little of the history of the South American BMX... Dont know if this would be the right forum, but here it goes...
Yet is true that the BMX sport was practically non affordable down in South America in the late 70s early 80s (Mostly because of the currency exchange rates), some people was able to work their ways around to build something that today still pretty memorable in our hearts (Latin American hearts so do speak). I find only appropriate to bring to our attention the most sincere thanks to the person that pioneered it, the person that cultivated the passion and competitiveness, and one of the most responsible people to make BMX what it still is in our lives today.
Juan Carlos Carbo, 1978, at age 18 brought the BMX sport into our minds; he created the biggest and most popular BMX/Freestyle Teams in our country, The Crazy Stars (I guess crazy because of the fact we were 40 something nuts ridding together all the time); We rode with winner's passion, We created, under his inspiration, our own track, which at the time had nothing to envy from tracks anywhere in the world; we mourned the death of one of our members who died tragically at this track the day before the opening race, and so he decided to name the track after him... The "Juan Carlos Moreno" el Salitre. He inspired us to practice, he organized enough events to keep us that way, he promoted, raced and rewarded all of us for being a big part of this back then... TOUCHING!!!!
Juan Carlos was the leading role into this sport for us, and amazingly a winner by nature... I guess something that will inspire and mark lots of peoples lives (even now, 20 some years later), and it was because of him that we even dare to pursue the latest in BMX in order to be "all we could" back then. The last I remember from him was back in 1986 (Right about the time I was hanging my bucket (Helmet)... I believe he was moving from AAA Pro to Cruisers, and it was precisely this way I was able to track him down 20 years later...
Most impressed to find that he is still active, even more to find he is still winning and mostly grateful for finding the same guy, humble and spirited, dedicated to the sport... WOW!!!
Here are some of his credentials over a two year spam: National NBA Champion Cruisers in Atlanta GA # 1, San Antonio TX # 1, Daytona FL # 1, Cape Coral FL # 1, Columbus OH # 1, Indianapolis IN # 1, Morristown TN # 1, East Greenwich RI # 1....
It is with great pleasure and really moved that I send my most sincere gratitude to Juan Carlos and hope the best for him and his BMX career.
T H A N K Y O U ! ! ! !