Well it is a well know fact that most of us here either raced BMX back in the day, or never raced but loved to ride our BMX bikes around the local trails, it was a big part of our everyday lives,

So what was the reason you Quit Racing BMX or just quit riding all together, lets here some stories,


My reason was the sport of BMX just sort of died around 1987, when you went to local races there wasn't all the racers that were there in years past, I started racing in 1980/81 and our local races were huge around 1982-1986 we were having semis at our track, and nationals were even bigger, it was fun to go see all of your friends at the local track as well as the people you seen when you went to the nationals, we were like a big family, plus with all the riders racing during that time the comp was great you had to be good to win or just make a main, I know a bunch of people quit because they started driving, I couldn't wait to start driving so I could take myself and all of my friends to the races,
I just remember racing the 1987 season and most of the time the gates in my class had only 6 racers, it just wasn't any fun anymore, the local races were like a ghost town, the state qualifers were pretty much the same, nationals were starting to get smaller or well it seemed like it,
My last race was in Oct 1989 at an NBL national in Memphis Tenn, I think I raced 1 or 2 times in 1988, then A few friends and I decided to renew or NBL cards and go race this national, then the bike went into the closet at the parents house and Life went on without BMX,,

Girls and cars in that order

I guess I quit the first time because of school athletics plus the indoor track was way far away and it was hard enough getting a ride to River Valley once my buddy moved away. The girls and work. I started again after high school for about 2 years then I got a job that required Saturday evening work and the track was about 80 miles away.

X 2

My reason before will prolly be the same reason again:
Racing is expensive ,and i just dont get sponsored for some reason .I was national #1 and #2 and rode for a bike shop with lil support thru the 80s .Got picked up by bob lyons for mcs [lil did i know for 1/2 season] turned pro and got dropped within weeks after turning pro .Even after winning several of my first few races as a pro noone wanted to sponser me as a pro for sure .
Thats what killed it for me ,i faded but still rode then a few broken bones that sealed the deal.
Seems fate may play another card cause im a all in type guy locals dont amuse me much and my biking $ is drying up quick..I can beat them all if givin enough riding /health /time but i think i missed my window of oppurtunity.

X3 + beer


what got me back in?

- girls - cars -beer......... in that order

Jacked my knee up and never really got back to 100 percent so i started racing midgets and ran a sprint car for awhile.But would love to run some ol'timers races if they have any in my area.

I'd love to take a sprint car out for a few hot laps. My cousin has been doing the announcing for S.O.D. the last couple of years. He also runs a sprint car website www.tjslideways.com

I've got pretty much the same answer as everyone else. Girls & beer.

For me, it really was that I left for college.

A secondary reason was a separated shoulder. I left my high school graduation in 1988 to go to the national at Woodward. In Saturday's pro cruiser semi, I went over a berm and separated my shoulder. I just tooled around a bit that summer afterwards, some what unmotivated by my injury. Then went off to school in the fall.

My regret is that is didn't stay motivated to finish 1988 strong as when I got injured, I was ranked #5 in pro cruiser. I didn't finish the season and never got the official ranking.

Tore my second ACL with the first one still torn. Thought at 22 I was getting to old.haha. Now 38 and still racing with the first torn ACL, never had it fix.. I wish I had listen to my mom....

I raced from 86-90, then the parents got divorced and the money just wasn't there. Fast forward 15 years and I started again, had a good year in 05 and ended up NAG 6 in 06, then got orders to move to the land of no BMX, Okinawa, Japan. Looking forward to coming back soon (early 2010) and I will be racing again.

I tuned 17 and expert on the same day at a national in Conroe, TX. I was on the gate with Mat Hayden (when he was on Diamondback). I was even with him to the first turn and then he and everyone else went into hyperspace. I even got beat by a guy in a flannel shirt. I came in dead last. I was too hard on myself and way too used to winning. Spoiled. I quit shortly thereafter.

I wasn't considering most of them might have been close to 18 and I was still close to 16. I should've kept it up. Then I met Jason Carnes in the Army and he was like 3 times better than me. When he was a B pro and unknown.

You can think you are fast until you meet a pro level rider. Then everything is spelled out for you. It was hard.

basically i got bored i finaly got sponsered and was ridin for free my dad was stoked and i was at the world cup in CA 1988 and looked at the motos and basiclly ikneww who would place what and as bee it i was reight and so that started my downfall a few more nationals in 89 and the same thing i was done my dad was PISSED none the less but im itchin to get back in my 2 little boys wanna race so i guess i have no choise

Gave it up for skateboarding. Never should have quit racing.

mostly these same reasons, same order, but add H.S. football/track with it.

As mentioned above, it was getting expensive back then......now I have two kids racing with me. This year we bought 3 bikes, helmets, gear........NBL License x3, then register 3 people each race......whew!

There is no other sport I would rather do, I had the best times in the 80's racing, now I can re-live it with the kids.......They will never play in the same sport at the same time or even on the same team. I don't have to worry about what position they play or if they don't get to start.......

Not really sure. I raced on a Saturday, woke up the next Morning and was suppose to go race again, while I was eating my breakfast I told my parents I wasn't going.... They were confused, then about an hour later I told them I'm finished racing. I called a friend and sold him my bike and that was that. I race from 75-83, so that was along time by Minnesota standards. Weird deal.

Neon and Freestyle ruined it for me.

LOL looking back at that neon stuff it was kinda gay,

I never really quit officially. There was about 5 yrs between 2000 and '05 when the injuries just piled up and I finally had to get some slicing done to take care of them. Somewhere in there I let my now ex-wife talk me into selling my bikes and a bunch of my parts (like my Kovachi-laced 24" Sun Chinooks with 1st gen Phil hubs for 75 bucks total ). I was smart enough to give my Floval Flyer to my best friend's son, and he never even rode it, just kept it hanging in his air conditioned room. When I decided I felt good enough to go out and hurt myself again, I asked him how much to buy it back. He said he'd sell it for exactly what he paid for it. I said I didn't feel right taking it back withouit SOME kind of compensation, so I took his kid down to Target and told him he could have any bike he wanted. He chose a Schwinn mt. bike, and I got my Floval back, which I rode for a while until I sold off most of my OG shizzle to pay for my Standard.

During high school, I had accomplished as much as I thought I could in bmx. My life was calling out to me so I went to college and started my financial planning business which is still going strong today 27 years later.

I came back to BMX in 2001 after getting nominated for the BMX Hall of Fame and finding out that bmx still existed and that somehow our history of bmx in Oklahoma meant something to someone somewhere sometime. It was so cool to find bmx again after 20+ years of being away.

I quit again after breaking both arms in a wild accident at Rockford. That was 2005. I race occassionally, but never with any intentions or desire to be a champion.

I still like riding my bike.

Oh, and any girl who thought I was a dork for riding my bike (there were a few...) got kicked to the curb with the quickness. As a general rule, anyone who tries to belittle or denegrate something that has given me so much pleasure and so many good memories spends very little time in my life.

Girls, Cars and playing drums in a band. The band was actually a good way to get the girls and the car was just a added bonus. I still have the car after all these years. 1977 Camaro, actually ended up racing and showing it alot throughout the years and married a girl I meet around that time too. I haven't played drums in about 2 years though and now I am back racing so I guess it kinda came full circle. LOL

Racer from 76-84 and I will also say girls,cars and beer. My last race I ate it at the fairgrounds in the first turn in front of my new hot girlfriend who was expecting a lot more after seeing my hundreds of trophies and some state plates and after that I figured out my head was not in the race but what came after ''end of career''. 2 kids and working on a 3rd to be involved it's just not what it used to be but I am hopeful for a comeback in the sport and hopefully keep them focused longer than I was.

I was extreemly fortunate to have started racing in 74 on a Schwinn and walked away from BMX at the top of my game while on Factory Redline.

In between I made some great lifelong friends, won some races, was fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time and get some fun exposure in BMX papers and magazines. One of those lifelong friends is now my wife (her brother is Jon Anderson) so she gets the whole BMX thing.

So in 79 I am on Factory Redline, I get my first ever plane ride to the Jag World Championships in Indianapolis. Life is good. How quickly life can change. One minute I am a 19 year old driving the 40' Redline motorhome from a National. The next minute I call home to find out my father passed away.

The next week I call Linn Kastan and tell him I need to quit and join the real world. In all actuality it was good timing. The BMX world was changing in a direction that I was not crazy about following. The PRO purses were getting huge, saleries were right around the corner and the sport I loved and had so much fun doing was turning into a super competative JOB. I just was not competitive enough to succeed in that new world.

I have no regrets whatsoever. Life was good then, life is good now.

Dennis, if you hadn't lost your Dad do you think you may have given it a couple more years?

It's hard to say, I won a bunch of races in 78 while riding a Cook Brothers, and I was having a hard time adjusting to the ProLine. The whole 'Factory' thing was a hard adjustment, Redline actually sent out a quarterly progress report. (I didn't have a good first quarter) The whole structure thing was new to me.

I could have continued, I was good enough to compete with the best. (it helped that 2 of my best friends were Stu and Greg Hill) But I am glad I left when I did. I started with UPS in 81 and now have 27 years with them. It all worked out for the best.

Dennis you should retire from UPS and start racing again, hell they can even bring back the sidehack class,

Joey Sears

Cars didn't stop me, girls didn't stop me either. But work did...working for a better car which lead to a better girl...so I guess I have do the same ole' story.

I read every single post on this thread, and it makes for interesting reading.

I started racing down here in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1981. The sport was just taking off. My brother's birthday was coming up, and he told mum and dad he wanted a "bmx bike". We went to a local race to see what it was all about. It looked cool, but I must be honest, I wasn't that fussed about racing.

We went to the local bike shop to pick up my brothers new bike, and the bike shop owner gave him an old Bicycle Motocross Action. It was the June 1980 issue, with the feature on Eddy King, and the Quadangle Killer Kit test. I read that mag cover to cover, over and over again. I was hooked. I got a bike not long after that. By mid 1982 I had a brand new Kuwahara KZ2, and by late 1983 I had a brand new GT 24.

By late 1984 I was racing Pro-Am class (our version of pro, even though as "Pro's" we all held down full time jobs), and coming up to the end of the season for us (Easter 1985), I began to sense a change in attitudes. Most of the racers my age were losing interest, and I began to realise that most were going to quit at the end of the season. I dreaded the thought of returning to the next season with it being real low on numbers, and didn't want to end my racing time on a low note. So I, along with most of the other 16 and overs for that season (locally) quit. I kept my bikes through until almost the start of the next season, then sold them. At the end of the 84-85 season I had ended up NZ No.5 Pro Am Cruiser.

Deep down, I never wanted to quit racing. I loved that time of my life dearly, for the people I got to know, and the experience, and the thrill, of racing. And the fitness level it allowed me to maintain.

I'm glad I have found this hobby, and got to know a lot of cool people, all over the globe, and a big part of me is tempted to get back into cruiser racing. My son is showing some interest in racing, so maybe that will be a catalyst. Who knows.

Regardless, I still feel some kind of regret for not hanging in there, and keeping up racing. But, that is way life moves some times

Rock On BMX

Dennis i didnt know you bitd ,but since seen you and all your old photos etc. sure woulda been bitchin to see you battling with stu at the grands like your old days ...

Sex, drugs and rock & roll.... Soon after I got that bad a$$ '72 Pontiac jacked up with Cragars at 16 yrs old.

yee haa Cragars fat ones in the rear all jacked up, we all wanted to be Joe Dirt back then,

After racing from 79 to 84 and advancing to AA pro in ABA two things caused me to stop racing. First, I tore my ACL riding on my practice track. A big set of triples thet I rode daily had a little dew and grass on the edge of the landing, I hit it and spun out and as I slapped my foot to spare the fall. The event twisted my knee and tore teh ligament. Second, I began to consider career and long term life options. This consideration brought me to the fact that I needed a real job, other than the bike shop job I held. Getting a real job meant less time to practice and being away from all the cool happenings of the bike shop.

What they said !

I started racing in the late 70s at the old Flemington, NJ track. In my first race I came in third......unfortunately there were only 3 of us in my class. LOL

I taught my brother to ride the day he turned 3, and he started racing @ 4 1/2. He was much, much better than I and between his winning and BMX being something the whole family could get into, we raced a lot. I don't recall a single Friday, Saturday or Sunday that we didn't race. All over NJ and PA and we'd hit a bunch of Nationals each year.

While it was great while it lasted, we were burned out. Between school athletics, me getting my drivers license, and some other things, there were just too many other (and less expensive) interests.

Through the years, and especially with the internet, I've tried to keep up with some of the guys I used to race with. Most have gone on to other things, but I've found that some are still racing.

We still have a few bikes up in the attic. I bought my parents house from them and wouldn't let them toss anything. I might just have to take one down and hop on the bike again. I might help me lose a few pounds at least.

-Kevin DeBello

I went MTB. Traded my last 20 incher for my first real mountain bike. Rode a bunch that way until I moved to FL in '98. In the middle of all that, I bought a new ELF on a whim in about '91. '92 or so and rode it around college. Sold it to a friend when I moved. He still has it.

Rediscovered BMX a few years ago and started riding. I'm more new school now, but I'll snag a score if I come across one, hell yeah.

Freestyle. What can I say, I was ok as an expert when I raced and even did ok as a local track A pro out at the Orange YMCA, but I was a much better jumper/ramp rider, hence the whole freestyle thing. Racing was a lot of fun for sure, but getting your knees jacked up because someone else couldn't control them selfs got a bit old-LOL. The last time I raced was for Hutch in South Africa in 1984. I too liked the ladies like some of the others here posted, but I wasn't going to trade my bike in for one. Seemed like a good choice for me. Woody.

I agree with Woody. Was freestylin' before freestyle was coined but after seeing Bob Haro live in '81 I got hooked. 1982 I had my first Freestyle show by myself and it was so cool to spread the word of BMX, get paid for riding, and entertaining people.

Kept racing but more and more opportunities kept coming in to perform. By '84 I was an 18 Expert racing the same guys in my area and had enough trophies so focused on Freestyle full time. Built my BMX Action steel/wood portable ramps, got my buddy to ride, and started JTFreestyle.

Would still ride my Torker Pro-X at my track behind my house but wasn't competitive anymore.

I never stopped doing Freestyle shows, clinics, camps, and promoting BMX. It's been a blast showing up at shows or wheel parks and people ask who is my son and why I'm riding his bike? Tell them I don't have any children and get a huge chuckle from them that I'm still riding and hangin' with the awesome riders of today. Pullin' Old School tricks around the new school kids really blows them away.

BMX has and will always be a part of me until I can't spin the cranks anymore. Oh, after 24 years of not racing I dabbled riding a Cruiser and lovin' it until there was a serious accident nearly breaking my neck so that has been on the back burner for now.

JT

because I was fat, drunk and stupid! no, really. o.k. I'm kidding. I stopped racing after a severely broken ankle at the Fort Wayne Nationals in '85. by that time most of my friends had quit and I didn't have a license yet. so. I just thrashed around on the street and trails.

Turned pro in 85, had a great summer making some mains at nationals and also the Grands. I worked at my Bro-inlaws Honda dealer and that fall I bought a used CR125 that needed some TLC. I worked on it all winter and got that baby gleaming. Then went out and severly broke my leg on it in May of 86. Missed all of 86, and half of 87, but was still able to hit the 87 state series.

The BMX racing had changed, and I was hooked on MX even after breaking my leg. Raced moto and hare scrambles until 2001. Picked up BMX again in 2003-04.

RC

Wasn't that at Rockhill? I loved that track, probably my all time favorite.

Bought a car, 70 GTO when I was racing 15 xpert for Wooden Wheels, was about to go B pro, then girls. Looking back it was the best of times for 4 years, but I was burnt out from same old same old. Lums pond was the local track but we went to Howell, Flemington etc during the week.

Would love to try again if there was a more local track. It seemed like it died around here, to many Wii kids.

PS Still have the car and bike

Carrera66,
I don't remember the name for sure. was it Supreme BMX park or was that in Goshen? to many years and to many beers later. there's parts of my memory that have been blocked out or repressed. cool that you still have the Goat, what bike did you have?

Partying,,,,, we'll leave it at that, LOL

Supreme was Goshen, it was next to the "Supreme Company" that made enclosed trucks, trailers. Another cool track, but Rockhill was the best one in Indiana that I went to.

1980 Torker, black, arayas, bullseye hub, flight cranks, powerlite bars, lay back seat post, kashimax suede seat, , just restored it 3 years ago .

I had a chance to go and race one of these instead.

first this one. (Pic @ Carlsbad raceway 1974. DNF)


than this one. (Pic @ Indian dunes 1978. 2nd in class)


then ending up racing this one. (Pic @ the Mint 400 1981. 6th in class)


needless to say working on race cars pre-runnung race courses and holding down a regular job left no time for BMX. But it's another segment of my life I look back on fondly

sorry about that Dante, I must of got my mind crossed up.

the turnouts were weak on local level, got sick of racing the same 6-7 guys week in week out, having a girlfriend didnt help either..

Well when i quit i was on the rise. I was winning more and more. But then i got hurt and broke a collar bone in two places. It took me 3 months or so to be able to ride and it took a while to get back up to speed. I rushed into a National event in Nashville sometime around this time in 1990. I missed my transer because for some reason I found myself hitting the breaks before a 32 ft set of doubles int he first turn. I had some sort of mental block. I gues my collar bone still felt soft in my mind and i was afraid of getting hurt by screwing up which cost me my speed. Alot of people in my class and that i rode with at the time..seemed to be disappointed in me. Or at least this is what was goin on in my mind. I also was disappointed in myself over this. I took s short break to heal and just ride without national events to try and recover both mentaly and physically. Then people in my life not related to riding were coming down on me for still doin it in my early 20's. Dad for one wanted me to be more responsible and focus on a job... same with my mom. Girlfriend ofc as well wanted me to stop becuase she accused me of loving it more than her... and being young and stupid i fell into that trap. Before i knew it.... I retired and sold my bike.

The next yr i got my own place and decided to give BMX another go. I raced locally only and then got hurt again. I ended up missing work for 3 weeks and lost my job and my apartment... So that was that. Sold the Last bike and decided it wasnt worth it to lose everything when things can turn on you in the blink of an eye because some kid at a local track cant ride a clean line into a turn... lol.