Hello Group -

I've always wondered why Bob Osborn closed his publication company, therefore shutting down BMX Action and Freestylin' magazines. If I remember, I read something in the early 90s about Bob's girlfriend suffering some illness or his famous cat passed away.

In my opinion, there's no question that Bob Osborn was without a doubt the most influential person in BMX and Freestyle history. If it were not for Bob Osborn, guys like Eddie Fiola, Stu Thompson, Greg Hill might still be unknowns worldwide. I equate what Mr. Osborn did for BMX and Freestyle to what Pete Rozelle did for professional football.

Thanks in advance.

Good question.

I will ask the question over at bmxa online. If i get an answer i'll get back to you.

Mx Mug

Bob was a member here and would share a lot of stuff but some things happened. Now he does come on here anymore. Are Loss!!!!!

SE Mark, I don't understand your comment, and your grammer is a bit off.

Mr. Osborn was posting here at some point and then bailed? Well, I'm just curious why his magazines went under.... I feel BMX Action and Freestylin could have printed well into year 2000. The audience was there, I'd be more than willing to pay the yearly subscription and more. I was thinking perhaps Bob's son RL or Windy might take over the family business. What a shame really... a great idea at the perfect time, if only Bob kept the publication open and running, who knows...? Maybe today Wizard Publications and the Osborn family might be gazzilionaires! RL was a great talent and very smart dude... and Windy; a hightly talented photographer in her own right.

Side note: John Ker was another influential person in BMX history, and Mr. Ker is still at it today... maybe the most important person in the game since he's so consistent, still at it since the late 70s.

Ray, Sorry but I don't need a grammer lesson just need to take some time to read what I type. But Thanks ! Yes Bob posted all the time and we got some good information from him but He had some issues with the people that ran the site before and now does not come on here anymore. If you want to know why BMXA went under do some searches on here the question has been answered by Bob himself. RL has nothing to do with BMX anymore but if you searched you could of found this out.

Hi Mark,

Ok, I'll do a search for the answers... and thanks for the info! :-)

according to oz, it was the game nintento and the rest of the video craze, killed the sale of the magazine, kids just stopped playin outside, they had something new to do..........

Hey Eric, Remember when Bob would come on here and tell us the stories behind the photo's? It was great just like having the "Wiz" back again. And he explained the how things went south with the magazines. Also he gave some backround on how BMX Plus stayed afloat.

No offense but you must have been under a rock at the time because Bob did pass the torch to Windy and Val . Anyone who was around at the time knew this. The girls assumed the helm of Wizard Publications in the mid/late 80s. Freestylin' folded and the new BMXA/Freestylin' morphed into "Go, The Riders Manual" which eventually went defunct in March 1993.

Lack of advertising killed the magazine. No ads, no magazine. They was no large publisher to carry it through the lean times like BMX Plus had

BMX Plus was under the Daisy Hi-Torque publishing house which owned many titles. They carried and are carrying BMX Plus to this day as Hi-Torque Publications. http://www.hi-torque.com/ME2/Default.asp

VintageBMX.com has more members than BMX Plus has read circulation.

**Observation Only...One Man's Opinion**

I was on the fringes of BMX at the time, but one of the things that struck me then...and was also clear in reading some of the final issues recently, was that the staff and their inner circle "became the story" in those later years. Those guys were way-cool, no doubt. Women wanted them and men wanted to BE them, just like James Bond (or Austin Powers). But I think it got pushed a bit too far.

Also, crazy (in my view) things like changing the BMX Action logo. WHY would you do that? People were used to seeing that logo, which was one of the most striking logos in the industry, on the newsstand every month. If Coke cans were, all of the sudden, yellow and in a Helvetica typeface, good chance, I'd pass right by them on the shelves (at least for a while, til their marketing machine caught up with me). New Coke taught us that you do not mess with a brand that your customer has such an emotional tie to. Of course, this all happened before most of the modern "brand awareness" theories, so it is easy to armchair quarterback 18 years hence.

But one of the things during the Oz years tht made the magazines so special was that you had the stars of the sport (Greg, Stu, OM, and even RL, who was a rider and fixture in the pages, to be sure, but not an editorial voice in the magazine, etc) who were the stars of the issue, with the Nerd Herd, Oz, Windy and others as colorful regular cast members with whom you could relate to tie it all together from one issue to the next. It was a masterful recipe, as we all know.

In the later years, it seemed that formula got inverted and you had the principals in a starring role, with the other guys down the marquee some.

On the other side of the scale was us, at Hi Torque, who, at the time, had to go to the mat any time we wanted a photo credit or a byline. Scott Towne appearing on the cover of BMX Plus! (to my knowledge, the first staffer under DHT to do so) was a HUGE deal that took deft political maneuvering in the color pick to pull off (and a real step forward for the cause of making the magazine more personal, while staying inbounds of Roland's rule not to make the editors, in any way, "celebrities"). Roland is a BRILLIANT publisher, however, and has evolved the rules over time. No doubt if someone other than he were in ultimate charge of the magazine, it would never have made it this far (and I say that in the most positive way).

Not saying this is the single factor that made the magazine go under, but I can't help but think it contributed in some way.


M

True 'dat! Thanks for saying that outloud, Bill.

BMX Plus! Paid Circulation: ~13,000*

VintageBMX.com Monthly Absolute Unique Audience: 40,993**

*Per the Publisher Statement in the January 2009 issue
**Google Analytics Report, January 1-31 2009


M

Great Point, Ray. Personally I think John K deserves to be in the Hall Of Fame SOON! I hope, if he makes it on the ballot this year (as he did last year), people will give him his due!

You Mike are the reason this site continues to grow! I am very glad that you took the Helm and with your love of the sport added this site to your great accomplishments!

Not to get into it too much because it is a somewhat forbidden topic and it could cause all sorts of drama. Back in April and May 2007 a big rowe over the topic of clipped pedals became very heated. Ideas of who started what and who needs who and done what for BMX and other static resulted in a schism. Some notables left then came back, others have stayed away including it seems Bob Osborn.

As for the magazine, BMX Action (which became Go Magazine in October 1989) went under simply because it lost magazine sales due to a shrinking market BMX Plus! was better able to adjust to that market (and for a time, from April 1992 to about 1994 effectively the only large BMX magazine in America) which was unfortunately more dirt jumping and freestyle. The same reason Super BMX & Freestyle died in December 1988 Both BMX Racing and Freestyle, especially Racing was on a bad downswing. The market couldn't support at the time a mostly racing magazine even if Go was increasingly Freestyle centric.

Some last and first:

The last BMX Action with the iconic BMX Action logo we ll know and love was the March 1989 issue.
The last official BMX Action magazine was September 1989.
In the October issue it combined with Freestylin' magazine and it became Freestylin'/BMX Action but it was already Go magaine in the inside table of contents.
It officially became Go with the February 1990 issue.
Go magazine ended with the March 1992 ending the last direct link to BMX Action.

For the record BMX Action 2000 which came out in 2000 and lasted about two years with a name change (In 2001 it was forced to change it's name to Faction BMX) had nothing absolutely nothing with Bob Osborne's magazine. In fact, Bob Osborne sued (hence the name change).

Oldtimer1980s

Thanks for the props, Mark! It is gratifying to know that my efforts are making a difference for you, and for all our members.

At the same time, it needs to be said that without the tireless efforts of the founders and core team of this site before I got here (BillC (BMX Products), RandyS, and later Hal, Rick and Elvis), I would never have had the opportunity to do what I set out to do only one year ago.

Also, the 20-25 members who join every day, and the regular members who post incessantly on the site. Without all of you guys, this would be a blog (one man) and not a community (17,889 and counting).

But again, it means so much to hear that people appreciate the efforts behind making the site all it can be.

Thank You!!

M

Mike You are right we should Thank the founding fathers Bill,Hal,Randy,Rick and even dare I say Elvis for all the time they put into this site to make it a great place to share all we know about BMX. Can't forget about bmxmom, Thanks

Bob Oz came around again, attended Rockford, I want to say 2003-2006 in that time frame. BMX is something you can't get out of your blood.

Bob was on here up to 2007

It was great to see Bob and Suzy-q at Rockford as guest speaker a few years back. I want to say 2005 (Woody Itson, Bob Haro and Harry were the years after Bob) Bob loves to fish and that takes up most of his time it seems with his lovely wife. I love keeping up with the two on Facebook.

I thought BMX Action online went under. I haven't been able to access the site in ages it seems.



True dat! Another great that did so much for the sport. I loved John K he was just a great guy to work with.

When you want to talk about advertising dollars going out of the sport look no further than when Richard Long died. The sport died along with him, it never recovered. Even though the sport has had it's olympic glory it isn't the same when it comes to coverage of races.

I could really care less about the Freestyley bollocks that all the magazines turn to. I do understand why though as the average kid doesn't like to compete and with racing their is a winner and a loser and you have to train to be on top. Most parents just don't get that.

bmxactiononline is still going, I just went there.

I just realized it's Osborn, not Osbourn. Sorry about that!

Thanks to all who responded. :-)

I understand fully about the sport taking a dive in the early 90s. I was living in Los Angeles and riding my PK Ripper in the Hollywood hills on the weekends. I remember walking up to the Sherman Oaks Newstand on Van Nuys at Ventura and seeing only one Magazine on the stands, and that was BMX Plus and it was a very thin Magazine at the time. I remember 'Go' too. Thinking back, I recall Go magazine was operating within the Osborn family to some point. However, it's hard to believe BMX Action went under due to falling ad dollar consumers. If I recall, up to the last issue of BMX Action, the magazine was thick and full of info, advertising, etc. Like I stated in my OP, I think there was some problem within the organization or family. What became of the Cat? His name was Cosmo, right? Animals are like humans and when my Cat died, I felt bad for a long time and the passion for my hobbies went south.

I don't remember exactly but I read somewhere about Bob's cat passing or a person close to the family falling ill. And the passion was gone. Most people, if they love what they do, they'll do it for free if they can. Everyone involved with BMX Action was having a great time and you could clearly see the passion within the family. RL, the son, had great talents, he was a pioneer along with Bob Haro and Mike Buff, and those 3 guys started Freestyle on the mainstream level. RL had all the tools and 'know how' to carry on with riding, the business and the magazine. but something happened and the passion was gone after 1990.

Now, I want to be perfectly clear; I am by no means bashing anyone here. I was, and still am a huge fan of Wizard Publications, the people and family behind the organization. And I think Bob Osborn did more for both Freestyle and BMX than anyone in the history of the sport. John Ker, Rich Long and Skip Hess, the OM, also but to a lesser extent. However, over a long period of time, nobody has done more for the sport than John Ker. But back in the day Mr. Osborn had the means to open a high quality magazine with great editing and pictures from a higher power. The magazine screamed 'professionalism'. Every article, every ad, every picture screamed "class".

I simply never got a straight answer, and from a dude looking in from the outside, it seemed like RL and Windy could easily take over and keep the magazine operational thru the lean years (1990-98).

I don't know about the Cosmo the Kitty thing but seems to me that Oz had to come out of his own pockets to keep the magazine going during the bad times. Regardless of Wendy and RL having the tools to continue the publication or not, maybe they made what they thought was a smart decision and stopped producing it.

Could the logo change, the name changes (wasn't it also called Snap at one point?) the format changes all be attempts at keeping it fresh for the old readers and trying to pull in new readers? At the time, none of us had any idea what was going to become of BMX. From what I understand there were some LEAN years and while I'd like to be selfish and wish Oz would have kept it going for my personal reasons, I think I understand why the mag went under. Hell, even if it was as simple as it was time to move on and do something else. Have you ever seen his non BMX photos? The dude is amazing- as an artist maybe he needed a change. For the record, logo change, format change, whatever he thought was right, he never let me down as a reader.

While the sport seems healthy now, it's never been quite as exciting as back then. I don't mean the quality of the racing because the current riders have a ridiculous amount of skill. Maybe it's partially due to the similar riding styles and over polluted jerseys but I sometimes have a hard time recognizing who's who and the individuality of each character is what drove BMXAction for me. Greg Hill always seemed SO serious. If you take a trip over to BMXAction Online, you'll know that's not true. Stu Thompsen always looked so laid back and easy going (right before or after he destroyed everyone)...I'm pretty sure there are some huge personalities out there now but you don't see that translated into the publications.

For example- BMX World has a ton of race coverage but they don't have an Oz, a Wendy, a Steve Giberson, a Spike Jones, Andy Jenkins, Gork, etc. There's no characters like Fuzzy Hall, Capt. Kirk Chrisco, Dave Cullinan, or Chris Moeller starring as test riders in each issue. The photographers and editors were as well known as the riders and for good reasons. And I'm not trying to rip BMX World, I buy each issue, I think they're doing a great job. Probably more race coverage than any other magazine ever. Just saying it's a different thing at a different time. I mean, I don't really want to see them write terms like Greased Moose Poop, you know?

I love BMX but haven't ridden or even owned a BMX bike in 15 years. Real life set in and I had to do what I had to do. I wasn't going to be Pete Loncarevich so I had to switch it up, get a job, experience other things, etc. Hopefully my 5 year old son will want to get involved and I can experience it all over with him. Maybe Oz had to deal with a similar situation? How many people on here can say they have lived BMX, with no interruptions, since the day they got involved?

Hi Duck -

I cannot disagree with anything you said and we're all in the same boat here, and I, like you, got completely out of BMX in the mid 90s. The last Bike I owned was my old Ripper. In 1996 I sold my beloved tricked out polished PK Ripper with black Skyway tuffs (Bike purchased and installed piece by piece by The Bicycle Source in San Pedro, California), My PK Ripper was termed "the million dollar bike".

Not taking anything away from the legendary racers and trick riders; nobody is more talented than the top pros in their heyday; Stu Thompson, Greg Hill, Eddie Fiola to name a few... but without a high level magazine like BMX Action, none of these guys would be worldwide known today. That said, without Bob Osborn and his idea... we might not have all these old school sites, forums, etc, and general high interest.

I'm also curious to know how Bob started the magazine... Did RL start racing one day and Dad saw a market? I'd like to know where Bob grew up... Did he attend a university? And where did he learn how to take pictures from a higher God?

Finally, it's a real shame, and mabe I'm just being really selfish here, but I felt BMX Action could had stood the test of time, and with all the experience RL had being the son of the big boss... one might think El Cid coulda, woulda kept the ol torch alive.... But like you said Duck, people do what they have to do to survie, and when the chips are down, and life looks bleak, you move on....

One more thing, as Duck mentioned, the real stars were Oz, El Cid, Windy, Mike Buff, Bob Haro, Lew, Gork, Giberson, Jenkins, etc.

Ray,

You should head over to BMXAction online. There's a current thread about this. Oz spoke about it himself. Just yesterday Oz said the thing about video games killing magazine sales.

Ok, thanks... I'll check it out! :-)

And Duck, thanks again for responding... you sound like me, old skool! :-)

It's been documented a few places that Bob and Windy were both involved in writing and shooting for Bicycle Motocross News (the newspaper started by Elaine Holt in June 1974). Windy started shooting, and got on the masthead of the paper as a ninth grader.

Here's how I described it in my History of BMX Timeline published in last year's BMXer magazine:

In December 1976, After discussions on purchasing an interest in Elaine Holt’s Bicycle Motocross News, BMX dad/photographer/writer and fireman Bob Osborn starts Bicycle Motocross Action (later BMX Action) magazine with $30,000 in borrowed capital. Brian Lewis graces the first cover on the fabled Corona downhill track. Bicycle Motocross Action was the first exclusively-BMX “slick” magazine. The magazine would run for nearly 13 years before its final issue in September 1989.


M

No problem Ray. Not as old school as some but yeah, I raced from 83 until the early 90s. I try to keep up through the magazines and the web stuff.

I wasn't talking about advertising revenue (if you are addressing that issue to me in particular) but general circulation. The market couldn't support two or three magazines anymore. As for magazine thickness (I have the magazines in front of me), The very last issue of BMX Action the October 1989 issue had about 90 or so pages. The October 1989 issue of BMX Plus! had about 82 pages, roughly the same. As for who was running the magazine According to the mast head of the August 1989 issue The publisher and President was Bob Osborn, his Vice Presidents were his daughter Windy Osborn-Moynahan (she got married recently back then) & Valerie Adlam. The Editor In Chief was Craig "Gork" Barrette. If there were any problems I recall reading somewhere it was concerning editorial decisions as to what branch of BMX to concentrate on, racing or freestyle/dirt jumping I forget who wanted what.

As for the cat he or she probably lived a long life but I have no idea.

Other than that it was just that it was a shrinking market because of the shrinking of popularity of BMX racing. Can't blame the internet because, as far as the public was concerned at least, that was still four or five years in the future and another six to make any real impact. BMX Plus! was just probably a bit luckier to survive the smaller market And I remember Go magazine comes directly from BMX Action and Freestylin', so it wasn't operating back then too but it was the direct successor magazine. Same publishing Co and Publisher. Wizard Publications Inc./Bob Osborn. Same President, Bob Osborn. Same Vice Presidents, Windy and Adlam. The significant difference was that Mark Lewman was the Editor in Chief and Gork was the "BMX Editor". Most of the other department heads were the same.

I don't think the death of a pet would have any effect on things. After all Moto Cat, Cosmo's predecessor of the late 1970's, died/disappeared around 1980 or 1981. The magazine survived. I don't want to run down the importance of having a pet and what effects if that loved one die on you but I don't think that would be enough to help kill a magazine. As for RL I think he moved on with life. I don't know but I don't think he had any interest in running the magazine, at least not in the foreground. But again, that is a guess.

Well to be fair John Ker was just the editor. Bob Osborn was the publisher and Editor and was the head of two magazines, and he started the first true all BMX magazine (Minicycle/BMX Action-which had nothing to do with Bob's magazine-was only a part time BMX magazine, the rest was motocross motorcycle racing, something like how BMX racing and freestyle would share space inside a magazine some 10 years. And strictly speaking Bicycle Motocross News was a BMX newspaper Bobs was the first glossy mag for BMX and only BMX)

And Rich Long Skip Hess and the OM to "a lesser extent"? Yes, while Bob Osborn did a lot to publicized the sport of BMX Rich Long (co founder of GT Racing) and Skip Hess (founder of Mongoose), both bicycle manufactures along with Scot Breithaupt who actually helped got the sport going again (whether he actually was the first to organize a BMX race could be disputed. He did promote the sport in virtually every way except being a magazine publisher. However, he was an editor for at least three magazines including BMX Action and BMX Plus! and Minicylce/BMX Action) had more practical impact. Without those three, especially Hess and Breithaupt, there probably wouldn't had been a sport to publicize about in the first place. Again, I do not want to diminish Bobs huge contribution in publicizing the sport, BMXA was by far the most popular magazine and the first it was one of many. Perhaps they weren't as good depending on one's own opinion but they were out there, but I think the manufactures and sanctioning bodies were just as important. BMX probably wouldn't had been as big but it would had been here.

Again, the market couldn't handle more than one major BMX magazine publication at the time, tragically simple as that (IMHO).

Oldtimer1980s

Nah, we have over 2000 members and growing...

I have said this before on this topic. By late junior high to high school I started riding skateboards more than bikes. I am sure many people did the same. The first time I read an issue of Thrasher I was ready to stop my BMXA subscript and get one the Thrasher. I eventually did that. I would be curious to see the sales of Thrasher compared to BMXA or PLus in the late 80's.

I also do not understand the Nintendo analogy killing BMX. Remember Atari, Intellivision, and Colecovision. They did not have the graphics of Nintendo, but they were great for the early 80's a time frame when BMX blew up. Maybe the little kids were different with Nintendo. It probably had some to do with it but also the rise of Skateboards and god forbid inline skates probably kept more people away from BMX. A top of the line skateboard was around what 150.00? You could not even get a Ross Piranha for that much.

I think the 'fumes had as much, or more, to do with it than any Nintendo craze. And by the 'fumes, I mean exhaust fumes and perfumes.
Cars and girls are, to this day, great disruptors, when the population hits 17, 18, etc. at least for racing.

I bet MIke is right. Natural progression for teen boys. I was at an estate sale and found the first issue of Freestylin' tucked under a stack of Mini Truckin mags.

LOL...I thought that was going to end "and found the first issue of Freestylin' tucked under a stack of Playboys."

Talk about validating ones theory

I still have the first issue of Freestylin' in mint condition (though it does not have the letter, as I was not a subscriber at the time).

Gentlemen -

Thanks for responding.

I'm enjoying all the memories and some of you have a great memory! :-)

I don't know.... it's really hard for me to buy into the "Nintendo" theory/reasoning... Look, BMX Action had over 10 years of pretty good profits (I'm guessing here!). But let's get serious, if you were a 10 year old kid in America, 7 out of 10 boys from 1980-1990 were into BMX or Freestyle. That same kid grows up reading and buying BMX Action magazine, not to mention buys parts via the ads the next 10 years, from 10 to 20 years old. Now how many kids in America fall into this category? What I'm saying is I think the magazine was very profitable, and seems to me the folks behind BMX Action most likely saved ( I would hope) for hard times. But personally, IMO, I think something happened within the organization/family. The passion was gone by 1990.

My 0.01 cents

I think that would probably be stuck to a stack of Playboys.

I feel guilty now, as I was overtaken by the fumes. I let my subscription run out and onto Super Chevy, Auto Buff, MX Action, and Cycle News.

Or ask yourself: Why weren't you racing at that time?

This is a direct quote from Oz himself as of this week. If that is all he has to say about it, then that is all we get. I would venture to say there are multiple reasons for the demise of the magazine. But if that is all Bob has to say about it then the matter is closed.

It was a great time to involved in BMX, it was a great time to have met Bob. But like all great things, they soon fade. We have our memories and Bob has moved on.

Yes you do have a right to ask what you want, but don't be too dissapointed if you don't get all the answers.

Gentlemen -

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

Ray

No, Snap had nothing to do with BMX Action or its direct successor mag Go except a few people that worked at Wizard Publications. It did inherit the NORA CUP from BMX Action/Go. Personally I think they should had kept the old logo. However, they must had sensed the diminishing readership-they obviously did-and tried to change the formula because the old formula wasn't working.

As for the name changes in its entire history they were Bicycle Motocross Action (12/76-3/82); BMX Action (4/82-9/89) Freestylin'/BMX Action (11/89-1/90 cover only, no 10/89 issue); Go (3/90-3/92).

And yes I have seen some of Oz's non-BMX black and white photos. He is channeling Ansel Adams a bit.

Oldtimer1980s

Really? I always thought it was part of the same thing. Seemed like Snap tried to keep that same vibe going, I guess due to the fact that some of the same people had worked there. Was Gork part of Snap?

Good call on the Ansel Adams, I wouldn't have thought of that.

Same things that killed bmx in general.

Haro making a retro freestyler with only a 4130 dt.

wait, that was now.

BMX gave way to mountain bikes, skateboards and sega.

from a 25 year BMX retail observation, i'd say video games (and now many other larger ticket items) did/does play a part. at that time, and to this day, i hear the customer conversations between parents and kids that goes something like..."do you really want the $xhundred bike or the X-box? you can't have both".

back in the early days of BMX you didn't have many other "higher priced" things competing for mom & dad's dollar.

Duck-

Snap was a great mag as well, but it had absolutely nothing to do with BMXA or Wizard pubs. It was sold to Transworld and became Transworld BMX, then just Transworld Ride, which is mainly freestyle/street/dirt jumping. Gork was not employed by Snap, but they did run some stories/pics by him I believe.

BMXAOnline is up and running well, it just hit a bad patch due to the server, and this happened while the admin was moving from one state to another.

Carry on......

HinkDog, Old Timer-

ok, now I remember. As soon as you said Transworld it rang a bell.

This brings up something that's always been weird to me - how everything got separated. When we were younger it was because of building ramps and dirt jumping that we even wanted to race. Sometimes we'd do tricks in the streets when we were messing around. I realize that it takes a dedication to racing, jumping or freestyling or whatever it is that we choose to do but riders like Brian Foster always represented that original spirit to me. Does anyone remember when Fuzzy Hall raced? Dude was pretty fast. Chris Moeller as well. Richard Bartlett. Didn't Moliterno race as well?

Anyway, it just seems like at some point not only was there separation but even an attitude that came with it. I've never been big on watching the street freestylers (excuse me if there's an actual name, I'm not trying to be rude) but I'll never get bored of watching the half pipe insanity or the stuff the dirt jumpers come up with. Even still, I like it all. It's too bad some of the dirt mags don't put little shout outs to racers or a little column about racing here and there. The old racing mags always covered everything.

Gentlemen -

Very impressive knowledge some of you have... I am even a bit confused now about what was what. Great to see old skoolers out there, seperating the myth from the truth.

Carry on.... :-)

The freestyle guys (Flatland, Park, DJ, etc) have a high degree of disdain for BMX Racing (notwithstanding the couple guys who crossover). Having those mags give top racers a shout out is the same as putting pictures and articles on dogs in a cat magazine.

Frankly, I'm offended any time I see some mainstream media say "BMX was 'toned down' for the Olympics" (the assertion being that the Dew Tour and such are "Real BMX" and racing is the watered down version that was somehow distilled out of the former). Hopefully, our sport will do better with mainstream media relations moving forward, and help people understand the difference. If BMX racing is going to land on TV or in a newspaper, it should not appear to be anyone's "little brother" sport...except MX, perhaps (only begrudgingly).

I love the Dew Tour, and what those dudes do...but it is not BMX. FBMX?

M

I've been riding since late '87 and I've only been to a BMX track once. Racing never had much draw for me, but I did enjoy seeing the photos in the magazines of the races. I still had an appreciation for what racers did. Nowadays, I think kids wouldn't even know what to think if they saw a guy on a BMX racing bike in full uniform. I really hate how everything done on a 20" bike is called BMX now. It was called freestyle when I started and BMX was racing, period. Calling everything BMX has really made it difficult for racing to have an identity of its own, which is especially sad considering that racing is why guys like me that ride freestyle exist.