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This document concatenates the approved quiz and supporting-article transcriptions for convenient full-series searching. Individual source files remain authoritative within each quiz folder.
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Transcription method: Manual review of the supplied quiz image.
Editorial rule: Published wording and capitalization are preserved. No silent correction has been made.
__ is credited as the first “kid” to organize races by himself.
A. Scot Breithaupt
B. Byron Friday
C. Doug Takahashi
D. Jeff Botemma
Larry Huffman’s influence in BMX was
Which of the following was noted by BMX Action as “one of the biggest piles of junk ever made”?
A. JAD
B. BMX Products
C. Kastan KEX w/ strut
D. Yamaha Dual-Shocker
The 1974 Yamaha Gold Cup was held at:
A. Jack Murphy
B. Sunol
C. L.A. Coliseum
D. Candlestick
_____ is when a long surgical tube was stretched infront of the riders. Riders would line their bikes up with their plates infront of the tube. Once released - the race started.
A. Tube/Strap Start
B. Rubber Band Start
C. Snap Start
D. Snap-Go
What did Ron Haase do at Palms Park around 1972 (according to some)?
Scot Breithaupt is preserved with the one-t spelling shown in the quiz.Botemma is preserved as published in the quiz.infront is preserved as published in Question 5.Open the individual article transcription
Source supplied: Scanned article titled “THE EARLY DAYS:”
Transcription method: Manual review of the supplied article image.
Completeness note: The supplied scan ends mid-sentence in the Tracks section. That truncation is preserved and documented.
THE YEARS OF SIDEHACKS, MONO-SHOCKS, DAVE CLINTON, JOHN GEORGE, SCOT BREITHAUPT AND THE YAMAHA GOLD CUPS.
Can you guess who this is? Hint: He is argued to have started the first BMX track. He’s massively promoted BMX to this day. He’s ridden for Dan Gurney, Webco, FMF, and some other company that would totally give away the question at hand. He’s also best buddies with Charlie Narly and has led many a Tours de Terrible. Give up? Scot Breithaupt, 1974.
With most guys riding Schwinn Stingrays at first, frame breakage was abundant. In 1973, the first of the BMX frames started popping up—most of them being mono-shocks. The manufacturers figured that the kids wanted to be like motorcycles, so . . . “Hey! Let’s make gas tanks, fenders, and put shocks on the bikes!” Neat idea, huh?
It went that way for a while. Everyone dumped their Stingrays for the mono-shocks. But the new shocker generation didn’t last but a couple of years at the most. Marvin Church, a local So. Cal. hotshoe, appeared at the tracks on a custom used-to-be Stingray frame that his dad made. It sported a higher bottom bracket and straight tubes for the front triangle. Towards the end of ’74, mono-shocks died and rigid frames were born.
“I’m riding a Rick’s Custom Special with Moto-Mags. I dig the mags—they’re light, roll easy, and are super strong. I prefer 6 1/2 inch cranks and a 39-15 gearing.”
Thom Lund
Bicycle Motocross News, October 1974.
BMX Products came out with the Moto-Mag in September of ’74. It had a major effect on the BMX world. Today it seems normal to see a mag wheel, but anyone who was around BMX in the mid ’70’s can describe in great detail the very first time they saw a Moto-Mag. You HAD to have one.
Fork wise, Red Line was it. Nothing else would do. The buyer even had the option to buy the chrome-moly nickel plated fork or the cheaper priced mild-steel painted one. Either one would do—as long as it said Red Line up the sides.
I found out through my investigative phone calls that in 1971 and ’72, a dude by the name of Ron Haase (pronounced haze), totally jammed. The real BMX historians from way back seconded the motion and would always bring up an incident that happened at Palms Park sometime around 1972.
They say that Haase was a wildman, and in this one race, somebody was in front of him coming down the hill towards the bonzai drop-off. That’s when they say that Ron Haase JUMPED the guy. Not passing to the right. Not to the left. PASSING OVER the guy, landing in front of him! Wish we could see stuff like that nowadays!
From the dark ages of BMX (’74 to ’76) the top-ten racers would have to have been Dave Clinton, John George, John Palfreyman, Brian Ramocinski, Thom Lund, Marvin Church, Bobby Encinas, Perry Kramer, Scot Breithaupt, and Stu Thomsen.
Most of those names are well-known or semi-well known, except for Ramocinski. He was an Orange County resident who was pictured in a lot of the old BMX newspapers out in front of guys like Stu and Bottema. Brenda Lee was the top powder puffer back then, too. She later went on to marry John George, remember?
Clinton, who was the very first rider to get the official title of NBA No. 1, was also the first full-blown hero of BMX. He had style and grace on a bike that would probably blow minds now-a-days. He could cross-it-up like no other and would always come across the finish line wheelieing to the crowd. Clinton was everyone’s favorite!
“No. I don’t think a BMX pro class would work. Most 18-year-olds are too embarrassed or afraid to race.”
Scot Breithaupt
Bicycle Motocross News, June 1974.
Scot Breithaupt was the first to do it. Others followed. Scot was the first “kid” to put on races all by himself. It was like the parents weren’t too sure at first about the sport ever being a sport, but the kids who raced had the faith. So if adults wouldn’t put on races, it was the kids’ job to prove that BMX is worthy of time and effort.
I remember going to the Parks and Recreation Dept. myself at age 13, trying to start a BMX track. I didn’t succeed, but lots of kids in the U.S.A. did—Matt Raymer and Cash Mathews did it in Oklahoma and Charlie Litsky is responsible for BMX in Chicago.
Could today’s tracks have mel-
The source image ends after Could today’s tracks have mel-. No continuation page was supplied. The archive does not reconstruct the missing text.
Open the individual quiz transcription
Live page: https://sites.google.com/view/lititzbmxinventorylist/learning-resources/quizzes/1977-bmx-history-quiz
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Editorial rule: Published wording and capitalization are preserved. No silent correction has been made.
__ claims to have invented the no-hander/no-footer in 1977.
A. Steve Ruiz
B. Scott Clark
C. Stu Thomsen
D. Dennis Dain
______ O’Hare
______ was known as the “Corona Kid”?
A. Brian Curnell
B. Coy Hudson
C. Kevin McNeal
D. Neil Bonds
“Get Narly” was:
A. A game of hide-n-seek
B. Losing your grip while mid-jump
C. Catching “big air”
D. Going lake jumping
Who was known as the “Perfector of the Table Top”?
A. David Clinton
B. Ted Guilmette
C. Harry Leary
D. Donny Jones
How many individuals made up the founding PRO class?
A. 16
B. 24
C. 20
D. 7
Scott Clark, Brian Curnell, and all other names are preserved as shown in the quiz.<nickname> in the published image.Open the individual article transcription
Source: BMX Action, December 1986, pages 30–31
Article title: 1977
Transcription method: Manual review of the supplied two-page scan.
Editorial rule: Visible wording is preserved. No missing text has been invented.
John George was awesome. Never has there been a guy who could show up at a national after a six month vacation, smoke the comp, hibernate for another six months, and then repeat another gnarly win.
It finally happened! They started an organized pro class. In the August 1977 issue of Bicycle Motocross Action, there was an article on the Professional Racing Organization (PRO). Money was now at stake. BMX could finally be considered a full-time job.
From that list, notice that Stu and Harry are the main dudes that have remained on top to this day. Tinker is still sorta up there, racing on special occasions, and Hadley, Bottema, Breithaupt, Perry, Clinton, and Byron are all still into the BMX industry in one way or another. Not bad, huh?
During this time, we saw some of the most radical tracks start-up, which meant that some of the most radical racing took place on them.
All DG equipped, this kid had only just begun. Eddy King.
Weinert Mountain, Rancho San Diego, and Corona were the gnarliest!
Kevin McNeal was the man to beat at Corona. Matter of fact, the Corona locals used to take up a weekly collection for the first person to beat the “Corona Kid.” Week after week, the money piled up and so did Kevin’s first place trophy collection. So, who finally beat McNeal? No one remembers . . .
The hot bike at this time would have to be the FMF. Maybe having Scot, Jeff Utterback, and Stompin’ Stu on the team helped. The FMF was also one of the most highly copied frames in its time. Laguna and Race Inc. weren’t too original, if you get my drift. Real FMF’s have a small oval in the gussett.
Speedo forks were also the hot set-up. Although they might not have caught on in EVERY area of the states, the team did great, thus making the fork legendary. Brent and Brian Patterson, John Crews, Scott Clark, Richie Anderson, and Mike Koran made up one AWESOME team.
Stu claims to have invented the no-hander/no-footer in 1977, when he was on FMF. We won’t argue with that.
The sight was a U-shaped jump in the Simi Valley. You would start on one side, look both ways for cars, push off, fly down the side of the hill, bunny hop up and onto the street, cross the road doing about 20 mph, jump down into a ditch, start going up the other side of the hill, and LAUNCH.
If all went well up to that point, you’d find yourself about twenty feet in the air with more air time than you ever knew what to do with. Cross it up. Pitch it into a table-top. Kick ’er out. Whatever.
Buildin Leapin’ Jones, a.k.a. Donny Jones, was BMXA’s first full tilt test thrasher. He rose to fame quickly, showing the world a wide array of insane jumps, and is probably best known as being the perfector of the table-top. B.L.J. is legendary—the man who brought madness to many a page of BMX ACTION.
Also making his ’77 world debut was a short and pudgy baldheaded BMX trainer with a red mustache, name o’ Charlie Narly. He was the owner of Narly’s Training Camp and was solely responsible for Scot Breithaupt getting his 1976 NBA National No. 1 title. In the August issue of BMXA, Charlie’s secret training methods were finally revealed. Scot told of how Charlie helped Stu Thomsen, Perry Kramer, Billy MacIntyre, “Dirt Clod” O’Hare, and himself get ready for the up coming summer race tour.
The whole method was to “get Narly”—just a simple game of hide ’n seek. The barnstorming bunch of bonzai bermbusters would look around, see Charlie, chase after him, and if someone was lucky, they’d “get Narly.”
According to the article, Stu was the closest to “get Narly.” But to this day no one has yet. The legend of Charlie still lives on . . .
In those days, the most hip duds at the track were JT pants and gloves. Anyone who was someone adorned the giant JT logo across their butt. Anything less, and they’d be considered a squid.
Dennis Dain and Steve Ruiz dominated sidehacks in ’77. The number plate said it all.
Look at how tricky out test riders were about not getting their pants stuck in the chain . . . Also check out the brand new ’77 Red Line Pro Line—the first Red Line to not have a front gusset. And check out the custom test uniforms! BMXA’s first test crew—the Arvada Street Gang (Ike, R.L., and Donny “Buildin’ Leapin’ Jones”).
Scott Clark when he was on Speedo, right? Yeah, I’d recognize that bite-the-tongue-and-make-googley-eyes style anywhere! That’s why they invented mouth guards!
Mr. DG himself, Jeffrey Bottema. He jammed back then and in years to come, but started to slow down after some chick cut his hair.
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Live learning page: https://sites.google.com/view/lititzbmxinventorylist/learning-resources/quizzes/1978-bmx-history-quiz
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Prepared: July 19, 2026
The wording, capitalization, punctuation, answer choices, and observed spelling are preserved as published. Apparent errors are documented separately rather than silently corrected.
_____ WON THE VERY FIRST NORA CUP.
JEFF RUIMNER CAME FROM __________ <STATE>
WHERE WAS KINGS BMX TRACK?
_____ FOUND NUMBER PLATES TO BE PROFITABLE.
THE NBA DID __________________ OF PROMOTION.
WHEELS ’N THINGS BIKE SHOP WAS IN
Open the individual article transcription
Publication: BMX Action
Issue: December 1986
Pages: 32–33
Feature: Retrospective year entry titled “1978”
Supplied source record: ../source-images/source-001-1978-bmx-action-spread.png
The transcription follows the visible article in approximate reading order. Headings, quotations, and captions are identified. Line wrapping from the printed columns has been normalized. Original wording is preserved, including period terminology and informal style.
The year of Bobby Encinas, Red Line V-bars, custom numbers, the ABA, Mongooses, and Addicks sprockets.
Large left-page action photograph:
“Up ’til now, the hotties were basically from California. It took awhile for everyone else to catch on. But when the dudes east of the So. Cal. border caught on, they CAUGHT ON! All the way from Oklahoma, came Jeff Ruminer.”
Upper-right left-page action photograph:
“The big guy, Stu, gettin’ rad in Irvine.”
The winner of the 1978 NORA Cup—the very first NORA Cup ever, was factory Shimano racer Bobby Encinas.
Chuck Robinson had just bailed from LRV (or vice-versa), and started his own company, Robinson Racing Products. They had a real winning team going towards the end of the year. Do the names Scott Clark, Jeff Ruminer, Gary Renteria, Bryan Webb, Bill Anderson, and Larry Ruiz sound familiar? Some may. Some better. All were rad—take our word for it.
Portrait caption:
“Winner of the very first NORA Cup, Bobby Encinas.”
In ’78, you were definitely a nobody unless you had a pair of Red Line V-bars clamped to your stem. Your stem was probably an Ashtabula (if you were short on cash), or a Mongoose or Cook Bros. (if you were rich). Still, no matter what your cash flow was, Red Line V’s were HOT items.
The hot bike was a Mongoose. Tinker Juarez, Brian Curnell, Jeff Kosmala, Kenny Knachman, and Dan Oakley were the Factory ’Goose squad. All of those guys ripped. It wasn’t unusual to see four or five Mongoose riders on the gate for a main. Bobby Encinas (Shimano) and Stanley Robinson (Kings BMX track in Modesto—soon to be factory ’Goose) had been Mongoose mounted for the last couple of years, too.
“More major races will be won this year on a Mongoose than on any other single brand.”
BMX ACTION, August 1978.
Steve Skibel portrait caption:
“There are very few LITTLE guys who get respect from the pros. Steve Skibel was one of the few exceptions. He won nearly every time, had his own signature frame put out by DG, got on the cover of BMX ACTION, and retired at an early age.”
Stu Thomsen and Perry Kramer, both on SE, rode on Mongooses until SE came out with some production bikes (the STR-1 for Stu and the P.K. Ripper for you-know-who).
I’m tellin’ ya—Mongoose was HOT. Could such a HUGE team have done it? Or maybe it was those two-page center spread poster/ads with a different team member each month?
Jag also arrived on the scene in 1978. Anthony Sewell was the main man. Other less notable Jag riders were Tommy Brackens and Turnell Henry. You do know that the first Jags were basically Mongooses with different decals, right?
“You mean for the top riders to get paid for using and endorsing products? . . . It’s coming.”
Stu Thomsen, BMX ACTION, June 1978.
Number-plate photograph caption:
“We’re only going to give you one clue as to who this guy is. LOOK at the number plate. Now . . . who would make rad numbers like that?”
Fads and fashions this year mostly consisted of a new craze to make your bike look tricker than everyone else’s—as compared to the past where you WANTED your bike to look like everyone else’s. 1978 brought out an individualistic view in BMX. Like, “I don’t want the same bike as Stu Thomsen’s . . . mine’s gonna look unique.”
One of the best ways to show your own personal style was to trick out your number plate with custom numbers (custom NUMBER if you were good enough). The entire BMX world found this to be quite fun. Bob Haro found this to be quite profitable.
Addicks sprockets came and went during this time, too. They were hotter than the radiator on the SE Tour Bus when they first hit the market. Another must-have. But then they started twanging and twinking when torque-ing. President of the nylon sprocket company, Lyle Addicks (now you know where the name came from) came out with Addicks II—a less holier version and in colors even! Word was out that he was paying people to try to break them.
“The NBA did their usual almost zilch job of promoting. Either that, or because it was close to Halloween, an awful lot of people came dressed as empty seats.”
BMX ACTION, November 1978.
The pro purses were growing. Stu was averaging $300 for first at every race he went to. Everyone freaked out when the ABA offered $1000 for the pro purse at their Phoenix Nationals halfway through the year. And then they toppled that over by offering $1500 the next month in Amarillo, Texas.
The Open class back then was slightly different from what we now know as the Pro Open, where B pros can race A pros. With only one type of pro, the 16 Over Open classes of old consisted of experts AND pros. Sounds fun, don’t it?
14-year-old Jeff Utterback and 13-year-old Greg Hill, were THE fastest amateurs around. Those two guys, both on SE towards the beginning of ’78 (Greg went to Schwinn later on), were totally untouchable.
Doug Davis photograph caption:
“For about three or four years, the Wheels ’N Things bike shop, out of San Diego, had a KILLER team. They launched quite a few kids to super stardom, such as this guy—lil’ Doug Davis.”
The last races of the year, of course, are the Grandnationals. The NBA Grands in ’78 were held inside a coliseum for a change. After being held at some of the finest tracks in the U.S., the move to concrete floors and wooden jumps was a cool change. Pro purse here? Biggest yet—THREE THOU. David Clinton flew in for the win, beating out five of the fastest pros in the country—Kosmala, McNeal, Stu, Brent, and Harry.
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The wording, capitalization, punctuation, answer choices, and observed spelling are preserved as published. Verification findings and contextual notes are documented separately rather than silently inserted into the source text.
________ INVENTED THE ONE-FOOTER IN 1979.
__________ WAS KNOWN AS THE “COCA COLA COWBOY”.
WHICH OF THESE RIDERS DID NOT RIDE FOR DG?
__________ WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE JAG WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES.
__________ DID THE FIRST ROCK WALK AND STARTED A “MILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY”.
WHILE NOT 1979, WHEN DID THE FIRST HARO PLATE APPEAR ON THE COVER OF BMX ACTION MAGAZINE?
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Associated learning page: https://sites.google.com/view/lititzbmxinventorylist/learning-resources/quizzes/1979-bmx-history-quiz
Source: BMX Action, December 1986, pp. 34–35
Transcription basis: Supplied two-page magazine spread
Archive package version: 1.0
Prepared: July 19, 2026
Original headings, quotations, names, colloquial wording, and visible punctuation are preserved as closely as the supplied image permits. Editorial navigation headings are placed in brackets where the printed article has no separate heading.
It raged on for over a year. Letters kept pouring in by the mail-truck full. The So. Cal. guys wanted ’em. The Michiganders detested the idea. Everyone in between felt differently. The subject at hand? Cruisers. 26 inch beach cruisers. Balloon bikes. Tankers.
Were cruisers BMX’ish? Were they better than the twenty inchers? Could they go faster? Were they too heavy? Could cruisers be raced on a BMX track? Should they be raced? And, would the manufacturers start making them?
“Cruisers, being as heavy as a ’52 Buick, are not as jammable as 20-inch BMX bikes, but every once in awhile you’ll find a few gnarly dudes who want to try ’em on.”
BMX ACTION, September 1979.
As it turned out, the East coast guys lost or gave in. The Cal Boys knew what was hot, and one year down the road, as soon as most every manufacturer came out with a 26 inch race frame, a new class was born.
As of May, 1979, BMX ACTION was a mighty monthly mag (that’s why you’ll only count ten ’79 issues on this month’s cover).
THE YEAR OF THE CRUISER CONTROVERSY, HARO NUMBER PLATES, TIMMY JUDGE’S ONE FOOTER JUMP, THE FIRST FREESTYLE TRICK EVER, INDOOR NATIONALS, AND THE AWESOME RED LINE TEAM.
Main race photograph caption:
“Corona raceway was the BEST. The tight competition between Lee Medlin (No. 354 and the original GT rider), Eddy King (still on Torker), and Chris Hopkins (back there in the Jag outfit) was also.”
The second generation DG team was formed. Rich Osborne was behind the DG desk, signing Clint Miller (a hot up-and-comer), Sal Zuener (the hottest dude back east—NBL Nat. No. 1), and Kyle Fleming (one of the fastest lil’ twirps EVER and ABA Nat. No. 1 amateur). Toby Henderson hooked a ride with DG towards the middle of the year, and Jeff Bottema was still the main man. Do you see any connection there?
Yup . . . later that year, Toby and Jeff parted company with DG, only to get an offer from Raleigh one month later. The terrible twosome of the “Coca-Cola Cowboy” and Bottema became two of the first BMX’ers to tour and travel all over Europe on a bicycle company’s tab.
The hottest amateurs to bout it out on the track were 13-year-olds Eddy King (Torker), Chris Hopkins (Jag), and Lee Medlin (GT). These three diced and sliced the whole year for No. 1.
Richie Anderson (Patterson Racing) and Jason Jenson (Torker) were annihilating their competition, too. Oh, . . . they had been doing that for the last coupla years, but their time was finally coming around.
The first Haro plate to appear on the cover of BMXA was December 1978, with Brent Patterson. It blew minds. It looked hot. Everyone had to have one. NOW.
At that time, Bob was still making them in his bedroom, hand-bending them over the oven and using his trusty X-acto knife to cut ’em out. At first, real Factory Plates were rare, so copies and fakes were in abundance. But . . . there was nothing like the real thing!
John Crews photograph caption:
“If we were to take a vote as to who the raddest and smoothest jumper was since day one, John Crews would probably win by a landslide. Style for miles!”
May 1979 issue, the one with the Red Baron and Kornuts jumpin’ in front of thousands of football fans, also featured a small pictorial on Timmy Judge.
“The Judge,” who had some pretty hefty NBL titles from back east and was full-factory Thruster, did the unthinkable. Well, maybe thinkable, but never done before—a one-footer. Fiola and you guys . . . you know who to thank.
’79 could unofficially be the year of Bob Haro too. As we mentioned, he came out with his revolutionary number plate and also started copying skateboard tricks on his bikes. And from doing that first rock walk in the Jan./Feb. issue, Bob started off a million dollar industry called freestyle.
Just for the record, Stu Thomsen was featured in the Mar./Apr. issue doing (OH, my-gawd!) AERIALS! Stu was getting about one foot out, and was said to be pulling one-hander/one-footers too, but we never got a photo to verify that much insanity.
Harry Leary photograph caption:
“Dive bombing during practice for one of many football halftime races. It’s hard to believe Harry’s going to land on flat ground, isn’t it?”
Stu Thomsen photograph caption:
“And here he is, folks . . . Stompin’ Stu, doing his best imitation of a bowling ball. At first, everyone thought that it was absolutely necessary to NOT use a visor because it blocked your view. Can you see Fiola or Dominguez lookin’ like this now?”
Jag BMX, under the direction of the “fearless and flawless” Renny Roker (well, one out of two ain’t bad), sponsored and put on the first ever Jag World Championships in Indianapolis. This was later to become a short tradition and always a question of whether or not the title, “World Championships,” fitted.
The first W.C., which was actually at the end of 1978 (we’ll call it the beginning of ’79), had a $2500 pro purse, and was also the biggest race to date. Scott Clark took the cold hard cash here.
Races of this nature brought a whole new concept to BMX racing. Was indoor racing “Real BMX” without dirt? That question was asked over and over for the next few years, and since they don’t do it anymore, I think it was finally answered.
Red Line team photograph caption:
“Some of the heaviest of the heavies, all on one team! (Left to right) The young pro, Greg Hill, the legendary and newly bearded David Clinton, and the quickest dude to ever come from Oklahoma, Jeff Ruminer. Add Dennis Dain, Mike Bush, and Bob Hadley to the team and we’re talkin’ world domination!”
Imagine having a team right now, consisting of Pete, Ronnie, Tommy, and Ellis. It’d be the baddest, wouldn’t it? Well, the Red Line Team was comparable to that in 1979.
Stuffed inside the Red Line motorhome during that summer were Dave Clinton, Jeff Ruminer, Bob Hadley, Dennis Dain, and Greg Hill. AWESOME. You probably could guess that Red Line RULED BMX racing this year.
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The wording, capitalization, punctuation, answer choices, and observed spellings are preserved as published. Verification findings, source limitations, and supplemental evidence are documented separately rather than silently inserted into the source text.
________ “PRO-BABLY TRIPLED MORE THAN ANYONE IN THE SPORT”
____________________ WAS KNOWN AS “GIBEY”?
“________________ HAS SET AN EXAMPLE THAT IS CLEAN, HEALTHY, HONEST, AND COMPETITIVE.”
____________ WAS KNOWN AS “THE AVALANCE”.
T/F - BOBBY ENCINAS WON THE NO. 1 RIDER NORA CUP.
____________ DOES NOT CONDONE STUNT RIDING WITH BMX EQUIPMENT. OUR EFFORT IS IN RACING, NOT “CIRCUS ACTS.”
____________ WAS THE NORA CUP NO. 1 TEAM AWARD.
WHAT WAS THE NICKNAME OF THE KID WITH “SIZE 4 ½ FOOTPRINTS” HE WAS LEAVING ON AND OFF THE TRACK” (BMXA)?
Open the individual article transcription
Associated learning page: https://sites.google.com/view/lititzbmxinventorylist/learning-resources/quizzes/1980-bmx-history-quiz
Source: BMX Action, December 1986, pp. 36–37
Transcription basis: Supplied two-page magazine spread
Archive package version: 1.0
Prepared: July 19, 2026
Original headings, quotations, names, colloquial wording, capitalization, and visible punctuation are preserved as closely as the supplied image permits. Editorial navigation headings are placed in brackets only where useful to separate captions from the running text.
THE YEAR OF STU THOMSEN, THE KEVIN McNEAL CONTROVERSY, JASON JENSON, LOWER FINGER BRAKE LEVERS, AND SKATEPARK DISCOVERIES.
There’s probably one name that has been drilled into your head by now. Stu Thomsen. He’s wailed from the very beginning—ever since the first Yamaha Gold Cup. Because of that, it was pretty hard finding JUST ONE year to name after him.
We called Stu up and asked what he thought was his best year. What he would call the Year of Stu. He thought about it for a few seconds and answered, “From 1977 to 1982.” That’s probably true.
But we decided that since Stu won his first NORA Cup, got his first BMX ACTION cover, dominated BMX a little bit more than most years, won the ABA No. 1 pro title and the Cal Custom Van that went with it, and the No. 1 NBL plate, then 1980 must’ve been his year.
He ruled. What more can we say?
Jason Jenson photograph caption:
“The unforgettable Juicy Jaws, a.k.a Jason Jenson. It’s safe to assume that J.J. has probably tripled more than anyone in the sport.”
“In a time when the public images of many of the idols of our younger generation are dope-oriented, unwholesome, and sometimes freakish . . . Stu Thomsen has set an example that is clean, healthy, honest, and competitive.”
Bob Osborn
BMX ACTION, March 1980.
BMX Action Trick Team photograph caption:
“Little did they know what it’d start. Haro, R.L., and ‘The Beast.’ The original BMX ACTION Trick Team.”
Eddy King photograph caption:
“Eddy King has virtually been on top since he first started racing in 1976. Around this time (his 15-year-old era), Eddy flat hauled buns and blew the drawers off most everyone. Photo by Oz.”
Kevin McNeal’s all-out, what’s-a-brake?, kamikaze-style of taking turns made him BMX’s first bad guy. During this time, McNeal “took out” Stu in Texas, “munched” Schwinn’s Ted Guilmette in Vegas, and “bonzai-ed” into Brent Patterson in Elkhart. Kevin was a busy guy in ’80.
The ABA ended up suspending “The Corona Kid” from the next two nationals after Brent’s up-close encounter, and threatened if it happened again . . . six months. To break the suspense (I know you’re all dying to know), Kevin wound up cleaning up his act.
Not since Stevie Skibel has one kid (one LITTLE kid) done so much in BMX. He not only would tear up the track totally untouched, but his between-motos antics can never be forgotten! Remember the time in Grass Valley when he was playing with lizards? And that one race, in . . . where was it? Elkhart, Indiana—he had a buncha caterpillars crawlin’ all over him. Or how ’bout that time he pinned down Cathy Hanna and gave her a big smooch on the lips? He was the envy of everyone after that!
On and off the track, ol’ Juicy Jaws made footprints—size 4 1/2 footprints, to be exact.
Scot Breithaupt photograph caption:
“This is Scot Breithaupt. This is at Corona. This is during a race. This is on a 26 incher. This certain 26’er that Scot is styling on is the prototype O.M. Flyer. This is rad. This is a prime example of why the O.M. is legendary.”
Richie Anderson photograph caption:
“Richie ‘The Avalanche’ Anderson, always the guy to beat.”
Steve Giberson photograph caption:
“The bike made for a moose. Blithely sailing in the air like a Boeing 747 is resident editorial type at the time, Steve ‘Gibey’ Giberson. Mongoose’s ‘made-for-big-guys’ Moosegoose was pretty unique, in more ways than one.”
Brake levers, even though they may seem very infinitesimal, have gone through a variety of changes. Originally, everyone used the typical, bone stock, Dia-Compe lever, which were probably stolen off of their dad’s ten-speed. Around 1978, the “in” brake lever was one that was slightly bent and parallel to the bend of the handlebar.
Rollin’ around 1979, the levers got a new bend. Now they were totally underneath the grip, and there would usually only be enough room for two fingers on it. Can you guess who was on the scene to save all the BMX’ers from going through five levers until they got the right bend? Sure ’nough . . . Bob Haro.
The Haro lever was the major “brake-through.” It was an instant hit for the first year and a half. It was trick looking with those two finger slots and cool color combos when you mixed and matched. Hip and ahead of its time. Everyone dug on ’em, until they found out that it flexed a lot and limited stopping power.
Stu was officially the first person to ever do a drop-in, but Tinker was the first guy to ever do a real air, three feet out. Although most of his style consisted of jumping bowl-to-bowl, he still blew minds! This was at a time when skateboards had died, and all over the U.S. there were closed up, fenced-in, not-torn-down-yet skateparks. BMX’ers found ways to get in!
Soon, a whole new breed of cat would appear—pure concrete aerialists! Watch out for Watson . . .
“Cook Bros. does not condone stunt riding with BMX equipment. Our effort is in racing, not ‘circus acts.’ Furthermore, we feel these stunts should not be exposed to the young riding public.”
Craig and Gary Cook
Cook Bros. Racing
BMX ACTION, July 1980.
What they didn’t know then, huh?
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________ ENDED HIS ONE-MAN BOYCOTT OF THE ABA.
T/F - 1981 WAS THE FIRST YEAR OF TALLYING CRUISER POINTS.
TORKER’S OWNER WAS:
____________ PANTS WERE THE FASHION LEADER.
“TRASH CAN” WAS HIS NICKNAME?
____________ HELMETS BECAME “THE ONLY NOGAN-KNOCKER TO WEAR.”
THE FIRST PERSON TO PULL OFF A NO-FOOTER/ONE HANDER WAS:
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Source: BMX Action, December 1986 retrospective sequence
Likely page position: Approximately pp. 38–39, based on the immediately preceding 1980 spread; the supplied image crops or obscures the printed page numbers
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At this time, Greg Hill had just ended his one-man boycott of the ABA and was fresh off of Red Line. Even at 16, Greg was pretty unbeatable. (Heck, he was unbeatable at 14!) Note the Haro lower finger brake levers on Denny’s bike. Photo by Oz.
His year. His BEST year.
For some time now, Brent Patterson had been near the top, but not standing on the peak—maybe one step below. In 1980, he was looking strong. In 1981, he stood alone.
The elder Patterson bro went into ’81 with the ABA No. 1 pro title, plus a Trans Am. Brent continued his domination by not really winning every major biggie, but most of the ones in between. Brent also scarfed
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Brent Patterson, ruler of 1981.
The 1981 Team Torker. The main three somewhere in here are Jason Jenson, Mike King, and Clint Miller. That’s Steve Johnson, Torker’s owner, without a jersey.
The supplied right-hand page begins below its original upper edge. Only these visible fragments are preserved:
… what he called a “Young.” JMC always did have the stylish riders, didn’t they?
And, from the upper-right column:
… but he got to check out BMX on the big screen—the first time since “ON ANY SUNDAY.”
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arrived and delivered. It didn’t take too long before GT picked him up.
Clarence Perry, CW’s walking earthquake, had shown up here and there, and with the Pro Cruiser class, he finally found a home.
Showing up in a lot of B-pro mains was some squid called “Gibey.” His mama called him Steve. His competition called him tough. Oz called him “a warehouse boy done good.” Len Weed, BMXA’s mad editor at the time called him an Assistant Editor (for now).
Darrell Young became known as one of the smoothest guys to ever grace a BMX track. The guy was silk!
Stu, wowing the very excitable crowd in Nagoya, Japan. Stu had just gotten his second NORA Cup and Red Line got No. 1 team, so you could say that Stu was jumping for joy here.
Friends, Bob Medrano whippin’ into a Crews, and Frank “Wild Man” Post gettin’ tabled during halftime. At one time or another, these two guys held their own.
And one of the biggest locals-on-the-verge was Greg Grubbs. From outta nowhere (Nowhere, Nebraska), he showed up in a pro main. At first, people questioned if he was in the wrong moto. He wasn’t. And once the gate dropped, they never asked again. He twisted himself into weird positions off the track and got some good positions ON the track. Instant super star. Red Line jumped on him—figuratively speaking, of course.
I don’t think that any of us expected to see what we saw. All the BMX’er/movie goer knew from what Oz warned them, was that it was about a gang of kids jammin’ around on BMX bikes with some weird alien creature.
If you are anything like I am, then I know for a fact that when you walked out of the sticky-floored theatre, you were STOKED. Not only was E.T. an
[The continuation crosses into the cropped top-right portion and is incomplete in the supplied image.]
First off, let me mention that at this very instant in time, 26 inchers instantly became history. The 24 Wars had begun. Mongoose was the first
[The sentence continues through the cropped source region.]
“If you want to be the very best, then you have to get up Monday morning and put as much effort into it as you can. You have to want to win all week long.”
Greg Hill
BMX ACTION, July 1982.
to jump on it. Everyone else followed, which brings the cruiser controversy up to its present status.
GT Pro bars were a hot item, FUR sure. GT is said to have sold “close to a million.” (Slight exaggeration, maybe.) Red Line Flight cranks were also selling hotter than tanning-lamps in Alaska—the long awaited Flights became the ultimate crank to have if you had the ultimate cash flow.
Pedalin’ Lee Medlin. Him and Dennis Dain were the original factory GT riders. He jammed, up until ’85.
Pit bikes gained in popularity. Skyway came out with 16 inch Tuff’s, and it was the full-blown factory look to have your very own 16 incher to cruise around the pits between motos. And every once in awhile, if you could talk the track operator into it, you might get a pit bike race goin’!
And last but surely not least, the Premier helmets were laid down to rest when Bell came out with their tough and durable looking Moto III. It was mean. It was used by the best. It was the hot prod.
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NELSON CHANADY WAS PICKED UP BY _ AS A SPONSOR.
THE FIRST IBMXF RACE IN AMERICA WAS AT:
____________ LEE MEDLIN WAS HIS NICKNAME.
T/F - GT SOLD “CLOSE TO A MILLION” GT PRO BARS.
__________ WAS KNOWN AS “MR. SMOOTH”.
GREG HILL “OWNED 1982” BUT HE DIDN’T ____________ A LOT.
WHO WAS ARRESTED THE NIGHT BEFORE THE PONTIAC SILVERDOME RACES?
GREG GRUBBS CAME OUT OF ____________.
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Source: BMX Action, December 1986 retrospective sequence
Printed pages: 42–43
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Like the ad said . . . “What’s super fast and starts with a G?” The obvious answers, of course, were Geoff Scofield—the lil’ mighty midget; Greg Hill—the now-faster-than-a-greased-banana-peel pro; and GT—their sponsor.
This was at the same time that GT came out with those trick lookin’ jerseys, with the crooked yellow stripe zig-zagging across the chest. That jersey alone is an all-time classic!
Besides seeing Greg out front in just about every moto, semi, and main, you saw him on just about every page of the magazine, either in race shots or ads. Greg OWNED 1982.
He also didn’t shave a lot.
The race: Pontiac Silverdome. The rider: Harry Leary (who else?). The significance: This was the first IBMXF race on American soil, and not only did it have riders show up from ALL over the world, but it sported a five thou pro purse and Stompin’ Stu designed the track. WOW. Photo by Oz.
Sure. They’d been doing it for some time now, but this is when it really got dialed in, became a factor, an art form, or something like that.
Nelson Chanady, from Florida, had arrived and delivered. It didn’t take too long before GT picked him up.
Clarence Perry, CW’s walking earthquake, had shown up here and there, and with the Pro Cruiser class, he finally found a home.
Showing up in a lot of B-pro mains was some squid called “Gibey.” His mama called him Steve. His competition called him tough. Oz called him “a warehouse boy done good.” Len Weed, BMXA’s mad editor at the time called him an Assistant Editor (for now).
Darrell Young became known as one of the smoothest guys to ever grace a BMX track. The guy was silk!
Another Team Terrible Tour. We’ll let the picture speak for itself.
“Greg Hill. The business man. Totally concentrated. Peak physical condition. 100 percent support from GT. Psych totally dialed. Wants it more than anyone. Greg will own ’82.”
Oz, on his Pro predictions.
BMX ACTION, June 1982.
Mr. Smooth, himself. Darrell Young, doing what he called a “Young.” JMC always did have the stylish riders, didn’t they?
Stu, wowing the very excitable crowd in Nagoya, Japan. Stu had just gotten his second NORA Cup and Red Line got No. 1 team, so you could say that Stu was jumping for joy here.
Friends, Bob Medrano whippin’ into a Crews, and Frank “Wild Man” Post gettin’ tabled during halftime. At one time or another, these two guys held their own.
And one of the biggest locals-on-the-verge was Greg Grubbs. From outta nowhere (Nowhere, Nebraska), he showed up in a pro main. At first, people questioned if he was in the wrong moto. He wasn’t. And once the gate dropped, they never asked again. He twisted himself into weird positions off the track and got some good positions ON the track. Instant super star. Red Line jumped on him—figuratively speaking, of course.
I don’t think that any of us expected to see what we saw. All the BMX’er/movie goer knew from what Oz warned them, was that it was about a gang of kids jammin’ around on BMX bikes with some weird alien creature.
If you are anything like I am, then I know for a fact that when you walked out of the sticky-floored theatre, you were STOKED. Not only was E.T. an ultra cool thing (person?), but we got to check out BMX on the big screen—the first time since “ON ANY SUNDAY.”
First off, let me mention that at this very instant in time, 26 inchers instantly became history. The 24 Wars had begun. Mongoose was the first to jump on it. Everyone else followed, which brings the cruiser controversy up to its present status.
“If you want to be the very best, then you have to get up Monday morning and put as much effort into it as you can. You have to want to win all week long.”
Greg Hill
BMX ACTION, July 1982.
GT Pro bars were a hot item, FUR sure. GT is said to have sold “close to a million.” (Slight exaggeration, maybe.) Red Line Flight cranks were also selling hotter than tanning-lamps in Alaska—the long awaited Flights became the ultimate crank to have if you had the ultimate cash flow.
Pedalin’ Lee Medlin. Him and Dennis Dain were the original factory GT riders. He jammed, up until ’85.
Pit bikes gained in popularity. Skyway came out with 16 inch Tuff’s, and it was the full-blown factory look to have your very own 16 incher to cruise around the pits between motos. And every once in awhile, if you could talk the track operator into it, you might get a pit bike race goin’!
And last but surely not least, the Premier helmets were laid down to rest when Bell came out with their tough and durable looking Moto III. It was mean. It was used by the best. It was the hot prod.
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A TWO PAGE ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN IN BMXA CALLING A TRICK THE __________ BUT IT BECAME “THE LEARY.”
____________________ “PROCEEDED TO DESTROY THE AMATEUR CLASSES” BUT DIDN’T TURN PRO THIS YEAR.
____________ WAITED UNTIL THE LAST RACE OF ’83 TO TURN PRO.
T/F - GREG HILL WON HIS FIRST NORA CUP WHILE RIDING FOR HUTCH, THEN LAUNCHED GREG HILL PRODUCTS (GHP) IN OCTOBER ’83, AND BECAME A DAD IN DECEMBER.
$________ WAS UP FOR GRABS IN THE ESPN SERIES.
________________ BROKE HIS WRIST AT THE ESPN FINALS BUT STILL RACED WITH IT.
THE ________ TEN CAME OUT.
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Source: BMX Action, December 1986 retrospective sequence
Printed pages: 44–45
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BMX ACTION’S May 1983 issue premiered for the first time ever the Terrible Ten—our pick of the top ten amateur racers in the world. These guys were awesome, all outstanding in their classes. But best of all, they each went on to become some pretty hot pros.
Eddy King turned pro almost immediately after the article ran. The ESPN pro series was too tempting! Eddy fit right in with the big guys.
Gary Ellis waited ’til the last race of ’83 (the World Champs) to turn pro. At the Worlds (or should we say un-World Championships?), Ellis won B pro and the Pro Open. What a way to start out, eh?
Richie Anderson proceeded to DESTROY the amateur classes, while Darrell Young, Nelson Chanady, D.D. Leone, Mike Poulson, Rich Farside, Paul Gossrau, and Charlie Williams all tore up the track in their own time.
Red Line’s secret weapon, “Chicken George” Seevers. Could he remain fast? You know the answer to that one.
Every major manufacturer had a HUGE race team. This was the year of BIG BUDGETS! There were about ten different teams who we could argue about all day concerning who was REALLY the best.
The three hottest, most competitive, and most popular teams and bikes at the time were GT, Hutch, and Diamond Back. It was a toss-up.
Around this time, the people back East were calling it a “Judge.” The guys on the West Coast called it a “Leary,” except for some Nor. Cal.’ers who called it a “Medrano.” In-depth studies of the situation proved that it might be an “Utterback.” To top it all off, BMXA ran a two page spread on how-to-do the radical click-out, calling it a “Judge.” The controversy thickened. Letters were pouring in. Harry was steamed. Timmy was stoked.
After a bit of research, Harry Leary finally found the proof—a photo of himself doing the jump which outdated any other photo. Harry was awarded the signature jump and Timmy automatically started work on a new and improved jump for his namesake.
In ’83, BMX was riding high! Every manufacturer had a pretty hefty team, including Huffy. Pictured here in the midst of clearing some rad dub’s somewhere in St. Louis, during Round Three of the radical ESPN Pro Series, ahead of such hotdogs as Stu, Toby, Harry, and Eddy, is the hometown hero, John Piant. Photo by Oz.
’Round this time was when BMX’ers were freestylers too. The local pro at the track could do all of the gnarly tricks. ’Course the tricks weren’t THAT gnarly, back then, but . . . Greg Grubbs shows ya the old meaning of radness.
Skateparks came a long way since we first saw Stu doing his “Puddin’ Bowl Air.” Rich Sigur, demonstrates that you CAN wear a visor . . .
This was the deal: a seven race series, each one being televised on the ESPN sports/cable channel, a cool five grand up at the first six races, and $15,000 up for grabs at the seventh and final sucker. Every single pro and their brother (in Brent Patterson’s case) showed up.
“For the pros, if you win the ESPN series, you’re going to be the number one pro whether you get an NBL or ABA No. 1. This is the series for ’83.”
Harry Leary
BMX ACTION, September 1983.
Greg Hill won his very first NORA Cup at the beginning of the year. He was still dominating. Untouchable and riding for GT . . . those two things usually went together. In the middle of the year, at a national in Memphis, Greg hyper-extended his knee, but that didn’t stop him for too long.
Towards the end of ’83, things got real radical for Mista Hill. Around October, with the help of his dad, he started up GHP (Greg Hill Products). Soon after that, he won the ESPN Pro Series (above), which meant a new car. And even sooner after that (like within five hours time), Greg Hill became a father. Gregory Jonathan Hill was born on December 28, 1983.
That was some year, wasn’t it, Greg?!
Greg, who else?
Another up-and-comer who was feared by at least seven other dudes at each race, Billy Griggs.
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ERIC RUPE BEAT GREG HILL BY ___ POINTS TO WIN NBL NO. 1 PRO.
**THE PRIDE OF CW RACING WAS __
____________ WAS A HUGE UP-AND-COMER WHO HAD UPS-AND-DOWNS, AND JOINED PRO NECK.
T/F - GREG HILL WON HIS SECOND NORA CUP, BUT HIS FIRST WEARING A GHP JERSEY.
RONNIE ANDERSON SIGNED WITH ____________.
____________________ WAS “SOME YOUNG PUNK” WHO WAS “MOVING UP” AND BATTLING IT OUT WITH THE KING - EDDIE FIOLA.
T/F TOMMY BRACKENS STARTED THE SEASON WITH TORKER & ENDED WITH HIS OWN COMPANY, TOMMY BRACKENS PRODUCTS (TBP).
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Source: BMX Action, December 1986 retrospective sequence
Printed pages: 50–51
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I think it’s safe to say that this was the worst year for BMX. Not because the racing lacked and no one was any good—that wasn’t the case. The quantity of riders lacked, not the quality.
People will testify that the decline was because of freestyle. Maybe. A lot of things happened in the freestyle world in 1984. The Potts Mod came out, FREESTYLIN’ magazine made its debut, and most of the smart manufacturers started making freestyle bikes. The June 1984 issue of BMX ACTION had a special section on freestyle, introducing all of the above, and sending a new wave across America. Yup. Freestyle had arrived.
The King of Skateparks series was going full-bore. Matter of fact, going to one of the events was one of the most happening places to be or things to do in ’84.
Eddie Fiola was the current King, but some young punk by the name of Mike Dominguez was moving up. And we do mean UP. Those two battled it out bigtime.
Hugo Gonzales was going crazy, doing something more insane at every contest, and a new guy named Dave Vanderspek from San Francisco was introduced. Brian Blyther and Brian Deam were making their presence known. Even with a cast on his arm at one of the K.O.S. events, Blyther was airin’! Rich Sigur looked hot, too. Possibly that October ’83 cover did it . . .
Mike Buff was out for a quarter of the year with a broken ankle. Everyone missed him.
“There are a few people in the industry who think freestyle can surpass BMX racing in popularity. Will it? It’s too soon to tell, but one thing’s for sure. It’s gonna jam!”
BMX ACTION, June 1984
Some other San Francisco hot dogs were also moving up in the freestyle world. I said hot dogs—not Curb Dogs. Ron Wilkerson and Rich Avella of the 2-Hip Trick Team had just hooked up a deal with GT when BMX ACTION showed how ’dem Nor. Cal. boys do it (Aug. ’84).
Nothing feels better than being mobbed by multitudes of fans. Can you believe that all these kids are going berzerk over a sweaty and smelly glove?
The pride of CW Racing, “Pistol Pete” Loncarevich. In August 1984, Pete was quoted as saying, “I can dominate in the pro class if I just keep on it hard. I might not win every time, but I’ll beat them more than they’ll beat me.” Four months later, Pete won No. 1 ABA.
Like I said earlier, the racing never lacked. Greg Hill was still at the top of the pile. He won his second NORA Cup in a row, this being his first one with GHP. Everyone still loved him, even without a GT jersey.
Toby Henderson joined SE. Shawn Texas, a HUGE up-and-comer who had his ups-and-downs, joined Pro Neck. After jammin’ for some time under the colors of Profile, Eric Rupe hopped back over to Mongoose. Rupe ended up being NBL No. 1 pro for 1984, beating out Greg Hill by 31 points.
Raleigh had their HUGE team going . . . a little late in the game, but welcomed with open arms none-the-less. Torker even tried for the ol’ comeback scene, getting some pretty hefty names such as Mike Miranda, Tommy Brackens, and Richie Anderson.
CW’s Pete Loncarevich finally decided between being a hot BMX racer or a bass-player in a rock-a-billy band. You know which one he picked, don’tcha?
Enter Ronnie Anderson. After switching around back and forth with sponsors, Ronnie finally came out from behind his little brother’s shadow and into the light. He signed with Zeronine and began to look like a force to be reckoned with.
If only we knew what we were in for!
His time was coming. Torker’s Tommy Brackens, was off and on in ’84. At the end of the year, he was off Torker and on GT.
Closing in on nine feet. Mike Dominguez, in his early days—back when he was getting “small” airs.
The hot ticket in 1984 was to have a white frame and fork. Chrome was dead. White was rad.
Also hot on the market were CW Phaze One frames. The VERY unique lightning bolt down tube got everyone’s attention.
Dyno pants, partially due to the freestyle craze, caught on in a big way, giving the now legendary Haro pants a run for the money. We think it was a toss-up. Dyno got the freestyle end of it, Haro took racing.
In the past, the only grip you ever thought of putting on the tips of your bars were Oakleys. Well, for a little while, Grab-On’s were hot, but face the facts . . . Oakley OWNED the grip industry. But here came A’ME with every type of grip under the sun, used by every BMX’er in the universe. No one can deny that A’ME grips were cool for a change!
Toby Henderson went over to SE.
Check out these experts! That’s Richie Anderson (Patterson) steppin’ off ever so gracefully, and Travis Chipres (Robinson) is also in there, havin’ lunch. Photo by Oz.
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____________________ WAS THE CLOSEST CHALLENGER TO NO. 1 GREG HILL IN THE NBL.
____________________ WAS THE CLOSEST CHALLENGER TO NO. 1 GREG HILL IN THE USBA.
________________ MADE AN EXCLUSIVE DEAL WITH SKYWAY TO MAKE LAVENDER TUFFS.
TOMMY BRACKENS’ NICKNAME WAS:
________________________ LEFT THE BMX ACTION TRICK TEAM TO GO TO CW.
“THE AWARD FOR MOST CONTROVERSIAL RIDER IN THE ENTIRE TEN YEARS OF BMX GOES TO…” __________________________
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Source: BMX Action, December 1986 retrospective sequence
Printed pages: 56–57
Transcription basis: Supplied two-page magazine spread
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Freestyle was massively peaking. There were more trick teams on tour than ever before, there were freestyle frames out, and instead of taking away the BMX’ers to make them into freestylers, a whole new breed of kids—ones who had never ridden a bike before—showed up in the streets to style.
The total highlight of ’85 was the colors that popped up. CW made an exclusive deal with Skyway to make lavender Tuffs, which were soon followed by light green, orange, pink, etc. . . . Red Line had some radical new colors like turquoise and raspberry on their frames. This was definitely a bright year!
Also, new and advanced freestyle tricks that had a major effect on the F/S world premiered. BMX ACTION gave the public the Miami Hopper, the Osborn Twirl, the Switzerland Squeaker, the frame plant, and the hop drop, just to name a few.
Mike Buff blew minds when he quit the BMX ACTION Trick Team to go to CW and their lavender love crew. I remember when it happened . . . the BMX world was shocked!
Meanwhile, Haro’s Ron Wilton took Buffy’s place on the team, and R.L. and Ronnie made the BMXA video and prepared for the annual summer tour. Little did anyone suspect that it would be the LAST tour the BMX ACTION Trick Team would ever make.
Tommy Brackens goes bigtime! A brand spankin’ new ride with GT, soon after Torker bit the dust was all the “Human Dragster” needed. He’s been on the gas ever since! Photo by Gibey.
And the award for most controversial rider in the entire ten years of BMX goes to . . . (envelope please), Ronnie Anderson!
Another year, another March issue—which means another NORA Cup. Can you believe that Greg Hill won it AGAIN? Three in a row! It was undeniably mind boggling to think that a guy at his age (21) could do so much and get so far. Only in BMX.
Clint Miller joined Greg on GHP for the first part of the year—the dynamic duo. Most of the factories were cuttin’ way down on their race teams in order to make up for starting a freestyle force.
At this point in time, Pete Loncarevich was rising to super stardom faster than a Porsche 959 on the Autobahn. Pete had scarfed on the ABA No. 1 Pro title in a real amazing finish. It looked as if Pete was the main man to beat in ’85.
Pete, Ronnie Anderson, and Tommy Brackens were stealing the show. Actually, it was “Crazy Ronnie” and “Pistol Pete” headlining the shows, with Tommy opening up for them. Pete and Ronnie’s names stuck together like Woody and Martin did in freestylin’—only one difference, though . . . they weren’t friends!
But when it came down to the end of the year, Greg was up there in the No. 1 NBL and USBA spots. Pete was the closest challenger to Greg in the NBL and Toby Henderson was closest to Greg in USBA.
Greg swept the USBA Grands, going away with two No. 1’s: Pro and Cruiser. Next stop was Louisville for the NBL Grands. When it was all over, everyone thought that Greg got No. 1 Cruiser and Pete got No. 1 Pro . . . That meant Greg had three No. 1 plates, which was darn good for being invisible most of the year. Then a few weeks later, after re-counting the points, it was discovered that the NBL had made a mistake in points, giving Pete too many—just enough to give Greg his fourth No. 1 Pro plate.
Pete went into the ABA Grands with a smidgen of a lead over Ronnie Anderson. All weekend long, they battled it out elbow to elbow until it got
[The supplied spread ends this paragraph mid-sentence.]
An artist at work. For years, Mike Miranda studied John Crews. It shows.
Geoff Scofield has won so many races at so many places, that he’s probably traveled more miles than most thirty-year-old businessmen. Not bad for being 12, huh?
Never, and we do mean NEVER, has there been a girl who’s as fast as Cheri Elliott. She’s one of da’ kind. Three time ABA National No. 1 girl.
“That year (’85) was the best year I’ve ever had. The best year ANYONE ever had.”
Greg Hill
BMX ACTION, May 1986.
Jumping insanity by one of the masters, BMX ACTION’s test thrasher, “Capt. Kirk” Chrisco. The guy flew off the wall until injuries took their toll. But ya never know when the Captain will return . . .
Open the individual quiz transcription
Live learning page: https://sites.google.com/view/lititzbmxinventorylist/learning-resources/quizzes/1986-bmx-history-quiz
Transcription basis: Supplied standalone quiz image and supplied full-page capture
Archive package version: 1.0
Prepared: July 19, 2026
The wording, capitalization, punctuation, answer choices, and observed spellings are preserved as published. Verified answers and archival findings are documented separately rather than silently inserted into the published quiz text.
THE FLOGGIN’ ZONE GOT FLATTENED ___ MONTH(S) AFTER BEING FEATURED IN BMXA.
__________ HAD HIS BEST YEAR EVER - WITH A WIN AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ENGLAND.
WHO IS QUOTED IN BMXA AS SAYING “THEY KNOW THAT CRAZY RONNIE ACTS LIKE THAT, AND THAT SOMETHING STUPID IS GOING TO HAPPEN. HE’S GOING TO ACT STUPID.” - ______________________________
IT WAS KNOWN AS “THE YEAR OF _____ SPONSORS.”
____________ WAS THE BMXA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR.
________________ “WAS THE FASTEST GIRL IN THE WORLD.”
Open the individual article transcription
Associated learning page: https://sites.google.com/view/lititzbmxinventorylist/learning-resources/quizzes/1986-bmx-history-quiz
Source: BMX Action, December 1986 retrospective sequence
Printed pages: 62–63
Transcription basis: Supplied two-page magazine spread
Archive package version: 1.0
Prepared: July 19, 2026
Original headings, quotations, names, colloquial wording, capitalization, and visible punctuation are preserved as closely as the supplied image permits.
Here we go! We’re up to the present. Most of you should be familiar with what happened this year but I’ll give ya a summary just in case you were asleep.
The main sub-title of 1986 had to be “The year of no sponsorships.” In January, there was a HUGE shopping list of dudes looking for rides. Skyway dropped their race team to go all out in freestyle, Diamond Back cut WAY back to make room for picking up Mike Dominguez, and some riders just had disputes with their current sponsor, leaving them with nowhere to go except to a bike shop.
The infamous “A-Team” had a rough year with sponsors. Richie Anderson was fresh off of Skyway and brother Ronnie had a verbal dispute with Zeronine, so both of them were shopping for the majority of the year. They had the winning attitude, but no ride.
Rick Palmer and Matt Hadan were the two guys to get the “D.B. Dump.”
Cheri Elliott, the fastest girl in the world, after being casually released from Skyway, decided it was easier to just quit the sport while on the top than to shop for a ride.
And Jon Anderson, the kid who has totally grown up with the sport and raced for Red Line a total of seven years, got the boot. Of course, he had nowhere to go, and decided to turn pro—no use paying your own way to win a trophy. And did he go fast? HECK YEAH! Anderson TORE the track up, and after demolishing the B pro class a few times, CW made room.
Hey . . . the story goes on! So, there Jon was—his first CW race, a chance at turning AA—and what happens? He broke his ankle. After two months out, Jon returned with a plastic splint, and still destroyed his class.
I’ll take this opportunity to name Jon as the Rookie of the Year for ’86.
In March, Gary Ellis and Mike King were dropped by Huffy. Although Mikey automatically went to Haro, Gary spent about two months solo, which still doesn’t make any sense to this day. Gary is a cool guy, pretty quiet, and QUICK! In May, when GT finally picked Ellis up, everyone knew that with Brackens AND him, GT would have the most awesome team of the year.
After a few court dates between him and CW concerning whether or not he breached his contract by signing with Haro, all was fine for “Pistol Pete.” He made Haro look good for their first year in BMX racing, and didn’t do himself too bad, either.
“They know that Crazy Ronnie acts like that, and that something stupid is going to happen. He’s going to act stupid.”
Pete Loncarevich
BMX ACTION, July 1986.
In his last days with Zeronine, Ronnie Anderson proved the old Confucius saying of, “He who hath good lead need not knock people down and be more able to show style.”
BMX went underground! Locals on the rise in Zellwood, Florida. Photo by Windy.
He’s still there, in the lead. “He,” being “Stompin’ Stu.” But the main thing to scope on in this photo is second place Darrell Young. Look at the back tire. Now imagine that D.Y. is pedaling in midair. POWER and SPEED and STYLE!
Billy Griggs at the famous and legendary local thrashin’ grounds in So. Cal., Parks. One month after BMX ACTION featured the floggin’ zone, it got flattened. Word has it that Parks II will be back sometime this winter.
During ’85, it seemed as if Tommy was out front a bunch of times, only to bail somewhere along the way. Well, that’s not the story this year! “The Human Dragster” had his best year ever—the highlight being the World Championships in England where he prevailed, dethroning teammate Gary Ellis.
Pete Loncarevich and Ronnie Anderson continued their battles. The major one being at the Scottsdale ABA Winternationals in February, where Pete ghost rode his bike into Ronnie, successfully taking Ronnie out in front of a very appalled and riotous crowd. Pete 1, Ronnie 1 (remember the Grands?).
[The supplied spread ends while the 1986 retrospective continues.]