Bmxunderground.com Your home for everything BMX!

BMX RACING TO BE FEATURED ON NBC'S TODAY SHOW - WATCH IT ON APRIL 30

On April 30, NBC, the official US Olympic broadcaster for the 2008 Games, is giving BMX its 15 minutes of fame. The NBC Today Show, which is expected to draw more than 6 million viewers, will be filmed �Live� from Rockefeller Plaza in downtown, New York City. Two separate live segments will be filmed to showcase the sport and create hype for the Olympics.

You might even see Meredith Vieira aboard a GT or Free Agent bike and she�ll be joined by several other co-hosts and three well-known Olympic Hopefuls; Kyle Bennett, Donny Robinson and Arielle Martin. A few younger riders will also be featured on the program to give the audience a true perspective on the sport, so be sure to watch the whole show.

The project was coordinated in part by NBC, NBL, ABA, and proudly sponsored by Free Agent Bicycles, GT Bicycles, Fly Racing, Fire-Magic Premium Grills, Jig-A-Loo, and Pro-Gate.

Here are the exciting details:
The Track: Mini-First straight, approx 120�, with a roller and 16� set of doubles. A modified 2-person start gate, emulating the Olympic gate, will be perched on a special start-ramp to showcase the start. The track will be built by Tom Ritzenthaler, who built the Olympic track in Beijing, China.

Date: April 30
Time (EST): 7-11am
Location: Rockefeller Plaza, NYC
Program: NBC Today Show
Confirmed Hosts: Meredith Vieira / Kenan Harkin, NBC Olympic Color Analyst
Athletes: Kyle Bennett, Donny Robinson, Arielle Martin
Attendees: Bob Tedesco, Kevin O�Brien, Staff / NBL, BA Anderson, Staff / ABA, Kenan Harkin / NBC BMX Olympic Analyst, Tom Ritzenthaler, Olympic Track Builder
Sponsors: NBL, ABA, USA Cycling, Free Agent, GT, Fly Racing, Fire-Magic Premium Grills, Jig-A-Loo and Pro-Gate.

First State BMX is proud to announce that Elizabeth "Lightning Liz" Passwaters, one of Delaware's favorite local Amatuer Girl's will be making her debut as an American Bicycle Association(ABA) sanctioned Girl Pro at First State BMX on Saturday May 3rd. Liz will be having an autograph session at First State BMX at 6:00 PM prior to the evenings race.

Liz will be the first girl ever from the State of Delaware to become an ABA Girl Pro. First State BMX will be running a Girl's Pro-Am race to celebrate this moment. Liz will be competeing against some of the top girl riders in the region to kick off her Pro career. The Pro-Am is open to all ABA Girl Pro and Amatuer girl riders 15 years of age and older.

First State would like to invite everyone to come out to the track at 1045 N Walnut St in Milford, DE to help celebrate this spectacular accomplishment of one of Delmarva's top athletes.

To learn more about Liz Passwaters visit www.lightningliz.com

About First State BMX:
First State BMX is an American Bicycle Association Sanction BMX race track located in Milford DE. First State holds weekly local races as well as regional and national events throughout the year. For more information visit us at http://www.firststatebmx.com. For information about the American Bicycle Association please visit http://www.ABABMX.com

LET 5 “New England” is set to hit the road in April with another talented list of pro’s and once again we will be in search of the best BMX freestyle riders that the region has to offer. Our sponsors have stepped in and provided some awesome packages for champions at each stop and goodies for everyone who comes out. We hope to see you there!

Stop 2.
X-Treme Wheels, Buffalo N.Y.
April 26th, stars around 1pm
xtreme-wheels.com

Stop 3.
Haven Skatepark, Norh Haven C.T.
havenskatepark.com
April 27th, starts around 2pm

Stop 4.
Skaters Edge, Taunton M.A.
skatersedgeinc.com
May 2nd, starts arouns 5pm

Stop 5.
Secret Spot in Western Mass
If you can Find It You Can Come
Mar 3rd, starts around 1pm

Allan Cooke
Marcos Torres (LET 4 Champion)
Josh Harrington
Anthony Napolitan
Ryan “Biz” Jordan
Russell Barone
Brian Hunt
Ben Wallace
Shaun Real

Thanks to all the people that emailed from the website (www.localexposuretour.com) requesting us to come to their park! 2009 LET will be in The Great North West! See you on the road!

WHEN: Saturday only - July 12th
WHERE: Oak Creek BMX in Roseville, CA. During the ABA Summer Nationals
WHO: West Coast Vintage Collectors who can`t make it to Rockford; this one`s for you. (You East Coasters, Central dudes & International E-Bayers are invited as well!)

WHAT & WHY: Bring your bikes to display, meet other collectors, swap & sell parts, and vote for “Best Bikes of Show” in multiple categories.
Last year, we had over 150 bikes from all over the West Coast. This is now an annual West Coast tradition you can count on; bringing out some of the most rare BMX bikes from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s! Vintage Bike registration begins at 7am, Saturday morning.

Throughout the day, spectators and fellow collectors will be voting for their favorite bikes in the following categories:

AWARDS: Later that night (approx. 7:00pm) at the unofficial home of the first few ABA BMX Museums - PATRIOT BIKE SHOP will host the traditional Awards Banquet. Top-5 finalists of each of the 8 categories will be announced in “Academy Award” fashion, with envelopes ripped open by Nor Cal BMX legends and ABA Hall of Famers. Winners will be handed a customized Redline FLIGHT Crank trophy, to add to their collection.

Pizza and pop included; courtesy of the Patriot Bike Shop, the Barrette Bros. & Redline Bicycles. Dairy Queen restaurant next door.

For Directions to OAK CREEK BMX track, go to ABABMX.com

See you there - Saturday, July 12th.

Be glued to your boobtube, or set your TiVo’s – because this Friday at 9pm on RUSH HD-TV is the premiere of MOTIVATED; starring none other than Redline’s 3-time ABA No.1 Pro BUBBA HARRIS.

Friday February 8th @ 9PM ET/PT
In the case of this must-see series, “MOTIVATED” means obsessed, possessed, adrenaline-hooked, fixated and consumed. You won’t believe your eyes or ears when you meet “extreme” athletes addicted to risk-taking and boundary-pushing for fame and glory.

MOTIVATED episode 1: Bubba Harris
“BMX Rider Bubba Harris overcomes the untimely death of his mother to rank among the world’s elite."

Be sure to tune in, or set your recorder. BMX Racing in high-def – this’ll be one show you won’t want to miss!

REDLINE WELCOMES BROCK HEFFRON; SPORTS ILLUSTRATED for KIDS “ATHLETE OF THE YEAR”

Kent, WA: Last year, after winning the UCi Worlds – Arizona’s BROCK HEFFRON was voted “Youth Athlete of the Year” by the readers of Si for Kids (and a little help from the BMX community). He was then pictured on the front cover with one of his heroes; Colts QB Payton Manning. Right before his SI for Kids cover-shoot, Brock broke his arm playing pop-warner football – and was unable to finish his chase for ABA’s 2007 National No.1 Amateur and Cruiser titles.

Now healed up and practicing for his return to the ABA national circuit, BROCK HEFFRON has teamed up with REDLINE Bicycles. He made his debut in the red, white and black at the recent NBL Coyote National – where he won with virtual ease.

"My goal is to continue to be a World Champion and to be a National No.1,” Brock recently told BMXactionOnline.com in his first interview on Redline. “And my plan is to someday be as good as Bubba Harris.”

Noteworthy, is the fact that Brock won his first National as a Novice aboard a stock 2004 (30th Anniversary Edition) Redline Flight Junior bike. Proving true once again, the Redline slogan of “It all starts with a Redline.”

Keep an eye out for Heffron this season, as he plans to continue the winning streak of last year that was cut short due to a football injury.

SE Bikes is stoked to announce our newest dirt/street/park rider, Pat “Lumpy” Laughlin. Coming out of Bensalem, PA, Pat is able to tear it up on any terrain that comes his way. When not doing shows for Hell on Wheels or the Freecycle teams, Lumpy is usually found in his back yard which is home to some of the biggest dirt jumps on the East Coast.

Just after hooking up with SE Bikes, Pat threw a benefit jam at his trails to raise money for Stephen Murray, a fellow BMXer who had a career ending injury in 2007. After riding all day Saturday at the benefit, he went on to the Red Bull “Down and Dirty” contest in Asbury Park, NJ. Not only was Pat on the winning team, but he also won the Best Trick award. Pat donated his winnings to the Stephen Murray Fund.

Pat will be hitting dirt, park and street contests as well as traveling this year doing shows at events ranging from school shows to NASCAR races. Keep an eye out for this kid in ’08.

2008 will mark the 5^th year that we take Local Exposure Tour (LET) on the road. We have some amazing things planned for the pros and the participants! We are looking for your support to determine where we take LET in 2008!

Email us at letusknowwhatsup@localexposuretour.com and speak up if you want us to come to your local park! Based on where we have traveled in the past, 2008 is going to either visit the North West (Southern CA, Oregon, Washington) or the North East (Greater New England area).

2007 was an amazing tour with the most pro riders we have ever had on the road at once and the biggest prize for amateur riders who participated in the tour. “The Golden Ticket” Champion Marcos Torres received flight and hotel for the first two stops of the AST Dew Tour Qualifiers and he is still enjoying a full year of product from most LET sponsors.

Local Exposure Tour is a creation of pro BMX rider Allan Cooke that puts some of the top pros in BMX Park, Street and Dirt on a RV for a road trip before the contest season begins at the end of April. The purpose of the trip is to have fun, but along the way discover some of the best in unknown amateur BMX riders and give them exposure from the BMX Magazines, sponsors web sites, Fuel TV and year end DVD that we produce. The pros will visit six bike parks in the duration of the tour and at each stop pick one rider that impressed them the most. At the end of the tour an overall champion will be chosen by the pro riders and a huge package of travel money and product sponsorship will be won! On top of all the goods the Champion will also be invited to attend the next years LET on the RV with all the pro riders.

Over here at SE Bikes we have some new shirt designs for 2008. I will keep you posted with others. All shirts come in sizes Men’s small, medium, large, XL and XXL for riders of all sizes. MSRP’s are as follows:

Feel free to contact me with any further questions or comments on the shirts or any SE Bikes products.

Despite not having BUBBA HARRIS in the hunt for a fourth No.1 Pro plate, the ‘07 ABA GRANDS was still another great one for the red, white and black.
Coming in to Tulsa’s Thanksgiving tradition, JASON CARNE$ was up for a record-tying 6th consecutive No.1 Vet Pro title, and the 16 year old DeSoto powerhouse DENZEL STEIN was again within grasp of the illustrious No.1 Amateur plate. Also, DAKOTA SENGER and ANTHONY DeROSA were both out to nab a NAG No.1 plate for the year.

WEDNESDAY: As always, the 5 days of action-packed BMXin’ began in the banquet hall with BMX Hall of Fame inductions and Golden Crank Awards.

For starters, two more past REDLINE legends made it in to the Hall of Fame; DENNIS DAIN and GREG GRUBBS. Both of these guys helped put Redline on the map in the 70’s and 80’s. They are true ambassadors to the sport and it was great to see them recognized for their early contributions to the sport of BMX.
Next came the Golden Cranks; voted on by our peers - the ABA membership. For TEAM of the YEAR, Redline’s small 6-rider squad took the gold Crank trophy for the second time ever. And for PRO of the YEAR; it was the guy who puts in more time on a BMX track doing BMX Clinics than any other AA-pro - BUBBA HARRIS. The Grands was Bubba’s first race back since his foot-injury in Beijing, and being handed his fifth Golden Crank was a nice way to welcome him back to the circuit.
We’d like to thank all of those who voted for Redline and Bubba! Winning this award means as much to us as a No.1 title, since it is voted on by the riders and fans.
…
THURSDAY: Practice day with time in between to hit up Subway for a turkey sub (no mayo, please).
…
FRIDAY: Throughout Friday was the ROC (Race of Champions), and Redline riders and bikes were out front aplenty. Among the standouts would be Oregon’s determined one; DAKOTA “The ROBOT” SENGER. A “double,” with wins in both 11x and 11cruiser, was a good way to start off the long weekend of highspeed thrills and spills. Following up Dakota was ANTHONY DeROSA, with a 2nd in 12cruiser and an impressive 12x victory. Those three red-background No.1 plates will look pretty sweet on their new hightech ’08 Flight bikes.
Oh; we can’t forget our supercharged Japanese import MASA SAMPEI, who scored himself a 3rd in 17-20 cruiser.

…
FRIDAY NIGHT: The annual Pro Spectacular and NAG Challenge takes place immediately after the ROC; where the qualified Pros from the day move on to the big ticket finale. To our delight, JASON CARNE$ was in the final. But to our disappointment, he placed 8th after a tangle-up in the 1-lap main. But the big story here was DENZEL STEIN; who was the crowd favorite in the special invitational Amateur challenge.
Denzel was pumped for this race and proved his point by winning it by nearly half a straightaway! Up for the prizes was a Redline road bike, the carbon-fiber rear’ed R-760 (msrp: $1,200) … and coincidentally, it just so happened to be in Denzel’s size.
…
SATURDAY: First round of motos went well for the entire Redline team with 90% of the guys qualifying out. Plenty of time to sign autographs, check out the huge ABA Vendor row, or just chill out in the plush Redline pits with friends, family and teammates.
…
SUNDAY: It’s the BIG day that everyone has been waiting 11 months for; where ABA’s eight National Championships are decided in the main events. In the Redline camp this year, our chances for some big silver cups were in the Vet Pro (Carne$) and Amateur (Denzel) title chases, with a slim longshot for No.1 Cruiser (Senger & DeRosa).
Already with 5 Vet Pro titles under his weight belt, JASON CARNE$ had his work cut out to win a record-tying 6-in-a-row title. In ABA history, only Eric Rupe had been able to dominate for more than half a decade. And with new Vets John Whipperman, Greg Romero and Dale Holmes joining the class this year, Jason and his Flight Pro XL have been putting in overtime to make podiums, score wins and remain in the points chase. After 11 months of racing, it would all came down to these final three mains Sunday evening.
For those who know Carne$, he doesn’t give up easy. With the very No.1 plate that he has zip-tied to his bars for the past 5 years on the line, he handled the pressure like the Champ he is, and against all odds, held on to it with a crazy 3rd main win. Miraculously, “The Horny Toad” made it 6 in a row!

In the Amateur chase, the 16 Expert class was low in rider-count; compared to 17-18 and 19-27 Expert. To get the No.1 Am title, Denzel would need two things to happen: First, he MUST win his main. And secondly, something drastic would have to happen to the top dogs in those larger age divisions.
Only one of those things Denzel could control; and that was winning the 16x main. He did just that, as if it were an encore performance from Friday night’s NAG Challenge.
From there, it’s just crossing your fingers, hoping and praying for luck to come your way, and sweatin’ it out. There was a glimmer of hope as the Amatuer points leader failed to make it to the 19-27x finale’. And it looked as if the only rider standing in the way of Denzel and the silver Cup was Phantom~OnTrac’s Nic Long in 17-18x. And in the 8-man main with Long was Redline’s top Japanese superstar, Masa Sampei. Could Masa be the hiro; and keep the win way from Long, while simultaneously giving Denzel the title? It would’ve been a great story if he had, but just like Denzel was in 16x, Long was unbeatable this weekend.
And so, once again, for the second year in a row, DENZEL STEIN will strap a National No.2 plate to his Redline Bubba Harris bars. Or, when he feels like it, he can run the familiar grey-background NAG No.1 plate that he has earned now for three years straight.
…
With one silver Cup, a Nag Challenge win, two Golden Crank awards, and a rack full of Grands podium finishes - all in all, it was a great way for Team REDLINE to wrap up the ’07 BMX season.
We would like to congratulate the many riders who made their mains on a Redline bike, and virtually high-five those who podium’ed in Tulsa on a Proline or Flight bike.

REDLINE couldn’t have done it without the loyal support from: SHIMANO, SUN RIMS, TIOGA tires, KOOL STOP brakeshoes, PRYME safety gear, and ALIENATION saddles.

Transit Race 10 is ready for sale at better bike shops or direct from www.stileindustries.com

TR 10 might be the best Trasnit Race DVD yet. The perspective section with Donny Robinson might be the most revealing interview Transit has done so far. He had a lot of fun doing the interview and wasn't afraid to try anything to get a laugh. "Hi I'm Donny Robinson, Elite Men." "Hey Transit, Welcome to my parent's crib." "Donny Robinson watches Transit Race DVDs every morning for breakfast(With his gloves on), maybe you should too."

The races included are from Nellis, Albuquerque, ABA Grands, Columbus, Reno, Guthrie, Boulder City, Black Mountain, and Orlando. The crash section has some of the funniest and best crashes yet. You can witness Paulie Lange defy death yet again(hint: waterslide), the AA pros settle the score on the Go Kart track and much more. All the top AA pros were watching it intensely at the Premiere last weeknd in Tulsa. Parent's remember that Transit Race DVDs make great stocking stuffers and baby sitters. With over an hour and 45 minutes of fast paced BMX action Transit Race DVDs will keep you entertained for hours on end.

Also be on the lookout for Transit : The First Years. Documenting the first years of Transit with never before seen footage on DVD. Plenty of Freestyle footage and some BMX racing including the biggest payout in BMX history.($58,000 and a Ford Ranger). It should be out for the Christmas Classic and Silver Dollar National.

For more info check out www.stileindustries.com or send me an email at stmbmx@aol.com

– Monterey, California –
BMX Racing is a dangerous sport. As with the majority of professional sports, the money earned is all-too-often not enough to make ends meet, let alone pay for something as expensive as medical bills. Professional BMX racer Joey Bradford has seen far too many fellow riders and industry professionals become engulfed in insurmountable medical bills stemming from injury or illness. For this reason, in early 2007, the then 17-year old racer took it upon himself to do something about it. With help from his family and key industry veterans, Bradford conceptualized and developed the Joey Bradford Disability Fund.

The Foundation, a federally recognized and regulated non-profit organization, aims to ease the burden of medical bills, either by injury or illness, for BMX professionals as well as BMX industry professionals, those whose primary income comes from the BMX industry itself. “Getting injured is the worst thing that can happen to a professional athlete,” states Professional BMX racer Brandon Meadows. “When I broke my femur for the second time, things seem to go downhill real fast. I just started a family, lost my sponsor, broke my leg, no way to make any money, and it soon came to a realization that it was going to be hard to make ends meet.”

Applicants must apply themselves or via a family member and their case will be reviewed by the five person Fund Committee. If the application is approved, up to 50% of the fund can be released to help with monetary medical obligations.

At this time, donations to the fund are welcome and invited. In the past, donations have usually been accepted after a rider is injured or takes ill. With this fund, donations can be made any time, at the donor’s convenience, plus all donations are tax deductible. Plus, donors will have the ability to donate to a specific injured or ill athlete or industry professional directly on the Fund site. “The Joey Bradford Disability Fund is something that our sport needs and to be perfectly honest, something that the sanctions and the riders should have set up a long time ago,” states Jason Richardson, Professional BMX racer. “Please do your part. Supporting this fund can inevitably help secure your very own future. Please take a few minutes to check it out. If you love BMX and are looking for an end-of-the-year tax write-off please donate.”

Joey Bradford has been working and training with USA Cycling and is a candidate for the 2008 and 2012 US Olympic BMX teams. Joey is the proud owner of 14 World Championship BMX titles, 12 National Championship BMX titles and, in MTB, 4 Sea Otter Classic Mountain Cross Championships. Joey is 18 years old, hails from Monterey, California and rides for GT Bicycles.

- News -