Ron and Dorothy Strasser
So true. even though we did not have bmx bikes when we were kids in eastern oregon.... our races were well organized and intense...just not on a bmx course....we races around sagebrush and really did not care if the rest of the family was there as long as the other kids showed up to race.... I do like the point about "not just a kiddie race". That is what the junior cyclocross series is all about. Racing bikes is fun no matter the bike from what I can tell. But I still feel I get a great deal of respect about bmx bikes from racing my bike on their course and in one form or another I assume the bmx group that raced the short track gained some respect for what the bigger wheeled bikes can do on the longer dirt and non-bmx sections. Shared experience. I just try to keep my wheels on the ground ...not in the air.
keep riding!
ron
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Johnson
To: Ron and Dorothy Strasser
Cc: OBRA
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 12:29 PM
Subject: Re: Salem Short Track and "other two wheeled avenues"
Hey Ron,
A couple of weeks ago I raced the Salem STXC. My son came along because he wanted to try riding on the BMX track.
Well. I think your comment about the STXC being a "neat window" for the BMX'ers to see other "two wheeled avenues" might be a little biased. :)
Indeed, that "window" works the other way too-- Adam Treadwell, the operator of the BMX track in Salem is a pretty neat guy and personally encouraged me to come back the following day and check out the Tuesday night BMX racing.
Well we did. And now my son is hooked and we've purchased his membership in the ABA. We went back the next week and I rented a BMX bike and now I'm hooked too! Rentals are available at the track for a measly $5, but you know how it is with bikes. Renting just isn't good enough. :)
The BMX races are very family-oriented. Just about everybody is pitching in and helping and Adam seems to know just about everybody out on the track. Everybody is very friendly but the competition is pretty fierce! The riding is loads of fun-- those little 20" bikes are completely different from a mountain bike.
So I'd suggest that anyone who thinks that BMX might only be a "gateway" to other cycling should take a good look the other way-- BMX is a whole ton of fun. and it's not just a kids sport. The great thing about BMX is that it's REAL racing for kids-- not just a "kiddie race" where everyone is thrown together and at the end "Yay! Everyone is a winner!" :)
Go check it out: www.capitolcitybmx.com. If you want to try it out, your first race is free. Bike and helmet rental is just $5.
Cheers,
Brian J.
Message: 8
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:00:21 -0700
From: "Ron and Dorothy Strasser"
To:
Subject: [OBRA Chat] salem short track
Message-ID: <02730F39768045AC9E3BBCF53480406D@ronfc8bcccf52c>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Thanks to all (you know who you are)who made the Salem Short Track series take place. I gotta say Jeff McNamee rocks. The sponsors are so supportive as well. Last year it whipped me good (as Devo might say). This year I was more prepared for the general course although they managed to inject some pretty tough sections which demanded your utmost attention. I love the laid-back atmosphere as well as the intense racing. Great job. I hope you bring it back for year 3. By the way. The group doing all the building of the bmx, pump track and other raised structures are creating a super neat place for people to ride and thus more interested in bikes. Your race is a neat window for them to see other two wheeled avenues...and there were always lots of bmx'ers out there watching (some raced too!).
ron
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