BMX racing makes its Olympic debut

Shanaze Reade sits on the low saddle of her white Red Line bike, crash helmet slung casually under her arm. "I don't think anybody sees it as a mess-about sport any more," says the 19-year-old, the world's No 1 female BMX rider, as she tidies her extensions into a neat ponytail that will fly out behind her as she races round the track. "It's on TV, I'm in the papers and so are other riders. I think that the Olympics are the best thing that could ever have happened to our sport and its profile."

More here: http://sport.independent.co.uk/olympics/article3301705.ece

Many shots fired...some hits and some misses

Some lady called me up today. Before this call, it was on an email basis. Basically, what this dear lady wants to know is do I know about bike stunts? Errr...yeah...not to hard to answer that one considering the fact that I am a BMX rider. Second thing was, she said that she is an events company (ah...the plot thickens! Pea soup anyone?) and she was doing an event showcasing a group of graffiti artists and she wanted some bike stunts featured along with some bike clinics. She was going great guns till she mentioned this was about BMX in the Olympics. That is when I had to stop her. I said yes. BMX is an Olympic sport but BMX racing is featured, not bike stunts. I am pretty sure that she was referring to bike trials because she mentioned about seeing a show with these acrobatic guys on bikes pulling off daring moves. I just did not know what to say after that.

But all is not bad. Some lady sends me an email, saying that she likes our site and wants to feature the site in a story. Well dog my cats. There you go people. All is not lost in the world. Have faith and ye shall reap the bountiful...Ok. Enough. In any case, I intend to meet up with her and tell her what BMX is about.

We shall prevail. I am actually thinking of writing a song about that...

More BMX products in Singapore please

OK. I thought that I would go out today and try to do a test as to how BMX-friendly our little island is. After all, we are gunning for the Youth Olympics in 2010 right? BMX is one of the disciplines, whether Singapore likes it or not. So with that in hand, I went shopping.

First of all, I went to Adidas and asked them if they bring in the Eagle Eye Pro BMX glasses. The guy behind the counter did not even know if Adidas made such eyewear. And this was at an Adidas shop here in Singapore. OK. So Adidas Singapore does not have anything for BMX. Next please.

Next place I went to was a bookshop. Lots of magazines to browse through but check this out. Not a single BMX magazine in sight. Sure, they had mountain bike ones and the like but not a single BMX magazine to be found. Zero. Zilch. Nada. So how are people going to read up about this new Olympic sport? On the web I can hear some people say. But that is besides the point. Not everyone has a tablet PC or even web-enabled mobile phone to read information off the web. Hmph. Search not going too well. Next!

Now to bikeshops. Very little BMX stuff to be found. And I am talking about BMX race stuff! No race -specific frames, parts and stuff. Looks like we may and will have to order from overseas! All of a sudden, it is starting to look like a very expensive sport!

So you see, if we do not have BMX support from the grassroots, all I can say to Singapore, good luck with the Youth Olympics 2010. You may want to host it but it is gonna be hard to host the BMX part.

Aftermath of the Singapore Old-School BMX meetup on 5th January 2008

A truly AWESOME night. Met two new friends there and even Black, whom I have not seen for so long, turned up. We had a great time making new friends and at the same time do what we do best during these sessions, reminiscing about the old times. Eddy Meng showed up on a candy-red Hutch Trickstar, Selvam came with his RedLine Prostyler and Maruishi with Shimano DX cranks, just to name a few. I took some pics but since it was night and my camera ain't the best one out there, considering the fact that it is 6 years old, some pics may appear bad. But I will get them and post them up for all to see. Next meeting will be at Bedok skatepark

BMX bikes on MRT trains

Some reporter from the Straits Times asks my reaction to the bike on trains issue. In case some of you do not know, there have been some letters written to the press recently about this kid dismantling a bike, putting it in a bag and bringing it on the train. Seems that he was threatened by the SMRT staff for bringing his bike on a train, even though it was in a bike bag.

All I can say is that there are luggage racks on the train so that people can stow their luggage while taking that train to Changi Airport for example. Now, if the luggage racks are there, why can't a BMX bike folded up in the bike bag (I have one so I know it is about the same size) be allowed on the train? That boy took pains to pack it in a bag so that he could bring it down to Somerset Youth Park. I for one do not think that he is committing a crime that justified the SMRT staff to be rude and threatening to him. SMRT could have been a little bit more tactful. As far as I can see, this is just a storm in a teacup; a mountain made out of a molehill.

SMRT, please spare a thought for us as cyclists. I can understand your displeasure about bikes being brought into the train but a bike in a bike bag? Please.

And they keep coming!

Yep. Looks like someone saw the previous post I made and sent me an email. Its all in the comments below. Thanks guys. But it still leaves me in a whirl. All it took was for BMX to enter the Olympics and all of a sudden, everyone wants a piece of it. Well, it does not hurt. If I did not care about BMX, this site would not even exist; not one iota.

It is only a few days into the year. We may have some BMX plans up our sleeves. Nothingis finalised yet but it looks pretty exciting. It seems that the Animal Box Jump thingy got quite a few people interested in BMX. That is indeed good to hear. BMX is finally getting some recognition intead of being referred to a "kids discipline" by some of the ignorant out there. Pfft.

And the hits just keep on coming Part 2

You know, this is funny. A few years ago, when we wanted to spread the news of BMX, people just smiled politely and did not even bat an eyelid. Now with BMX in the Olympics, it is different story. Just got this email...second email this week.

This is ABCD from DEFG Entertainment. In conjunction with the Youth Olympics 2010 Bid, our company is helping out at an event in a shopping mall to educate the general public about the sports in the Youth Olympics. As cycling is one of the sports featured, we are wondering if it is possible for us to work with your company to bring cycling nearer to the public mass. We are thinking of introducing BMX cycling. (Really now)

The event is a 4 hour event, and we are hoping that we can include a cycling clinic where the public can learn the basic skills of BMX cycling and demonstration by your company. (My company?) We hope to be able to work with your company to promote cycling to the public. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you. :)

There you have it. People are beating down our door. I have replied to them so it looks like BMX is getting the recognition it deserves. Finally something after almost TEN years of trying. But i wonder if they know about the different disciplines of BMX. The racing discipline has made it into the Olympics. If they want to hold this in a shopping mall, hmmm...lets see. Do they have a mall big enough to handle a racetrack? Clinics we can do, but a full all out race? This should be interesting. I'll wait for them to get back to me.

Low Meng Yang aka Zola's bike

Some people did respond to my call for a bike check. As for the rest of you lazy buggers, get off yer ass and give me your bike checks! Here we go:

Frame - Eastern Grim Reaper 20" (color: chrome)
Fork - Eastern Ultraslim (color: chrome)
Headset - Eastern Integrated
Stem - Eastern Deceptikon (color: black)
Handlebar - Eastern Titanium
Grips - Eastern Rib (color: brown)
Brake lever - Odyssey monolever (color: chrome)
Brake cable - Shadow Conspiracy Linear (color: brown)
Rear brake - Demolition Vulcan brake (color: chrome)
Crank - Demolition 175 mm (color: black)
BB - Shadow conspiracy Spanish
Pedals - Eastern Plastic (color: black)
Chainwheel - Eastern Medusa Lite (color: Ti.
finishing)
Seatpost - Eastern Pro
Seat - Eastern TightAss
Rims - Demolition 36-hole (For front and rear, color:
black/chrome)
Front Hub - Demolition Bulimia (color: white)
Rear Hub - Khe Reverse Freecoaster with 9T driver
(color: white)
Spokes - Shadow Consiracy Triple butted (color:
rainbow)
Front tire - Khe
Rear tire - Khe

Bike checks!

A couple of weeks back, someone asked me if I can do bikechecks on this website. I said sure, no problem. Only problem is that no one sent their bikes up for me to post! So I am starting with mine to get the ball rolling. Send your complete bike checks to me at alano@osbmx.com

Frame - Supercross DEVO 24" cruiser chromoly steel
Fork - SINZ 24" chromoly
Headset - Blackspire DH 1-1/8"
Stem - Atomlab GI
Handlebar - GT chromoly (changing to a DK soon)
Grips - Diamondback (changing to ODI soon)
Brake lever - Tektro
Rear brake - Shimano cheap-o
Crank - Redline Proline chromoly 180mm
BB - RedLine American sealed bearing
Pedals - SNAFU platforms (no clips for me!)
Chainwheel - GT 40-tooth (changing soon to a DK)
Seatpost - Thomson
Seat - Bontrager
Rims - Atomlab Trailpimp 24" 36-hole
Hubs - DK 36-hole sealed bearing rubs with 3/8" spindle
Spokes - DT Swiss
Front tire - Kenda K-Rad 24 x 1.95
Rear tire - Maxxis Holy Roller 24 x 1.85

There you have it. My bike check! Keep those emails coming in!

Happy New Year 2008

On behalf of Singapore BMX, I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy New Year 2008. Hope the new year will be a better year!