Some advice to those running the BMX scene in Singapore

Heard that some of them might be throwing in the towel soon. What? After only two months?

The interest in our beloved sport continues

I love receiving emails from people. It shows that our beloved sport can be pretty intriguing for the curious. I had this email a couple of days ago from this lady from a local polytechnic that wants to do some research on the track as well as take photos. Her email is below:

Hi there! I was reading the blog and find that it pretty much captures the enthusiasm of all BMX riders in Singapore. Thats cool! I am a photography student from a local polytechnic and I am intending to take some photos of this wonderful extreme sport for an assignment. I was wondering what time the BMX riders usually come down to try out the Tampines BMX Park. Is there any specific day or time? What is the best time for me to go there? I would appreciate it if you would reply me as soon as possible. Be hearing from you! :D

And another email I received goes like this:

Hello! I am from the Philippines. Currently working here in Singapore. I am 35 years old and a bit overweight. Hehehe.... I've gone to your website and it rocks! Great job. I have a few questions though. Do you know where I can buy some old school BMX parts and maybe a whole bike? I am staying at the Paya Lebar / Tanjong Katong Road Area. I was so inspired by your site. I saw Eddie Fiola, Martin Aparijo, RL Osborn and others which brings chills on my back. Hehehe... Hope you can help me. Congratulations for a site very well done! Thanx in advance.

Only too glad to help. However, since our track is in a bad state of disrepair, I could only advise here when riders go down there, which is mostly on the weekends. As for getting bikeparts and such, that is a slightly tall order but I can do what I can to help. Most bikeshops here do not understand BMX or just do not want to bring in BMX bikes, in spite of it being an Olympic sport. I will try to do what I can to try to convince bike shops to bring in BMX parts for racing. I, however, love receiving emails. Once again, the email address is admin@osbmx.com

Happy New Year 2009 from all of us here at Singapore BMX

Hopefully 2009 will be a better year. I can and will drink to that.

Oh and some BIG news. Be prepared for something big happening for BMX next year. Still planning in progress but it is going to happen.

A Merry Christmas to one and all

Singapore BMX would like to take this opportunity to wish one and all a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2009. have a pleasant year ahead!

Aftermath of the old-school BMX gathering in East Coast

It was a resounding success. More people joined us and it was a great way to meet new friends. This is a classic shot of Peter Chua, an old-schooler from back in the day, with his son on a Haro Freestyler. His son was having a blast and I must say, so were all of us. It was a great day and all the pics are available on the forums here

Some mails I got recently

I love it when people send mails asking about our BMX scene here in Singapore. Here is an email I got today. This is a literal cut and paste, from a contributor in New Zealand

Can you keep me up datted with news. Keen to know whats going on. Im from New Zealand, and keen to take a NZ team over.

That is cool stuff. There are people interested and I will do what I can to get them informed about what is going on, even though I might have to deals with some monkeys to get more info.

Another email I got recently went like this.

Hi, Hope you can help us. We are planning to move to Singapore sometime next year. We are two bmxers. Where are the spots in Singapore to bmx? Thanks so much for your help.

I send this guy from Germany and email and also told him to get in touch with me when he gets here. Will be happy to show him what BMX can offer in this little island of ours.

Well people, keep those emails coming! As always, we can be reached at admin@osbmx.com and remember, Singapore BMX will do its best to update what is going on, with a little help from our friends (you know who you are)

Singapore BMX gathering on the 20th of December @ East Coast Park

There is a post about it in our forums and the post is located here. Let us end the year on a BMX note as we meet-up for our monthly BMX gathering. Come one, come all. Bring any bike and hang around the old-school BMXers. New-schoolers are welcome to! So keep the 20th of December date free!

Old-schoolers re-discovering BMX

I have been getting lots of email recently, many of them from old-schoolers who used to ride BMX back in the day. It must be BMX entering the Olympics and the looming Youth Olympic Games.

Hi stumbled on your website, wonder whether you can advice on what BMX bike to get that resembles what we rode on in the 80s. I rode a kuwahara Z1 and a redline600, hope i still remember the models. rode some races too with sky boys / scarecrow, though i was really young at the time.

also how do i know when there is action on the singapore bmx track and scene, which is at Tampines i am told. any news info on kids bmx lessons, races etc?

thanks for any advice

Thanks for that email. Well, the team that took over the BMX duties in Singapore (not us - we have been there and done that already) have organised some clinics for BMX but not that many nowadays. I will put up some info when I get it.

As for bikes looking like the Kuwahara's back in the day, well, SE Racing do make some bikes but whether or not they resemble bikes back in the day, I have got to level with you. I do not think we are the same size as we used to be way back when. My Kuwahara Survivor is too small for me...that is why I ride a 24" cruiser. But sometimes some companies, bike companies that is, make limited runs of old-frames. Skyway is one of them. They found some old un-welded tubes in storage and welded them up to be frames again. They were selling for a pretty penny but they were nice looking frames!

For anything else, keep your eyes peeled on our forums or scope Ebay!

Some are very curious about BMX in Singapore

Yep. As the date of Youth Olympic Games continues to come closer, I have been getting emails. This is one of them

I am a Masters of Architecture student at NUS. Currently I am doing my thesis which is about the architecture of major sports events and their post-event use. I have selected Tampines Bike Park as the site for my thesis. As part of my research, I would like to find out more about BMX biking in general and if possible, the plans for YOG2010 (the format, expected no. of participants, officials, volunteers etc). In addition I would also like to hear from BMX bikers their hopes for the Bike Park post-YOG.

I would be glad if people privy to the above may spare some time to grant an interview.

Thank you for your kind attention and looking forward to your favourable reply.

Thanks for the email. I have already replied to this gentleman. For others who want some answers to the questions posted above, here they are.

BMX was a sport that started in the USA in the late 60s. It was started because some kids wanted to emulate their motorcycle motocross heroes. So races were started and they were called pedal-cross races. More can be read by purchasing the DVD called Joe Kid On A Stingray or by going to a Wikipedia page of which I have helped to contribute. BMX or Bicycle Motocross means BMX racing, period. There are many offshoots of BMX like flatland, dirt-jumping and vert. These are lumped under a BMX category called freestyle, as what it used to be call when it was invented.

As for the Youth Olympic Games, the powers that be like the Singapore Sports Council do not really understand BMX racing in spite of the fact that BMX has been in Singapore since the early eighties.

As for wanting to hear from me, you are always welcome to email us at Singapore BMX and I will be happy to help to allay any misconceptions about BMX.

Updates on the Youth Olympic Games for BMX

One of my friends Gene is helping to post articles on our forums and his latest one is located here. However, when I went to take a look at the Singapore YOG website for BMX, they just show this:

BMX-Mountain Bike-Road mixed team event (3M, 1W)

So what is it going to be guys? Only one to represent Singapore in BMX? What are our newly-appointed BMX people doing about it to show more clarity to choice? How about a training regimen and a choice? Only about 600 days left now before the YOG in 2010 and so far, what I have seen has not been very encouraging, to say the least.

Well, we are all waiting for some good news to come out from the BMX camp. We are the core group after all but so far, we have not heard anything. Come on guys! Wake up already!