2009 SE Racing looptail Quadangle

I was checking out BMX Mania after I got a call from Azman. It seems that SE Bikes are coming out with a whole new look to the Quadangle for 2009. Check it out! All white! Man, it just hurts the eyes looking at it! Thanks Azman...you got me droolin'!

Old-cshool BMX gathering on 20th September 2008

The gathering was a success as usual. We had more people coming to join us at our monthly gathering and we had some new bikes to oogle at! Also present was a Kuwahara E.T. frame and fork that Rick had managed to acquire. More details and pics on our forum here

More questions about the Tampines BMX Track

I wrote in the blog yesterday about the sorry state of the BMX track here in Singapore. Guess what. I received another email today. It is TWO years to the Youth OLympics and seems that there are some who do not even KNOW about the track because of the little mention of it in Singapore. Here is the email:

hey

i found your site somehow and i was wondering...... does there happen to be a BMX racing track in singapore? cos i first saw it on the Olympics and i'm DYING to try it out......... hope you can help me out.........

Well, to all who do not know where the track is, it is located in Tampines, at the Tampines Cycling track, at the junction of Tampines Avenue 7 and Tampines Avenue 9, opposite Sun Plaza Park. And SSC, SNOC, MCYS, maybe it will help if you put a description of the track on your website so people know that there is a BMX track in Singapore.

Can you imagine this? BMX, a sport that made its debut in the Olympics in Beijing, and a couple of years from now, it is going to be held in Singapore but the authorities are NOT helping to publicise this.

Still no news about BMX in Singapore for the Youth Olympics 2010

Gene has a BMX page aptly named Genes BMX. In it he puts snippets of BMX from all over the world. Over the years, I have found him to be a steadfast guy and always in the forefront with news. Someone wrote to him and asked him this question:

I am looking for information on the 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games BMX? Anyone know anything? I want to get ready for this event. Please help?

Look at that. Someone is asking for help but I cannot blame this poor guy. The Singapore National Olympic Council has a website that does not even begin to explain about BMX. Even if they could find it on that webpage (which I doubt they can) there is not much done about it here in Singapore, as I can attest to. People in the media have almost a ZERO concept about what BMX is. To them, it is all about riders doing stunts on kids bikes. I have had to correct them more than a few times. Plus, our Singapore Sports Council folks, when they ask me about BMX, I tell them that I can do a demo and when I tell them what I need, they say there is no space. Well, how do I get the mesage across then?

Our track, or lack of it, is in a bad state of disrepair. I have asked them many a time if I can help to get it repaired. I have been asking that question since 2003. Now, a few bunch of our local youth are helping to fix it up. And I have lots of sports management people who all of a sudden think they are BMX experts. These monkeys have NOT even been around when I was conducting races back in the day so how would they no anything? These guys are as useful as (fill in your own cliche here)

I await, as do others, for SSC and SNOC to get tjeir respective houses in order BMX-wise, but I can tell you this. I am not holding my breath.

Next Singapore old-school BMX gathering on 20th September 2008

The next old-school BMX gathering will be at the Bukit Batok Skatepark on the 20th of SEptember 2008. Details are provided here

We look forward to your presence. Remember, there is no school like the old-school!

BMX questions in email

I still get heaps of BMX questions in my email. For all those bikeshop owners in Singapore who are reading this, maybe it is time you guys stock up on BMX parts, accessories and most importantly, bikes. The Youth Olympic Games are coming up in 2010 in Singapore. You guys cannot afford to be myopic as far as BMX is concerned. The person below was asking about street bikes but a BMX bike nonetheless.

Hi. Do you know where to buy street BMX in singapore ? Example Diamondback Orion (2009) or Haro Backtrail x 3. If you do , hope you could reply with the shop address ! thanks in advance

So guys, get cracking! The Youth Olympics is less than two years away!

Billy Griggs Nominated for ABA BMX Hall

News courtesy of Bike Retailer

LAGUNA HILLS, CA (BRAIN)—One of the most stylish racers of the '80s, Billy Griggs, has been nominated for the 2008 American Bicycle Association (ABA) BMX "Hall of Fame."

"Mr. Bill," as he's known, rode for CW, Mongoose, Redline, Schwinn and Iron Horse, as a top-ranked amateur. He's well-known in BMX for his style and speed.

Griggs is credited with bringing intense BMX frames to life and currently works in research and development for Razor USA. Griggs exercises his knack for custom frame building in the new products he develops for Razor.

Riding for Redline, Griggs turned pro in 1988. He was part of the second generation of the "Terrible Ten" in BMX Action magazine's Top 10 Amateurs list. During his pro career, Griggs held an average ranking of 12.7 with three top three rankings.

The article is located here

Latvian captures BMX men's gold

News courtesy of the International Herald Tribune

BEIJING: World champion Maris Strombergs of Latvia won the men's BMX gold Friday, sweeping to the front at the start of the winner-take-all final and never losing control in the sport's first-ever Olympic finals.

The French duo of Anne-Caroline Chausson and Laetitia Le Corguille took gold and silver, respectively, in the women's title race.

"It wasn't easy," said Chausson. "All the mistakes I've made in the last few races, in the last few years, I tried to show nothing of them in these games."

"It's really the work of two years to end up here. It's an immense satisfaction to get to here," said Chausson, 30, after what she has said will be her last competitive BMX race.

BMX racing was born in the United States four decades ago, so perhaps it was fitting that on the sport's biggest day, American racers collected the biggest medal haul.

More here: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/22/sports/OLYBMX.php

Virtually nothing about Olympic BMX in our local press

I checked the TODAY newspaper as well as The Straits Times but there was hardly any mention of this new BMX sport that made its maiden Olympic debut yesterday. There was a picture of BMX racers in the TODAY newspaper but it was flanked by an advertisement by Nikon. I wonder by now if people know the difference between BMX racing and freestyle. The press can do a bit more to help to promote it, considering the fact that the Youth Olympics are going to be hosted in Singapore in two years time. Come on guys! Up the ante! Publish something about BMX in your newspapers!

Reade crashes into tomorrow's BMX showdown

News courtesy of The Independant

By Paul Newman in Beijing

When Shanaze Reade crashed and recorded the slowest time in her first seeding race in the women's BMX event today it seemed that the 19-year-old from Crewe might struggle to live up to her status as the favourite.

By the time she had finished her second run the twice world champion was looking more like the rider who has taken the sport by storm in recent years. The semi-finals taking place at 2am (BST) tomorrow, followed by the final 90 minutes later.

More on the article here