I was born in 1968 and grew up in Melton, Victoria. I always loved to ride bikes and and in particular jumping them. I remember snapping my first frame when I was about 8.
In 1981, I started secondary school and didn't really know much at all about BMX. But that all changed when I met Ray J. Not only did he know about BMX, but he had a Supergoose that was the envy of just about every kid in the school.
Ray J. on his Supergoose
I quickly became hooked on BMX and anything to do with it. A few months later I bought my first BMX magazine; the April 1981 issue of BMX Action.
Wow, what an eye opener. I realised for the first time that people actually raced BMX and some even got paid to do it. How cool was that! I couldn't get enough of this stuff and started regularly buying the magazines.
In October that year I got my first real BMX for my birthday. Granted it was only a cheap store brand, but man I had some fun on that bike.
My first BMX - An MX-121
We where lucky in Melton because of the fact that we had one of the best skateparks in the country. We would often ride there on the weekends.
The Melton Skatepark (if anyone has any photos of this park, I'd love to see them)
After riding that bike in to the ground, I moved on to something with a bit more class, a Rhino 111. Around 1983 the Melton BMX club formed and they built a track and that's when I got into racing (if anyone has any pics of the Melton track, I would dearly love to see them).
Over the next few years the track was like my second home. I spent most of my spare time there with Ray J., Scotty P., Sav and a few other friends. I cracked the Rhino and moved on to a GT. I then cracked the GT and got a P.K. Ripper (best bike I ever had). For some stupid reason I swapped the PK for a Redline Proline. Fortunately the guy I swapped it to decided he wanted his Proline back a few months later. Unfortunately the PK was stolen a short time later on my last day of high school.
I then bought a Skyway TA from a guy I knew. I rode it for a while and then decided to pull it apart and rebuild it with a different color scheme and some different parts. So I pulled it apart and then got distracted for about 20 years. Fortunately I still have the TA and rebuilt it a couple of years ago.
I also bought a 2008 Team PK Ripper and joined the Local club and ride there most weekends. Who would have thought that riding BMX could be just as much fun at 40 as it was at 14. Go figure.
My bikes.
