What’s Old is New Again In Indoor BMX

For BMXers from East of the Mississippi and north of the Mason-Dixon line, it used to be a December 1 tradition to strip off the knobbies of outdoor season in favor of “stadium tires.” This was because, in all but one or two places in the country, indoor BMX in the 70s and 80s was exclusively run on concrete floors, with wooden jumps and flat turns. In fact, the first World Championship of BMX was decided on such an unorthodox course (Jag World Championships, Indianapolis 1978).
But, evolution and innovation marched forward, and the concrete indoor tracks were replaced by permanent indoor-on-dirt facilities, in Wisconsin (Walworth BMX in Elkhorn, which was started as wood jumps on Dirt), Northern Indiana (Steel Wheels in Hobart) and, yes, in Indianapolis.
Some races those of us of that era remember fondly are the aforementioned Jag Worlds in Indy (1978-1981), and the “Rondo Classic” in Minneapolis (which was not officially a national, but had every pro and factory amateur of the time in attendance). There were also various homespun regional and local races like a few at the old International Amphitheater in Chicago; later at the Odeum in suburban Villa Park, and a series at the Rock Island Armory in the Quad Cities, on the Mississippi River.
The last indoor-on-concrete with wooden jumps race was said to be about 1985, 26 years ago. It’s interesting how, in the modern era, indoor wheel parks have picked up where this style of racing has left off, with similar obstacles, albeit not run at speed.
No doubt that this format of BMX Racing could cause some to scratch their heads and say “Why would you want to do that?” Well, aside from the “necessity being the mother of invention” component, we’d have to say “don’t knock it til you tried it.” It’s kind of like saying “why would you drive from Chicago to Los Angeles when you could fly? We humans are creatures of variety, and sometimes just do stuff because we can.
Every couple years, we’d hear rumblings that so-and-so is putting together an indoor-on-cement race or series, but it never seemed to go anywhere– owing in large part, we’re sure, to the fact that both sanctions had a strict “No way” position on sanctioning that format of BMX racing in modern times. And so, those events were relegated to “wouldn’t it be cool if…” status.
That is, until one day in the twilight of 2010, when long-time BMXer, track operator, bike shop owner and vintage collector, Paul Depauw (pronounced “de-pow”) from the Rock Island, IL area decided to make it happen for a 2011 series. Rock Island had a perfect building, the QCCA (Quad City Conservation Alliance) Expo Center, and with the “New NBL,” seems to have also come a new attitude toward trying new (old?) things, so Paul got the approval to run a series of NBL-sanctioned races.
Paul runs the East Moline outdoor track, which hosted an NBL national for many years (most recently in 2008), and has a fairly hearty local program, with a dedicated base of riders and volunteers who seemed ready to race, despite any wintery weather outside.
Pierce Barker from ProGate stepped up to help the group into an awesome “Straight-8″ rig that made a big impression on all, and would have any outdoor track salivating.
An early storm cloud on the whole parade was the availability of the building on weekends to run the races–seems the QCCA is a fairly in-demand venue, booked solid on weekends for most of early 2011. Many would have said “next year” at that point, and shelved the plan until the 2011 calendar got a lot thinner. But Paul and his posse said “no…we’re doing this…now!,” and decided on a series of weeknight slots, the first one being Monday, January 10 (there is one Sunday race in the series, on March 13). If you’re running an unconventional race series anyway, you may as well blaze your own trail on the “when” of it all as well.
Only BMXers would be dedicated crazy enough to drive three hours, be at the race for two hours, and get back in the car and drive back three hours. But, as we all know, the journey IS the reward, and rolling up on the QCCA and getting the first glimpse of practice underway melted away 30 years, and brought the same excited butterflies back that we felt when we first walked into the Indianapolis Convention Center in 1979, or the Odeum in the winter of 1983–and that was just the feeling from the parking lot.
Walking in, the sounds were of a bygone era as well. The “ba-boo-da-doo…ba-boo-da-doo” of the bikes hitting the wooden jumps, tires screeching as they struggled to maintain their hold on the second turn, and the tell-tale foot-down-in-the-turns was an amazing site to behold.
It’s a different style of riding, to be sure, and you could identify the riders who ride the skateparks, or make the occasional trip to Ray’s, as they easily handled the box-jump-style tables in the second straight. But the older cruiser class was where the talent sat for this track, with a particular foot-out pizzaz into the first turn, and scoop-and-square lines into the hair-pin second and third turns.
This track had more pedaling than most outdoor tracks, and clipless pedals seemed to have posed an unfamiliar disadvantage (though some rode them…and still others ran their clip pedals with flat shoes).
The riders overwhelmingly thought the indoor-on-concrete format was “pretty cool,” something we would have hesitated to put money on at first, given how unusual the format is. But across generations, riders were on board.
We also liked the fact that newbies and dads who have not gated up this century could easily ride the track, where a big & gnarly outdoor may present more of an intimidation factor.
The evening featured two races, run back-to-back. Motos were posted by 6:45, with 65 entries in 19 motos for the first race. The second race had a few less at 17 motos. We were actually quite impressed with the turnout for this first date, given that it was run on a work/school night, using a format that is totally alien to most riders, and was hatched from concept to completion in one month flat.
Andy Wright of the Standard Army was probably the hottest hotshoe on premises, walking away with 19-over class, but teammate Ron Anderson was also way up in the mix, as a bearded Rick Moliterno looked on from the sidelines (Standard’s HQ is only a few minutes over the bridge, so come early next time and stop over at Goodtimes Superstore).
Ted Weiscope made the 186-mile trek from Decatur (the longest of anyone in the building, us included) to handily dispense with 35-39 cruiser, and look like he had not missed a beat since the last Odeum race.
The race also brought out some stars of yesteryear to watch the action, with Jag Worlds main maker Bobby (now Bob) Nash standing near staging with an ear-to-ear grin on his mug. Will we see Bob in the gate again soon??? Afterall, you’re never a “former” BMXer…once in, always in!!
The race ran smooth, with no apparent snags in the program, and surprisingly few crashes. Paul said they got the track set up in about two hours, and torn down and into storage in a bit more than that, rolling into the driveway just before 1AM.
The next race is Wednesday, January 26, also a double race (see below for the rest of the dates). We look forward to seeing you there!