20 minute read
Desert Classic Nationals
ramblin’ story & images by gOrk
Alas, stop No.2 in the revised and revived 2020 National schedule brought us out of self-isolation and back to the home of the Winter Nationals - Black Mountain BMX, in Phoenix, Arizona!
was suffering from a severe case of cabin fever. I’m sure most of you can relate. Shut indoors, shut-off from the world, and self-isolated, we all longed for the return to BMX racing. Like many of you, I had bingewatched nearly everything on Netflix and was starting to dig deep into the rabbit hole of Government conspiracy theories as the U.S. Air Force released footage of UFO’s. Working at home, I dreamt of the day that we could gather with our BMX friends and family again, to enjoy the speed and thrills of racing our bikes. During this whole Corona virus crisis, riding bicycles had apparently became popular again - as
ABOVE: Rookie Pro and last year’s No.1 Amateur - Riley House, was loftin’ his Rift all weekend long, and carted home the Pro Open win on Friday night.
LEFT: Right now, J&R’s Stella Sunseri owns the pinkslip to the 14 Girls class. She scored wins on all three days, which played a huge factor in J&R’s winning team sheets and their quest for yet another No.1 Bike Shop team title.
Whether he’s on a 20” or cruiser, J&R’s Hayden Passanisi wins.
essential bike shops were sold out of completes, repairs were thru the roof and neighborhoods were swarming with kids and adults experiencing the freedom of two wheels for the first time in decades. After two months without a single national or local race, word finally came down that the BMX circuit was back ON! WHEW! ...just in time, as I was about to re-watch The Tiger King series for the 10th time. 72 USABMX.COM H VOL. 10 / ISS. 4 The restart (or .... reboot, if you will) of the 2020 National series was a good sign that things would be back to normal again. ...or, at least, semi-normal.
One week earlier, USA BMX had held their first National event in Pryor, Oklahoma - one of the few states in the entire country who would allow an event of that caliber to take place. .. According to the Sports ETA, USA BMX was the first major,
Supercross’ Bella Hammonds leads some mighty quick 15- 16 girls out of turn one with Brooke Craft (Haro-DHR) and Breanna Winter (RiftTangent) in code-3 pursuit.
open-to -the-public spectator sporting event to re-launch in the U.S.. “Few sports may be better po sitioned than BMX to return to events,” they wrote up in a June 12th article, informing all sport promoters and sanctioning bodies on how to run an event in this new era. To run any National event during these times of a pandemic is like being a Circus lion, jumping through numerous flaming
hoops. And those hoops are always moving. With the virus still out there, several precautions have been initiated to prevent any additional risks of the spread. For start ers, motos aren’t being posted anymore - which eliminates large gatherings around the moto boards. Motos are now being posted online-only, at: motos. usabmx.com (as they have been for a few years now). It makes
me wonder, if motos will ever be posted again? Registration methods have also changed, with pre-signing for a national being extended and encouraged more than ever. Registration windows at the trailer would be open, but preregistering online ahead of time helped prevent long lines and the close gathering of people. USA BMX has also been forced to look for new locations for their Nationals, in the few States and cities that are open to having sporting events with large turn outs and spectators. With new rules and guidelines to follow, Arizona was a good option for re-hosting another big race - and Black Mountain BMX, who’d hosted the Winters back in February, was all up for doing it again. The BMX World let out a big sigh of relief when National No.2 of the ReBoot Series was announced. PULL Magazine 73
The biggest obstacle, however - wouldn’t be an infectious easilytransmittable virus. Instead, it was the first week of June in the Arizona desert. Temps were in the 100 to 110 degree range and could wind up being even more challenging than the rhythm section. But don’t worry folks ...as we like to say,
The Ams weren’t the only ones ready to get #BackonTrack after the long lockdown. Phoenix saw a great turnout of Pros, including AA superstars like Nic Long (Hyper), Jake Peebles (Jet Racing), Corben Sharrah (Daylight) and TangentRift’s Corey Reid. New Rookie pro sensation Riley House was ready to take on the big guns, and everybody was left wondering - where the heck was Cam Wood?!
On Friday, it was Tangent’s Rookie - the reigning National No.1 Amateur from last year - Riley House, holding off Long and Peebles to score the big win. We even had a solid 74 USABMX.COM H VOL. 10 / ISS. 4 ReMix’er Andrew Rassi has really stepped up his game - much in thanks to the time spent doing BMX Supercamps. Just like the steep road behind him, Rassi’s BMX status is going UP.
ZZ-Top’s Chris Sutton and his Ssquared OS20 were flyin’ on his hometrack.
Factory Alpha’s Annalyse Solano cookin’ it around Black Mountain!
AZ local Brian Simpson gets it done in 11inter. class for the first-ever Women Pro Open class. Remix’s Rachel Mydock, J&R’s new college graduate (from CMU) Mikaela Lixandru and 316’s Rookie from Tucson Daleny Vaughn would battle it out all weekend with eventual winner Ashley Verhagen (Full Tilt) scoring the win on Friday and Satur- day. Vaughn gave her a good run for the win, but years of experience paid off for Verhagen. Pros Unite! Led by Nic Long, all of the pros had discussed the idea of having a flat-pedals-only race on Sunday. But they just couldn’t wait that long and a gentle- men’s agreement was made to run flats on Saturday. This left some of the pros scrambling last minute to Tangent Pro Shop to buy some pedals or Vans. It was interesting to see the variety of shoe/pedal combinations being used, and it did seem to make the racing more fun - with an occasional foot-off turn maneuver.
Right before Saturday’s flat-pedal main, Nic Long was overheard razzing Corben Sharrah, joking, “Corben! You
going to a track meet after the races?”
- referring to the Day- light rider’s choice of grey Nike’s he had on his feet. Corben just grinned and responded by smokin’ them all from
Box’s franchise player - Ronnie Kim, once again duked it out with Cedric Cade. * Figuratively, not physically.
Chase Burian (#6) = 2 wins. Box’s Jemma Tollefson = 1.
Lane-8. It was great to see the Daylight Pro make an appearance on Saturday, and the current Pro points leader made his point and went home for Sunday. (Not to a track meet). In that final, Corey Reid bongo’ed his head hard into the third turn, but eventually walked to the medic tent on his own - despite not knowing where he was going. Reid would be pulled for the rest of the weekend with 76
the concussion protocol. He’ll be back - this ain’t his first rodeo. Hyper’s Nic Long was seen doing double-duty, as he had a special documentary film crew following him around all weekend. They are putting together a pilot for a proposed BMX show that’ll bring BMX Racing to the masses if picked up by a major network. If there’s any personality in BMX who would be entertaining to host a TV series, it’d be Hyper’s main-man. Soon after Phoenix, it was officially announced that the 2020 Pro series would change to a one-race takes all format; much like the Worlds or the Olympics. Sadly, Corben’s big points lead after three races would be cleared to zero, along with the rest of the pros. Now, Sharrah just needs to do exactly what he did last year in Tulsa (win it all) in order to become
Madera’s Mason Medley (Clayborn) podiumed in 10x.
Alpha’s Mac Likens was “Liken” the step-double into turn two.
our new No.1 Pro for 2020.
This leaves our four Amateur titles still up for grabs and it looks like it’ll be a crazy title chase for Boys, Girls, Cruiser and Ladies Cruiser. Currently, the Amateur Boys chase is led by Full Tilt’s Sean Day, with Cedric Cade and Rowdy Holzer in hot pursuit. But let us warn you - keep an eye out for No.4 ranked Cole Frederick. In Phoenix, whether it was a moto or main, the Full Tilt-Radio superstar was ON FIRE! For a 12x, the Kid looks more like a 15 or 16x, and he looks to be in a class all by himself. By the first jump, Cole would have a one or two bike-length lead - every single time. Then, after pullin’ his comp around the rest of Black Mountain, he’d usually finished with an entire last-straight lead (keep in mind, Black Mountain’s last straight is a pretty short one - but it sounds good, don’t it?). There is little doubt that a National No.1 Amateur title is in the future of the Minnesota madman - whether it’s this asterik year or five years from now as a 17x. If Cole sticks with the sport ‘til his 20’s, I’ll be so bold as to predict a bright future as the sport’s No.1 Pro. And I’m sure there’ll be plenty of World Championships and rainbow jerseys between now and then. PULL Magazine 77
Anybody who walked down the first straightaway at Black Mountain might’ve noticed a stange looking device on a tripod, over by the medic tent. What IS that contraption?! We spoke to Mike the Main Medic, to get the scoop:
Ooooh - it’s the Stankey one. Redding’s Mason Stankey was haulin’ buns in 15x.
“It’s a Wet Bulb Globe Thermoteter. (WBGT). This device measure air temperature, wind speed, humidity, and the sun’s radiant en ergy. It’s considered the gold standard for making participation limitations or restrictions out here on the track. We are able to log and measure the WBGT temperature every 30 minutes to ensure the rider’s safety. This is the same device used by the NFL, College uni versities and other pro sports organizations.”
One thing you can always count on - is that Ryder Lawrence will have the coolest Fox uniform.
If you want a safe bet for 2020, put your money on Cole Frederick for the No.1 Amateur title. Maybe then, FullTilt will get him a real numberplate.
Most participants in Phoenix were expecting some hot weather. They had no warning of this Hurricane! Hannah Leakey is quickly becoming the Queen of Triples.
Frederick already has the build, strength and skill of a Connor Fields and all of the work he does with Burlin at SuperCamp clinics, is molding him to become a modern-day Bubba Harris. Mark my words and get back to me in six years. On Saturday, it looked as if the Full Tilter and his Radio bike would again beat ‘em like a rented mule. Cole had an easy five or six bike length lead in the main and was blasting down the 80 USABMX.COM H VOL. 10 / ISS. 4 third straight, when suddenly, all by his lonesome, he took a hard digger. Just blew-up, all by himself. If it wasn’t so hard of a crash, he might’ve been able to get back up and still win, but he splatted on the hardpacked Black Mountain track pretty good, and that handed the lead and eventual win to Fast Frankie Stubbs. J&R’s Ryder Santos was hot on the Gordy rider’s tail, and suddenly it was a race! To say that Stubbs was stoked on his 12x win would be an under-statement! We ran into Cole on Sunday and asked him what happened in that main. He blamed it all on the wind, which was blowin’ pretty strong during the mains.
“I just caught a big gust, and
it blew me away,” he explained. On Sunday, the wind-factor was at an all-time low by the time 12x lined up in the gate, and Cole wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.
Word in the Box pits was that Jemma Tollefson didn’t touch her bike once during lockdown. That explains why she only won one main.
Another dominator all weekend long was J&R’s former No.1 Cruiser kid Hayden Passanisi. It’d be a safe bet that he didn’t lose a single race all three days. Whether it was in X-Open, cruiser or class, “Passin’-ain’t-Easy” scored the victories and a rare triple-triple! Passanisi wasn’t the only one to go unbeaten all three days. Black Mountain’s very own Hannah Leakey in 12girls - aka “The Hur ricane,” used her local speed and skills to triple it up for three days straight. But before you say it was just her local advantage - jump a few pages ahead to Rock Hill, where she’d repeat the process the following weekend! Triple-A Fire’s Danica Anderson likely would’ve done the same, if she had opted to race Mixed Open (but then she’d have to take on Stella Sunseri, which would be a great match-up!). Instead, she stuck with her usual winning ways in 13 Girls and cruiser. The BMX prodigy child continues to amaze us with her jumping skills, whether she’s doubling-it-up over the triples with a quick lil’ cross up or manualing thru the rhythm at Pro speeds, there really is no other girl who can ride like Danica. A few other impressive girls on our “to watch” list are Kira Boustead, who seems to have come
out of nowhere to become the new 15-16 Girls dominator. Even on a cruiser, bumped up an age class, Kira whupped up on the 17-20 ladies. Alpha’s Annalyse Solano, Hyper’s Maddie Baird and J&R’s Stella Sunseri also racked up 82 USABMX.COM H VOL. 10 / ISS. 4
their fair share of doubles - getting a big boost toward the NAG No.1 points lead and plate. The Ronnie Kim -vs- Cedric Cade Show continued in Arizona and it was one you did not want to miss! Showtimes were daily, in the 14x motos, semi’s and mains. By the end of the weekend, the final tally wound up: Cedric: 2. Ronnie: 1. On Friday, The Entertainer was said to have moved over hard on Ronnie in the main, or that Ronnie just got the worst start of his
As expected, two-time National No.1 Girl Cruiser ace, Danica Anderson, doubled each day.
life, but either way - the outcome was a huge 3-bike length lead by Cade as he entered the first turn. He was gettin’ up and GONE on Friday - as Ronnie found himself stuck in third place, behind ReMix’s Andrew Rassi, and was forced to play catch-up. ...something that Kim is not used to doing. Cedric the Entertainer scored the win again on Saturday, snappin’ hard on the entire 14x class from lane eight, as if he were Cor ben Sharrah. You could tell that Cedric’s confidence meter was revvin’ at an all-time high, and that Ronnie was struggling to get his head back in the game. It’s always a tough one when a rider as dominant over the past sixplus years, finally starts getting some competition, and is finally forced to battle from behind.
Washington’s Kai Altendorf creates his own Autonomous Zone in 15x.
But if you know Ronnie Kim, rest assured that it won’t be that way for very long. The dude has a reserve-pack of determination. In Sunday’s 14x semi, Ronnie and Cedric were again lined up in the gate - for yet another awesome showdown. It is a semi, so you only need to take top-4 ... but Cedric, in his constant quest to get into Ronnie’s head, carved a bit hard into turn one and slid out while in second place. Maybe Ced was trying to live up to the Grindle-theory:
“Show him a wheel, seal the deal.”
This time, the only wheel Ron84 USABMX.COM H VOL. 10 / ISS. 4 nie saw, was sliding out on the inside. With Ced out of the main, Sunday’s 14x final was all Ronnie Kim’s, to win or lose. ...and you get only one guess at which one it’d be.
Tangent-Rift’s Nick Adams was already sporting the stars ‘n bars sleeve on his left arm - after winning the USAC Junior Men championship in Houston. Too bad there won’t be any more UCI races on the schedule for this year. Still, Adams still has a fast reputation to live up to and he didn’t disappoint this weekend. Nick took his Rift to two wins on two days in the ultrarough and tumble 17-20x class. Younger kids to older gents were all enjoying getting in some National-caliber racing this weekend. Among the fastest tiny tykes on little bikes was 8 experts Brady “HammerTime” Hamer and J&R’s Easton Johnson. Both of these hombres hail from Texas - Easton from El Paso and Brady from Midlothian. Both of these eight year olds took a daily-double back home to Texas. Redman’s Wyatt Williams was also rippin’ it up in 7x, along with 6x Grayson Novak - from Las Vegas. We see a LOT of talent
When not on camera filming for a possible BMX TV series, Hyper’s Nic Long found the time to crash in Friday’s Pro Open main and then won it on Sunday.
coming from these lil’ dudes! If I had to name one rider who came out of nowhere to make a name for himself this weekend, it’d have to be Factory ReMix’s flyin’ 15x Mason Stankey. The racer from Redding, California left his mark on by doublin’ down on two days - winning 15x and 15-16 X-Open twice. Considering he was up against the likes of Angel Montoya, Blake Powell and John Robbins III, he’ll be a name to remember.
With Black Mountain BMX being in business for 40-plus years now, they have their share of super-fast, long time BMXers. Among those older rippers who call Black Mountain their home are Eric Baca (Alpha), Jason Silva (Gordy’s) and Ken Heximer (Fall Risk Racing). All three of these old farts nabbed a handful of wins. The bearded Baca and Silva even double-doubled for their troubles.
Most impressive in the 13x ranks was Hyper’s Parker Respass, who’d came out to Phoenix all the way from Virginia - and wasn’t about to go home with out a win or two ...or three.
If you’re talking about one of the toughest classes in BMX throughout history, you’d immediately think of the, “I just got my Driver’s License” class - 16x. Right now, there is no solid dominator in there and any kid who makes the main could very well win it. This weekend in the smoldering hot Arizona desert, two wins went to Full Tilt’s Brody Cole and the other was won by Answer’s “Birdman” - Brandon Crain. Also in the mix all weekend was Hyper’s Drew Polk, with his NAG No.1 plate, stickin’ on the podium and keepin’ them honest. Supercross’ new pickup, Mikkell Devore, LDC’s Cesar Flores, Hyper’s Tyler Knight are
In 12 cruiser, Ryder Lawrence scored two wins out of three tries. Not too shabby! 86
Very few racers can say they’ve raced in every decade - 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 00’s and 20-tees. But Dave Archibald can.
all capable of the win, as well - but it was not to be this weekend.
After three days in the desert, and national moto-count ranging from 160 to 180, racing was wrapped up a little after 12 on Sunday, leaving everybody refreshed and ready for a nice drive home - already reminiscing about what a great time it was getting #BackonTrack. Due to the nature of these times, the number of campers and motorhomes in the back lot were bigger than normal, and for those who flew to Phoenix, were treated to a nearly deserted Sky Harbor airport. USA BMX’s Chris Luna wrapped it up nicely - “The
weather was warm, but it was nice to have an event here in Phoenix with no worries about rain ...which also meant Mike Tradup wasn’t grouchy. Ha ha. Hats off to Debbie Kelley and the entire Black Mountain crew for getting things done in such a short amount
Ryker Godaire (GC#3) is a Chandler local, but that doesn’t mean he can’t rip it up on Black Mountain. He was in the 12 cruiser mix all weekend.
of time to make this event hap- pen. The track was probably the best that I’ve seen it. Mikey and Beaudie and everyone at Black Mountain help make this track surface smooth as glass.”
Speakin’ of Beaudie, who’d put in plenty of overtime preppin’ the track for the Desert Classic, wound up with two 16 cruiser wins for the weekend. But best of all, he was able to get on the work-release program with Tangent and hit the road with T.J. and the boys as they attempted to set a new land-speed record for Rock Hill, South Carolina ... which was the next stop on the 2020 Reboot Tour.
Maddie DeSantis goes bar-tobar with Lexie Alejandre.
Veolcity-raptor John Robbins (the 3rd) leads Daylight’eer Dallas Gardner in a 15 cruiser moto.
TRIPLES X 3
(3 same-day Wins, all 3 days)
HAYDEN PASSANISI 10 Cru, 10X & 9-10 Xopen
DOUBLES X 3
(2 same-day Wins, all 3 days)
DANICA ANDERSON 13 Girls & 13-14 Gcru
DOUBLES X 2
(2 same-day Wins, on 2 days)
ANNALYSE SOLANO 10under Gcru & 10 Girls
ERIC BACA 36-40 Cru & 36-40X
JASON SILVA KIRA BOUSTEAD MADDIE BAIRD MASON STANKEY STELLA SUNSERI 41-45 Cru & 41-45X 15-16 Girls & 17-20 Wcru 6under Mixed & 6 Girls 15X & 15-16 Xopen 13-14 Mixed & 14 Girls
DOUBLE
(2 same-day Wins)
BRADY HAMER 7-8 Open & 8X
EASTON JOHNSON 7-8 Xopen & 8X
GRAYSON NOVAK 6under Xopen & 6X
KEN HEXIMER NICHOLAS ADAMS 46-50 Cru & 46-5X 17-20X & 17-20 Xopen
ROWDY HOLZER 11 Cru & 11X
SAGE GAZAN 10 Girls & 9-10 Mixed
SHANE HARLOW
21-25 Cru & 21-25X
PRO OPEN WINNERS
Friday Pro Open: RILEY HOUSE
Saturday Pro Open: CORBEN SHARRAH
DATA:
Date: June 12-14, 2020 Location: Black Mountain BMX City/State: Phoenix, AZ States Represented: 28 Country Count: USA Only
Team Winners: Bike Shop:
Fri: J&R Bicycles.com
Sat: J&R Bicycles.com
Sun: J&R Bicycles.com
Factory:
Fri: Full Tilt-Radio
Sat: Full Tilt-Radio
Sun: Factory HYPER
You know you’re old school when you can pull a Terry Tenette-like power wheelie out of turn one: Peak Performance / BioLab’s Will Bissell, doin’ Mr.T proud.
Shark’s Devin Gosnell (NAG#6), Ryder Lawrence (W#3), Aedan Wells (#10) and Kaleb McCain (NAG#10) go to war in 12 cruiser.
