Nick Lacey was one of the few riders to beat Dylan Clayton for a National title during his time racing in the late 80s and early 90s but not to be content with just British titles, Nick had some big wins in Europe also winning the European title in 1989 while riding for Links Racing. Still, Nick’s real stand out year came in 1990 while riding for MCS doubling at the European Championships in Switzerland and then onto winning the World Championships in France a few weeks later ( Lane 8 as well ) in a demanding fashion. Nick was known for his size, power and good starts but maybe…

Steve Greaves, Chas Smith, Warren Godfrey & Tim Print are just a few of the names you would hear between the years 1982-86 in the 12 x through 16 x classes in UKBMX & NBMXA. In 1982 Mongoose’s, Steve Greaves was the UKBMX National number 1 but it was in 1983 & 84 – Kuwahara’s, Stu Diggens who was getting most of the wins – taking the UK number 1 plate during these years alongside winning the NBMXA British Championships in 83 and the 84 European Championships in Birmingham. Stu rode for teams like Redline, Kuwahara, a short stint on Raleigh before finishing up his last few years in the…

It was rumored even during his last few years of racing that amateur, Dylan Clayton, was making more money racing for the French Sunn Team than any of the European-based Elite / Pro top riders at the time. He got big bonus checks for all of the major titles and in his last year as an Am, Dylan cleaned house winning the EBA National Number 1, EBA British Championship, doubling at the European Championships in Sweden and a few weeks later doubling yet again at the UCI World Championship in Holland. Job done and onto Pro / Elite for 1994. Photo Credit: Neill Phillips  

1984 was the breakout year for Geth Shooter riding for Bunny’s GT Bike Shop Team. Geth was making waves on the NBMXA scene by the end of the season, Geth had wrapped up NBMXA National titles in the 16 expert & Cruiser before going onto winning 17 plus at the Club Championships ( see clip below ) at Nottingham’s Colwick stadium. Geth, then finished up the year in NBMXA doubling at the British Championships a week later. During the winter, Geth was picked up by Redline, turned Pro and was ready for the 85′ season to play — with March, Ruffell and all of the UK BMX big names of…

Not many riders had the chance to challenge or even beat Andy Ruffell during the 1983-85 years but one guy that did was Hutch’s, Simon Bailey from Doncaster. It was the 1984 NBMXA Nottingham Re-Run Nationals where basically the first scheduled Nottingham National of the year had ran out of day light during the semi finals so another date was set to finish up the meeting. The real challenge was getting everyone that had raced the first National to show up for the rescheduled one later in the year. With Tim Match a no-show, the 17 plus main event looked like a breeze for Andy Ruffell against the NBMXA 17…

So many talented riders came out of London during the 80s in both Freestyle & Racing. Charlie Reynolds from South London was not only a talent on a bike but also a huge personality off the bike. If reality TV was around during these times, I could not think of a better candidate than Charlie to feature on any TV show. The ratings would have gone through the roof — he was that good. There are so many legendary stories and quotes from the Charlie era, if you were around during these times then I’m sure you would of heard or saw the blacked-out BMW with a Boom-a-rang suited with…

The golden years of UKBMX racing was not just about Andy Ruffell, Tim March and all of the familiar names we saw at the races, on TV and read about in the magazines. Some other names off the track also helped make racing magical during the the 80s when the sport was growing at a fast pace. If you raced UKBMX and enjoyed to throw an elbow or go a little early on the gate, then chances are you ran into Chief Referee, Norman Darbyshire. Norman was a little intimidating if you ever saw him walking towards you at the finish line after a race – you’d take a deep…