British BMX Hall of Fame Selection Panel
BRITISH BMX HALL OF FAME UPDATE: The Organizing Committee is in place. The date is set. The venue is booked. We are now pleased to announce the members of the British BMX Hall of Fame Selection Panel:
ANDY RUFFELL: needs little introduction. At age 11, Andy saw the BMX episode of CHiPs and dreamed of one day being able to upgrade his Raleigh Grifter for the real thing. After working on a market stall and doing paper rounds 7 days a week, Andy was able to purchase his first BMX bike, a Mongoose Supergoose. Before BMX teams were a thing in the UK, Andy spent all of his spare time at Rom and Harrow skate parks and built a reputation as one of the best park riders in the UK, credited as one of the first UK BMX’ers to perfect aerial 360s and giant airs. In 1980, Andy joined the UK’s first BMX race team, Team Ace, won the first official BMX race in the UK, and was quickly snapped up by Ammaco Mongoose to become Mongoose’s first factory sponsored European rider. As BMX blew up in the UK, Andy became the UK’s first BMX superstar, traveling the world racing and also putting on freestyle demos to huge crowds. With the sport at its peak, Andy signed the biggest BMX sponsorship contract in UK BMX history with industry giant, Raleigh Bicycles. Off the track, Andy developed a significant career in TV, hosting BMX Beat, The Tizer Freestyle Championships and Kellogg’s BMX Championships on mainstream TV. Andy also founded and produced several BMX events, most notably Holeshot, which attracted the top BMX and skateboard talent from all over the world.
SCOTT DICK: is well known on the UK BMX race scene as a legendary commentator and someone who has dedicated his life to growing the sport of BMX. Scott’s BMX journey started some 41 years ago when he was Track Director of the fabled Westway track in West London (his wife Margaret also handled admin and finish line duties). After Westway, Scott became Chairman at Hillingdon Hawks BMX club, and when his son Alex began racing at 3 years old, Scott, Marg and their 3 kids became regulars on the UK and European race circuit. As Scott’s presence and reputation grew, he was invited onto the Board of GBBMXF and the BCF BMX Commission. Scott was also instrumental in devising and promoting BMX race events at the NEC Bike Show, NASS and the No Clips Series. More recently, Scott set up the London BMX Series seeing it grow from 80+ riders in 2012 to 300+ riders in 2019, and also created a Schools Outreach Project which goes into local schools spreading the word of BMX and teaching kids how to ride bikes.
CLIVE GOSLING: has veritably feasted on BMX over the last 40 years and continues to remain heavily involved in both BMX racing and freestyle through the Mongoose and GT BMX brands as Marketing Director for Cycling Sports Group. As well as being a National #1 BMX racer (achieved by winning a perfect 10 nationals out of 10), Clive was also an early crossover street rider in the 80s, and in the 90s promoted/presented the GT Air Show with freestyle legends Simon Tabron and Zach Shaw. Clive represented some of the biggest and best factory teams in BMX such as Revcore, Robinson, Zeronine, ELF, Mongoose and GT to name just a few. Racer, King of Dirt, street rider, team manager, MC/commentator, Clive has experienced all walks of the BMX life.
DALE HOLMES: came across a copy of Official BMX Magazine at school in 1981 and shortly after began racing locally at Bunney’s track in Nottingham on his Raleigh Supercross. 1983 was Dale’s first full season of racing and BMX became a family affair with Dale and his sister Rachel travelling all over the UK chasing regional and national points. As Dale’s profile increased he attracted sponsors such as Bunney’s Bike Shop, Shenpar, JMC, Powerlite and Cyclecraft. Then, in the summer of 1988 at the age of 16, Dale made the move up to Superclass hoping to supplement his £28.50 weekly YTS wage and fulfill his ambition of BMX becoming his career. Heading into the 90s Dale began to race frequently in the USA and, after winning the UCI world title in 1996, made the switch Stateside permanent. Dale spent the next 10 years travelling the world representing GT, Nirve and Free Agent, also picking up another UCI world title in 2001, eventually moving into full time team management for Free Agent and mentoring BMX legend Kyle Bennett and 2 x Olympic Champion, Maris Strombergs. Dale’s BMX career has now come full circle, racing for fun in Vans on flat pedals, and giving back to the sport by running a number of grassroots school and camp programs for the next generation of BMX’ers.