Interview – Louis Mears

It’s been 40 years this summer since you became the first British rider to win a World Championship. You also got 3rd in Open class that weekend. You were so young at the time. Did you realise what you had done?

Wow, has it been that long?! Honestly, I was so young that I just didn’t take in what I’d achieved back then. I couldn’t really understand the massive response to what I’d done because I was just a kid who loved riding his BMX, and I was shy, so I felt a little awkward at times with all the attention. I was lucky enough to travel the country every weekend with my brother and dad, and all over Europe too. It’s weird, I look at my son now and he’s just turned 6, and I can’t imagine him doing what I did at his age. Pretty crazy when I think about it.

You received all kinds of media attention at the time, including the major newspapers if I recall. How was all the attention back home?

It was crazy. As I said before, I was rather shy back then, and I was so young that it just didn’t really sink in. I still watch the interview I did on breakfast TV, and my mum has still got The Sun newspaper and all the magazine cuttings, bless her. I watch that TV interview now and still can’t quite believe what I achieved back then.

Back home in the UK, you also became UKBMX National Champion that same year. Who were some of the guys you battled with?

There were some great riders around me back then that I used to race most weekends, including Scott Vogel, Sam Jarvis, Russ Swift, and others. I think we were the top four and really had some great battles. Apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone. There was Sam on Mongoose, Russ on Kuwahara, and me on Diamond Back. Brilliant times.

You were also on the very prestigious Diamond Back Factory Team. Do you remember your teammates and what it was like on the team?

Diamond Back was always my favourite factory team back then. My hero was Harry Leary, and even before I got signed by them, I rode a Diamond Back and had all the outfits, so to actually sign for them was just amazing. As I’ve shared, I was so young that I can’t really remember the others on the team except for Jason Maloney, who took me under his wing and looked after me. Also, Tim March I remember as well. Although Tim wasn’t on Diamond Back, he too looked out for me. I think he and my dad used to chat on race days, and I remember using his number plates when he first started producing them.

You also raced on a trick custom bike. Do you still have it?

I can’t remember the custom bike, but I still have my Turbo Lite that Diamond Back gave me for winning the Worlds. It was the first one in Europe, I believe, so I’m always keeping that. I’d love to get it fully restored, as it’s currently red and white. After I left Diamond Back, I rode for a year unsponsored and wore the red and white Hutch outfit, which in my book was the coolest look around at the time. I had the bike sprayed red on one side and white on the other, and it looked really cool with the Hutch gear.

It looked like by 1985 you were winding things down in racing. Any reason why you retired?

I think it was taking its toll on my schooling, and my mum thought at the time that was more important. Diamond Back was interested in me relocating to the States, but she was having none of it. I often think about what my life would have been like if I’d moved to the States, but I was so young that they just didn’t think it was sensible at the time.

Do you still keep up with racing over the years? Or still ride for fun?

I keep up with everything BMX on social media. It will always have a special place in my heart. I was always looking at how well you were doing, Dale, absolutely smashing it here and then moving to the States and beating everyone over there. And now the best English BMX racer ever is giving me an interview. Very surreal.

Sadly, I don’t ride anymore, but if either of my sons ever wanted to take up racing, I’d love to support them.

Are there any other highlights from your BMX days?

The main highlight obviously was winning the Worlds, but looking back, I really hope I gave hope to, or motivated, the young kids who wanted to get into racing back then, and hopefully pushed English BMX into the spotlight a bit.

What are you doing these days? On social media it looks like you are busy with family life.

Yeah, settled down to family life now, Dale. Nothing exciting like when I was young, but I’ve got my amazing wife, Faye, and my two amazing boys, Grayson and Hudson, who are my world, so I’m extremely lucky.