The BMX started around age 11-12. My neighborhood friends and I were all doing what you do at that age riding trails and jumping etc. but my neighbor 4 doors way (Todd Miller) who would turn out to my best friend in life got me introduced to the racing side at age 12. We went to my first race at 12 in Wausau, WI. and continued until age 17 mostly in the St Paul and Minneapolis Mn area. I went to approximately 80 races between 1982-87 grabbing 70 plus trophies and awards. We also were into the freestyle side of the sport so later on doing shows at the local fairs and events took more of the focus. Racing changed but stayed in my blood but in the form of drag racing muscle cars. BMX racing was not on the radar for my midlife. Over the years somehow, I kept my last bike. Haro Group1 all tricked out with redline flight cranks and 48 spoked wheels. Then in this last year Todd decided to get back into bikes. Now in our 50s we started racing again.

I was bitten by the BMX bug around 1980 (Age 12) I had been playing hockey but that came to a screeching halt once I discovered BMX. By 1981 I had my first BMX Bike which was a KHS. In 1982 I upgraded to a Redline MX II. That was also the 1st year I purchased my ABA license. The 1st race I ever attended was in MN and it was through our local bike shop. They rented a School bus and a big group of us attended our 1st real BMX race. If I remember correctly that was in Eden Prairie MN. I don’t recall getting a trophy at that race but soon after I would collect a little over 80 trophies in 90 + events. In 1983 a local roller skating rink had asked us to perform some Bike Tricks during one of there skating sessions. That was my first taste of “performing” in front of a crowd on a BMX bike. In 1984 one of my best friends (Matt Howard) and I formed M&H (Miller-Howard) Freestyle team. We did Freestyle shows at Fairs, Roller Rinks, Malls, Festivals, Parades and Schools (where we also included safety seminars to teach the importance of safety gear) We were good enough that the same Bike Shop that did the BMX bus trip decided to sponsor us. In 1985 we were featured in a local News Paper. They did a 3 page spread on us which included a bunch of photos as well. 1985 was also my peak year for racing BMX. I had lead the points in my age group for the state of Wisconsin. 1985 was also the year our local bike shop decided since I was hanging out at the shop so much they may as well hire me. (I ended up working there for 15 years!) 1986 Freestyle BMX was booming and most of the bikes we were selling were Freestyle Bikes. We stocked bikes from GT, DYNO, Redline & Schwinn just to name a few. I didn’t race much in 1986 or 1987. I had started a new Freestyle Team with another buddy of mine (Brett Olson). We were sponsored by Eau Claire Cycle (the local bike shop mentioned throughout this writing) and Coca Cola. Now we were making money at every show (vs Spending money traveling to the Races) Some other highlights throughout that time period were getting to meet the HARO Freestyle team. Eau Claire Cycle hired them to come perform in Eau Claire. I also did a commercial for McDonalds. They were giving away a BMX bike and needed someone to perform some tricks on a BMX bike to drum up interest. I believe that was in 1986. We were also hired to perform at the Grand Opening of the “Oakwood Mall” here in Eau Claire. I would eventually get into Mountain Biking a bit but nothing close to the level I reached with BMX. I would eventually fall in love with Muscle Cars. That lead to starting up DieCastMuscleCars.com in 1999. One year later the website was doing so well I decided to leave Eau Claire Cycle and just concentrate on my website. That proved to be a good move as Eau Claire Cycle closed its doors a few years later. In 2015 I started working at my friends Muscle Car Restoration Shop (Autokraft) where I worked until 2023. We restored high end Muscle Cars and also built Drag Race Cars. I still own and operate DieCastMuscleCars.com as well as Stage1Restoration.com. (My Muscle Car Parts website) I just recently renewed my interest in BMX as well as the Retro Bikes that are coming back. I couldn’t believe the popularity of Old School BMX bikes. I was blown away at the interest in these old BMX bikes that were such a big part of my life. I also couldn’t believe that there were Shows for BMX Bikes. And reproduction parts! Just like the Muscle Car world but with 80’s BMX Bikes! So in a sense I’ve come full circle and really enjoy building and collecting these Bikes!

Bent Rim Racing