My name is Bryce and I race in the 6 intermediate class for Phantom Development.

My name is Parker Respass and I race in the 9x class. I am from Suffolk, Virginia, and Hampton BMX is my home track. I started racing in July 2013, right after I turned 7. I asked for money for my my birthday and bought a bike and have been racing ever since. I love to travel all over to race!

Follow me on instagram and twitter @bylan_darke

At first, Brooke was completely against racing. Her parents only got her a bike so she wouldn’t feel left out when the family went to watch her brother race on their hometown BMX track in Tulare, Calif. Of course, she was only six at the time but, in a discipline where racers start as young as five, Brooke sized up the peer competition and told her parents that she wanted to try racing. Racing BMX in southern California is a bit like playing football in central Texas, the talent pool is deep and wide and the competition is fierce. The distinctions started piling up when Brooke was nine. She has consistently compiled top-3 titles in national age group rankings ever since. Her big break came in 2009 when, as a 16 year old, she scored two world titles and a national title. Brooke graduated from Mt. Whitney High School in 2011 and began to focus on BMX racing full time. While she has lived under her parents’ roof, she has benefited immensely from their sustained support. They have - according to Brooke - always pushed her to be at her very best. They have also pulled double duty as her coach, which sometimes isn’t easy when the going gets rough. As a teen, Brooke has learned that the price of racing at an elite level has cost her a bit of a social life but, rather than be adrift in the life of a normal teenager, she is a determined BMX racer and she credits her parents, in part, with being where she is today. Coming just a tad short on the UCi points scale, Brooke was chosen as the back-up rider for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, and kept training and pushing her two friends and Olympic team members - Alise Post and Arielle Martin. With the Olympic games already started, and just days before they were all to leave for London, Arielle snapped a chain while practicing on the London-replica course, and suffered some serious injuries. Suddenly, Brooke was IN, and on her way to London to represent the United States. In one of the more memorable moments of the BMX event, Brooke flashed the palm of her glove to the TV cameras. Written there on the palm of her Deft family gloves was scribbled “AMV” - her tribute and salute to her OTC roommate, who was watching from a hospital bed back home in San Diego. Despite a gnarly crash in qualifying on the first day of the Olympics - a bail that was seen around the World, Crain went on to make the main event and placed 8th. When Brooke’s not training or riding her bike, she likes to hang out with a few of her close friends, play basketball, or relax at home with her family.

Since a very young age, Australian Sam Willougby’s dream had been to race in the USA and become the No.1 Pro. It’s been a long and tedious journey - one that he has worked very hard to achieve. Incredibly, he’s made it come true. In fact, that dream has come true three times so far. While working his way to the top of the Australian ranks, Sam became the first rider to win back-to-back Junior World Titles (2008 and 2009), before moving up to the Elite ranks. It was in 2010 - now with full factory support from Redline Bicycles, that Sam won his first No.1 pro title in America. His soaring 2011 results helped pull Australia to the highest ranked BMX nation - and Sam capped things off with a UCi World Championship; only three months out from the London Games. Full of confidence, Willoughby made his Olympic debut in London where he would again tackle the world’s best, and did his best to chase down Latvia’s Maris Strombergs. Sam wound up with a silver, for his first Olympic try - and upon returning to his new home in the U.S., proceeded to win another National No.1 Pro title in USA BMX. 2013 could very well be Sam’s best year ever; as he kicked off Day 2 of the Winternationals with a AA-pro win and wouldn’t stop winning until 13 races later. Sitting out Southpark to prepare for the Worlds, officially ended Sam’s win-streak, but he would start a new one with a late-season charge of 5 consecutive wins, clinching yet another No.1 Pro Championship. His 13-consec win-streak would shatter the previous Pro record, held by John Purse - and his 18 Win total for the year places him in 2nd place for “most wins” in a season. While the 2013 Cup was his third ever, his 2-in-a-row feat places Sam in good company - joining Brian Patterson, Gary Ellis, Pete Loncarevich, Christophe Leveque, Warwick Stevenson and Bubba Harris. While Sam surely has nothing else to prove - and has already put his name in the BMX history books, he’s definitely not done dominating the sport. There was a lot on the line in 2014: Could Sam tie Bubba Harris’ lone record of 3-in-a-row? At the same time, would he put a 4th No.1 Cup in his collection amd add his name alongside Ellis and Loncarevich as the only 4-in-a-lifetime Pro Champions? Sam went to Tulsa looking like the favorite - winning the 2014 ROC, but was struggling a bit out of the gate in a couple of races. Unfortunately, a bad gate start in the all important Grands semi forced Sam to make up some ground from mid-pack, and while in the 4th place transfer spot he would up casing the berm-jump and going OTB. His weekend, his year and his quest for a record-setting No.1 Pro title was no over. In 2015, Sam is again on target for the No.1 title - and we'll find out in November if he can earn himself a 4th No.1 Pro championship.

Austin Close 11X Yorktown, Virginia. Rider for ALPHA FACTORY ALPHABICYCLEPRODUCTS.COM Home track Hampton bmx