John Wells

Ok, one year later. Great event again for 2023. Big turn out of bikes this year. Nice to see everyone who went.

For those of you who went it was really a great time. Great to see lots of people I haven’t seen in years. Had a lot of fun talking to Rick (congratulations on winning the bike show), Dennis, Byron, Stu, PK, Larry Ruiz, Jon Anderson and so many others. The hospitality of Brent and Brian was outstanding! You guys are the best. Special thanks to Jon Crews your the life of the party. This has turned into a really great event. If you like old school BMX put this on your calendar for next year. Sorry I didn’t get any pictures, too busy having fun.

That looks like the turn. The upper part of the old track was a series of jumps that got bigger and bigger leading into that right turn. Missing that turn was a big problem. The first time I rode that track we drove down from Nor Cal and got to Sylmar at night. We took our bikes out and it was a full moon. The dirt was really sandy and it reflected the moonlight so we could see pretty well. Crazy things you do when you’re 16 years old.

Thanks Ben

Resurrecting a very old thread. I went to the frog town BMX reunion this weekend. Great to see a lot a friend haven’t seen in a very long time. Three number one California cup plate holders were there. Kevin Ridling, Brent Patterson and myself. BRIAN may have been one too. So if that’s the case there were four.

When I think about Bendix rear sprockets originally they only had a few sizes. It was like 16,18 and 19. Once Bmx became popular they came out with 14,15 and 17 tooth sprockets. I remember having a 15 and 17 was pretty cool and rare at first. Funny how you remember stuff like that.

Bicentennial crossbar pad is a nice touch. Can’t imagine to many of those around.

In the 70’s motorcycle chains were not very reliable. The master link could be problematic. It was common to have to replace the master link a couple of times in the ISDE. It was painted red so you could find it and replace it faster. They really wear in wet sand. The chain goes through a guide by the rear sprocket that is pretty tight against the side plates of the chain. It will wear the master link until the clip falls off.

Thanks for the monark info. While we’re on trivia, the A&A head tube was slightly longer than a standard length head tube. To install original Redline forks you had to cut the bottom of the tube just a little. We used a Tange bearing cup upside down as a guide to cut off enough material. At 15 years old my cutting skill wasn’t really great so I had to file a bunch. Thankfully “O” ring chains were invented after Malcolm Smith rode the ISDT. In my trips to the ISDE I never had to change a master link (I looked at it every day).

Great build Rick, A&A frames are always a favorite of mine. Your attention to detail is impeccable. Question about the monarch Cranks. I’ve never heard that name before. They look like the cranks that came on Schwinn continental 10 speed. We used to call them diamond cranks. They were The only cranks that wouldn’t bend before the hardened Ashtabula cranks came out.

Here is another shot of Dave Busby in the background.

The original 3 Panda team members I think turned out to all be excellent motorcycle road racers. Dave Busby, Dave and Allen Scott were all excellent Bmx racers and motorcycle racers.

It is a small world Rick. Elaine’s accomplishment always amazed me. Through the time her brothers were racing Bmx she really had no interest is cycling (that I could tell). The dedication, the amount of training and the mental toughness to do that race and to win is unbelievable! Thank you for your service Rick.