September 2008 - Spokes Magazine

DEPARTMENTS
BMX MID-ATLANTIC by BRIAN CARON coolbmx2c4me@aol.com
Good Ole Dads Return to their Roots
BMX racing has always been a family style sport since
it’s inception in the 1970’s. Motorcycle racing gained
popularity during the same time period and the kids
of the time period were anxious to get a taste of racing
too. Not every kid on the block was fortunate
enough to have a motorcycle and the means to travel
to a moto-cross track, but most kids did have access to
a bicycle.
The sport of BMX was born in Southern California
on some undeveloped land by a group of kids who
took the initiative to organize a type of racing to emulate
their motorcycle counterparts. The sport grew by
leaps and bounds in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s
but there were very few BMX tracks in the country at
the time. The BMX circuit during that time period
consisted of a select few major cities that were quickly
jumping on the latest craze and building their own
BMX tracks. BMX racing continued to gain popularity
and tracks began popping up in more places, but
by no means were they as prevalent as baseball fields
or basketball or tennis courts. Those kids interested in
BMX, mostly young teenagers, needed a means of getting
to these tracks to give BMX a try. Convincing their
parents to travel around to these tracks in order to give
BMX a try wasn’t always an easy task for these kids.
During the early days of BMX most of the competitors
consisted of kids who had fathers that had racing
in their blood and understood the drive and
motivation to race whether it was motorcycles, cars or
bicycles. Most of these dads in turn were responsible
for the development of stronger, lighter and innovative
bicycle frame and parts designs to give their kids
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Bill Gorsuch and his son Billy after the race.
an edge. Most of these upgrades were developed out
of necessity as there were no purpose built BMX bikes
at the time. There were very few parts that stood up
to the rigors of BMX racing, and it was not uncommon
for kids to break frames, forks, cranks and
wheels while racing BMX in the early 1980’s. In fact,
the BMX dads were responsible for developing the
tubular fork, tubular three-piece cranks, the double
clamp BMX stems, alloy race frames and many other
contributions to the evolution of BMX.
These days the BMX market is a multi-million dollar
industry with unique innovations still springing up
every year. With parts development left to the experts,
it leaves the BMX dads with nothing to do but give it
a try themselves. It’s not uncommon at today’s BMX
tracks to see a full gate of 30-50 year-old fathers racing
BMX. Some of these guys raced “back in the day,”
mainly the early to mid 1980’s when BMX exposure
was at it’s first peak.
We’ve had two racing dads get back into BMX after
a 20 year hiatus this month alone at our local track,
and now are racing competitively AGAIN! They line
up with the other “cruiser dads,” some of whom are
racing into their 50’s. Yes BMX racing is THAT old.
One of those riders who loved the sport in the 1980’s
and plans on passing along his passion for BMX to
the next generation in Bill Gorsuch. At 41 years-old
he’s in his third season of BMX racing aboard his
favorite race rig, the Standard Bykes 125r. That’s only
one of the four bikes that are hanging off the rack of
his SUV. The GRT (Gorsuch Race Team) consists of
himself, Josh his 17 year-old step-son, Billy his 12 yearold,
and soon to be racer Logan at just 2 years-old.
Living near the town of Clear Spring, Md., they call
Hagerstown BMX their home track but also travel to
Riverside BMX in Cumberland, Winchester BMX, and
NOVA BMX both located in Virginia. Keep in mind
he does all of this while working a full time job, an
hour plus commute to work each day, spending time
with his wife Lori, not to mention tinkering on one
of his many BMX bikes ranging from several Schwinn
Scramblers, 1984 Schwinn Predators, an 84 Hutch
Pro-Racer, an 88 Schwinn Sting, and parts to build
about 6 more! When he’s not shopping for parts to
complete a project bike on the internet he’s out on
the track honing his skills to stay competitive in the
40+ Novice class.
Gorsuch and his son Billy (aka Gomer) completed
the Maryland State points Series in 2007 and both are
competing in this year’s series as well. They both are
enthusiastic about BMX and always enjoy racing or
just hanging out in the pits spending time with other
people who share their interest in bikes. He’s also
anxious to get his youngest son off his training wheels
and onto the BMX track as well
His childhood hobby that began in the Charm City of
Baltimore where he grew up has carried on into his
adulthood. He’s been into bikes since he depended
on them for transportation around town. Today he
is less dependant on them for transportation but still
enjoys the hobby of collecting and building some
of his childhood dream bikes. Since he hails from
Baltimore, the home of Hutch bicycles, he considers
his favorite bike in his collection to be the 1986
Futuristic Black Hutch Trick-Star which was one of
the bikes that he used to ogle at as a teenager wishing
he had the means to own one. He couldn’t afford the
best of everything as teenager so he and his brother
made the most out of compiled used parts and saved
up for the cool new parts from Mt Washington bikes
when he could.
Bill has his hands full both on and off the track but
manages to keep it all together and still have fun.
When he’s not engulfed in bikes he enjoys speed skating,
playing guitar or heading off to see a rock concert
of some sort, reliving his youth through that as
well with songs from AC-DC, or Iron Maiden topping
his favorites list. You may hear some of those tunes
in the driveway too as he wrenches on his Mustang
GT or his Chevy pick-up, both 1980’s vintage as well.
Watch for Bill and his family at a BMX race near you,
as he’s still keeping it real after 30 years worth of riding
and no slowing down in sight.
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