Friday, September 1, 2017

Rider's Choice BMX Freestyle Hall of Fame: 1980's


I could spend all day agonizing over what video to put here.  There are dozens of great riders who left their mark on the early days when freestyle was spreading across the world from SoCal.  But one of the riders we all were stoked to watch was NorCal ramp man Hugo Gonzales.  Before the term "Huck it" became popular, Hugo was keeping us all on the edge of our seats.  We never knew what he was going to try.  I'm pretty sure he didn't even know sometimes.

To nominate a rider for this list, I need three separate riders from the era to nominate them.  This isn't a formal thing.  I just kept hearing chatter on Facebook about what rider was going make this year's "official" Hall of Fame.  Like so many ideas in years past, I thought, this is a DIY sport, why doesn't somebody do a their own freestyle Hall of Fame?  And nobody did.  So here it is.  Start droppin' names and lets see what happens.  People can be in as many categories as they legitimately fit.

BMX Freestyle Pioneers
Bob Haro-  The whole thing was his idea 

1970's Jumping Pioneers
Scot Breithaupt- The Godfather of BMX- (SE, 

Jumping
"Trash Can" Morgan- (SE,
Chris Moeller- (SE,

Flatland
R.L. Osborn- (SE,
Woody Itson- (SE,
Martin Aparijo- (SE,

Old School Skateparks
Eddie Fiola- (SE, 
Mike Dominguez- (SE,
Brian Blyther- (SE,  
Jeff Watson- (Bill Bunting,


Wedge Ramps
John Dizz Hicks- (SE,
Mike Buff- (Mike Garrity, 

Quarterpipes
Ron Wilkerson- (SE,
Mat Hoffman- (SE, 
Hugo Gonzales- (Jason Goldsmith, Brian Reed)

Halfpipe 

Street
Dave Vanderspek- (SE,
Eddie Roman- (SE,

Overall Riders-
Dennis McCoy- (SE,

Dave Voelker- (SE,

Photographers
Bob Osborn- (SE,
John Ker- (SE,
Windy Osborn- (SE,


Video producers/editors
Don Hoffman- (SE,

Eddie Roman- (SE,
Mark Eaton-  (SE,


Industry Pioneers
Scot Breithaupt- (SE,
Bob Haro- (SE,




Rider/Entrepreneurs
Chris Moeller- (SE,
 

OK, These first few names are my nominees to get the ball rolling.  The first three people that nominate each rider will get their names in parentheses after the nominee.  I could EASILY add 100 names to this list myself.  But I want all old school riders to get their voices heard, unlike that other HOF.  Remember, this is where it all started:


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