Free Lunch 04: One Clown, Two Legends

This week’s random photos consist of two legendary BMXers; both from different eras, and both very different in their riding, but each hugely influential to the race and freestyle worlds.

Howell, New Jersey; 1981. Photo: Bruce Mulligan. I was looking through some old slides that my dad took when I had first started racing and I came across this one. This was at a national at Central Jersey BMX and as you can see, the trophies were impressive. Quick random fact: The bicycle shop in front of this track, formerly known as Bicycle World, is now owned by Scotty Cranmer and is called SC Action Sports (www.scactionsports.com).

So I must have looked at this slide dozens of times, but the most recent time I looked at it under a loupe I found something I’d never noticed before. Sitting in the infield, off to the side of the starting hill (upper left in the photo), is the one and only Stu Thomsen. He’s got on the classic white, red, and black Redline uniform, and you can see SunTour printed on the sleeve. When I first spotted him in this photo, it was like, “What? No way!” I was totally stoked to find this BMX legend in a slide I had. For me, it makes this photo a little more important and an instant classic. The funny thing, though, is what Stu is doing in the photo; something’s obviously got his attention because he’s staring up into the trees with his eyes wide and mouth agape. Below is a zoomed-in crop.

Stompin’ Stu. Your guess is as good as mine on what he’s looking at. Stu presented the Number One Racer award at last year’s NORA Cup, and is a true icon to BMX racing.

Dave Young; 1996-1997? The day I shot this, Chris Hargrave (former Ride editor) and I were down in San Diego hanging out with Dave Young. We were most likely teaming up to shoot a bike test for the magazine or some ridiculous move that Dave wanted to do. At the time, Dave lived in the basement of a house and his “apartment” was appropriately named the “Dave Cave.” The walls of his room were actually carved out of rock. It was wild. I remember a bunch of toys and other crazy things in his place, and I’m sure this clown mask was one of many fun things Dave had lying around to amuse himself and others. The moped? It actually had a flat?we pushed it into the street for the shot. I don’t know what inspired this photo, but it’s one of my favorites of this legendary street dog.