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Home town - Duluth, MN
Started BMX - 1974 after seeing On Any Sunday movie
Home track - "The Track" behind my house, 1974 - 2004
Cali town - Garden Grove, CA 1987 - 1990
Current town - Saint Paul, MN
Loved Moto-cross on TV and my older neighbor kids had mini-bikes
so I had to get one too! The "creek" wooded area behind my
house became an MX track since the cops always chased us from a
makeshift track out in the open.
1974 On Any Sunday blew me away especially with the intro having
kids emulating MX riding. My '72 Schwinn Stingray wasn't
radical enough and needed a true BMX bike. February 1975 I
got my Redline Squareback and spent many hours riding that and
MX.
Organized the neighborhood kids to have "mob" races in which the
youngest were up front and faster kids in back. The
younger kids learned how to ride really fast and being in back I
learned how to pass and develop a keen sense of lines available.
By 1977 MX was too expensive for my Mom and focused more on BMX.
At this time a new company, Torker, caught my attention and in
1978 received my new low profile complete bike.
My first race in '77 I had no idea what to expect as I only
lived through the BMX News and Bicycle Moto-cross Action
publications. Being there was totally cool and learned
very quickly on what I needed to do to improve both physically
and mechanically.
1978 my Mom brought me down to the Twin Cities to experience
Team Schwinn and Torker plus all the kids loving BMX as much as
me. In school I met some guys getting into BMX and we
spent many hours at what is now called "The Track" behind my
house and some trips to the Cities to race.
1980 was a huge year then I break my leg in two places.
Got back to racing after healing but with a crooked leg, yes
they set it wrong and didn't want it re-broken!
1981 got a job putting bikes together for our local bike shop.
That turned into re-designing their focus on BMX with new
distributors and products. That summer a track finally
opened near us! Put up posters, spread the word, and with
the talented group of riders at "The Track" I developed a BMX
team.
We dominated 1981 - 1983 and one rider, Darrin Christensen, was
undefeated!
1981 we all headed down to the Rondo Classic in Saint Paul.
What an experience and finally seeing Bob Haro ride, it
solidified my ongoing love of Freestylin'
1982 we spent many hours Freestylin' down at "The Track" by
doing 360's, kick turns, roll-backs, etc. We finally build
a 1/4 pipe and kick turn which we did non-stop! An
opportunity to show Freestyle at a huge event came my way and
did my first Freestyle show by myself. Still riding my
Torker and hearing about the new Haro Freestyler I had to get
one.
1983 I recruited my BMX teammate, Rick Hughes, to be a part of
J.T. Freestyle. We continued to race and put on shows.
That summer Bob Haro performed a freestyle show locally and it
was killer! We had Friendship Games between Canada and us
for various events including BMX racing. Here we all met
Jay Miron for the first time. It turned into a Freestyle
session after the racing.
By 1984 racing was not as popular and with new portable steel
ramps we switched to Freestyle full time. J.T. Freestyle
became a mail order / traveling bike shop.
1985 Freestyle was huge and don't know how I convinced my Mom
and Rick's parents to fly out to California to experience the
AFA Venice Beach contest, BMXA, Pipeline skate park, Mike Buff's
half-pipe, David Lee Roth, Bicycle Source, Peddle Power, Vans,
abandoned swimming pools, Curb Dogs, Itson, Wilkerson, Hugo, and
all the guys like us gathering in Venice loving Freestyle!
1986 had tryouts for new J.T. Freestyle riders. The team
had three Freestylers and an alternate. Shows, contests,
jam sessions, etc. were continually happening.
1987 Moved out to Garden Grove to experience the Cali lifestyle
and Freestyle more. Met a ton of guys and now got to ride
with guys like Woody Itson, R.L. Osborn, Martin Aparijo, Brian
Scura, Dave Voelker, Brian Blyther whenever vs. traveling hours
to visit them at just a bike shop show in Minnesota.
Experiencing seeing the Plywood Hoods at the Velodrome contest
was mind blowing with the rolling tricks.
1988 More shows, traveling all over, sellin' the latest
products, and graduating from college.
1989 The Street scene started to take over and contests like the
La Jolla Meet the Street kept Freestyle growing with new
bashguard products and anything goes atmosphere for tricks.
1990 Had to move back to Minnesota for family reasons.
Keith Norbie and I continued J.T. Freestyle shows and when Keith
broke his ankle The Canadian Beast, Jay Miron, became a J.T.
Freestyle rider.
1991 Move to the Twin Cities to further my computer career.
Flatlanding and riding at the now famous 3rd Lair skate park in
Minneapolis. Mountain biking was really taking off and my
first race was on ice in -20 degrees!
1990's involved BMX & MTB racing, Freestylin', Sprint Cart
racing, Drummer in a band, and inline marathon racing.
2001 I got diagnosed with over use of my legs and had surgery.
That set me back the whole year which was difficult. A new
Wheel Park opened and became a supervisor there. Organized
contests, pro camps, and ways to get low income families to get
involved with BMX Freestyle. Started to lurk on BMX sites
and got J.T. Freestyle online formally.
2002 Various dirt trails started getting gnarly so jumping and
meeting great guys like Tom Haugen. Performing various
Freestyle gigs and TV appearances.
2004 My Mom wanted all of my bike stuff moved out of her house
to mine. Didn't realize how much stuff I had accumulated
since the 70's. With guys talkin' online about various
products/bikes I began to piece together some bikes but wasn't
too serious about it. Went to the Rockford Vintage
gathering and thought I could display some bikes?
Had a blast at the Vegas Freestylers reunion party / pre Joe Kid
screening, Mat Hoffman, Bob Haro, Dave Mirra, Ceppie Maes, Dizz
Hicks, and us Minnesota guys - Marty Schlesinger, Krt Schmidt,
and Rick Moliterno (spent a lot of time here).
Reacquainting with riders I haven't seen in years was so fun!
2005 Rode my 1983 Torker Pro-X at Rockford and guys were like,
"What are you doin', enter that bike!" I took in all the
festivities and with that motivation I decided to put some bikes
together for 2006.
Experienced the Joe Kid on a Stingray premiere in Hollywood and
everyone loved all the memorabilia a brought. Sitting next
to Bob Haro and having him comment to me while the movie was
playing, priceless!
2006 Thought a good variety would be my '72 Stingray, '74
Squareback, '78 Mongoose, '81 Bob Haro Torker, and '81 Jason
Jensen mini Torker. To my surprise I was getting a lot of
positive feedback on the whole display spanning those years and
the quality of the bikes. I almost didn't display the
Jensen Torker because I forgot to put on the head tube decal at
home. Searched frantically and the last person I spoke
with had one for $35! Slapped that guy on and brought the
bike out at 11:00 A.M. With the late entry thought it
wouldn't win and to my surprise at the banquet it won the Best
1980's BMX with the largest amount of bikes ever.
2007 - 2010 Continued to put bikes together that really moved me
either the rider, company, and/or historic uniqueness.
Slowly I've been opening up by going to various events, posting
online stories, experiences, memorabilia, and/or bikes.
As seen by my very low number of posts I'm not "out there"
pumping myself and/or bikes, not my style but I have a lot to
share so my going to events held by BMX Action Online, BMX
Society,
Vintage BMX, ABA Hall of Fame, races, and MN Faction help me
express better in person than online.
Appreciate all the positive feedback on my BMX collection.
Without BMX I wouldn't be where I am at today. It gave me
focus, responsibilities, kept me healthy, opportunities to
travel/meet new people, and reconnect with old friends!
My passion today is just as strong as it was in 1974 so like my
friends from school state, "You going to die with a BMX bike in
your grave?" and the answer is Yes!
I'm still Freestylin' and goofing around at our local indoor
racing track.
Thanks for getting to know me a little bit better and feel free
to contact me anytime!
J.T.
1st BMX bike - 1974/75 Redline Squareback, still own it
1st Sanction race - 1977 NBA
1st Trick - Wheelies on my '72 Schwinn Stingray
1st Freestyle Trick - 1979 Bob Haro Rock walk how-to
1st BMX Team - Beagle Bike & Ski 1981, Team captain
1st Time in a Magazine - 1981 April BMXA Tech Tip article
1st Win - Overall age class winner two years in a row Moose Jaw
BMX '81/'82
1st Major Win - 2nd place Minnesota State Championships 16
expert
1st Freestyle Bike - '82 Haro Freestyler, still own it
1st Freestyle Performance - '82 Proctor Hoghead Festival by
myself
1st Freestyle Team - J.T. Freestyle 1983
1st Business - J.T. Freestyle performances / Bike shop, 1984
1st Freestyle Contest - Minnesota Freestyle Series Blaine
Minnesota 1985
1st AFA Freestyle Contest - 1985 Venice Beach, judge
1st Pool experience - Pipeline Skatepark 1985
1st Time in Freestyle Magazine - 1985 November Freestylin'
1st Freestyle Contest - 1986 with the Canadian's featuring Jay
Miron
1st 9.5 mile wheelie - Took 2.5 hours to complete on city
streets
1st 2HIP contest - What an experience and have it all on video
1986
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©2001 - 2011 - J.T. Freestyle - All Rights Reserved |
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