Redline, ROOSTBMX.com, OldSchoolBMX.com
Old School Museum - Rockford 2001
By: Tim Lillethorup

I'm still on a a huge high from our Rockford event! This was the most fun I've had in MANY years! It was an honor to be among all of you, many friends old and new.

Having been away from BMX all these years, it was like cramming 20 years of BMX into one awesome weekend. I woke up at 4:30 Sunday morning, and my mind was like a VCR playing back all the great times we had at the track, then at the banquet.

Paul Smith....you da man! Thanks for working so hard to organize the event and banquet. Jason Leikam and Kevin O'Donnell.....you dogs! Look what you started man! It's AWESOME! Thank you all so much for making this an event to remember! gOrk, thank you for the space by the Redline trailer. It was very cool to have you speak at the banquet and to spend some time talking about our days at ABA, and even cooler to compete with you and Towne in the "Editors" Cruiser division! (Towne blew our doors off!) Scott, do you give lessons on how to look cool on the track? I know a 200lb Cornhusker who needs a few tips! hehehe...

Speaking of COBRA leader Towne. I didn't know I could be so entertained! Awesome job as banquet MC! But I know your little SE buddy Steve did all the work! I can't wait to play back the tape!

Some of the best moments of the weekend were speaking with Jim Melton and watching him win the ROOST NORA Cup Award for Best Old School Bike for JMC. To top that off with Venekamp's JMC "Andy Patterson" winning Best of Show in the 20" division was a remarkable event.

Bill and Hal from OldSchoolBMX.com, you guys rock! It was great meeting you and I look forward to hosting more Old School / ROOST events with you guys. Bill, you are a walking BMX encyclopedia! The guys on my team were amazed at your knowledge!

You guys from the Great Northwest are amazing! Pliska you are what BMX is all about! To recover from 3 shoulder injuries, drive all the way from Oregon, then race like a bat out hell. You rule! Ben Joy...what a super nice guy! Thanks for bringing the valuable Old School tapes for our viewing pleasure. I will handle them with gloves in my stainless steel, vacumm sealed editing suite! Next time you'd better bring your Cruiser Ben! Roger Linder....heal up fast buddy! Seeing you shot me right back to 1981 and the early days of cruiser racing. What a gas!

I know there are guys I'm leaving out, you ALL are my heros! Thanks for making Rockford 2001 a great memory! I can't wait for next year!

ROOST NORA CUP RESULTS
At Saturday night's banquet we presented awards to Jim Melton as "Honorary Guest", Craig "gOrk" Barrette as "Honorary Guest Speaker", Jeff Venekamp for his "Best 20" Bike" - a pristine JMC Andy Patterson, and Phil Delfield for "Best Cruiser" - an immaculate 26" Torker from the early days of Cruiserdom.

We also presented the 2001 ROOST NORA CUP awards, established by visitors to ROOSTBMX.com. Voting for "Number One Old School Rider" was close. The award went to Stu Thomsen, who grabbed the lead by only 2 votes over Joe Baumert. gOrk represented Redline and accepted the award for Stu. It was fitting that "Number One Old School Bike" award went to JMC. With Jim Melton present, the night belonged to JMC. "Number One Old School Team" went to the former SE Racing. All Old School racers respect the SE colors established by the legendary Scot Breithaupt.

Below are photos from the Old School Museum. Try the video clip too. It's in Real Video format. There will be banquet and race photos posted in the next few days as well.

I may not have the correct info on all photos, so feel free to e-mail your corrections or additions. tim@roostbmx.com

Tim Lillethorup

CLICK A LINK BELOW FOR OLD SCHOOL MUSEUM VIDEO
The video is available in 3 speeds for the viewing pleasure of those with slow 56K modems, as well as faster DSL, cable and LAN connections.

OLD SCHOOL MUSEUM VIDEO - 56K Modem

OLD SCHOOL MUSEUM VIDEO - 80K - Cable and DSL

OLD SCHOOL MUSEUM VIDEO - 150K - DSL and LAN

Jason Leikam's vintage Diamond Back.

Old School Trickery!

KO'D's Team Mongoose and BXC Cruiser, along with
Ben Jerry's very cherry 26" Powerlite Cruiser.

Tighter on that Powerlite!

Miscellaneous Hutch and JMC trickery.

JMC ruled this weekend.

Jeff Venekamp's winning JMC "Andy Patterson" flanked
by Towne's mint RRS and Webco "Replica".

More Old School Eye Candy.

Towne's Patterson with Bottema forks and Redline Squareback.
Yowza! Take me back to the 70's man!

Bill Curtin from OldSchoolBMX.com and Redline's TM gOrk
along with ABA's photograper.

Kevin O'Donnell and Phil Delfield in the "Old School" Pit area.

Jeff Venekamp among many Old School enthusiasts.

The grandfather of Cruiser racing in the Great Northwest,
and all-around Old School legend, Ben Joy.

A founding father of ROOST BMX, BMX Editor past and present,
COBRA leader Scott Towne.

The original members and founders of ROOST. Kevin O'Donnell,
Paul Smith and Jason Leikam.

One of the hottest selling bikes in BMX history.
The notorious SE PK Ripper. Named after Perry "Wheat" Kramer.

For 2 years in the early 80's, Woody Woodruff and Tim Lillethorup
owned REACH BMX Systems. This classic REACH Direct Link
is one of only a few hundred made. Woody now owns Enigma and
was proud to see his early creation on display.

Another shot of the RRS and Webco Replica.

Will sidehack racing make a return to BMX? If Nik "Laplander" Nikkila
has anything to say about it, the answer is YES! This classic
Mongoose with R&R hack could be seen tooling around the pits
all weekend long.

This Super Stroker with Matthews forks is a true Old School classic.
The first issue of BMX Action had a Super Stroker on the cover.

Phil Delfield's classic late 70's Torker 20. Shades of Eddy King.

Delfield's 26" Torker Cruiser looked like it never left the
showroom floor, and won the Best Cruiser award.

Click here to for more cool Rockford photos from Kevin O'Donnell