Our first-ever Dale Holmes Racing Beginner’s League, in conjunction with San Diego BMX, kicks off November 3rd! This one-of-a-kind league offers kids an opportunity to hone their BMX skills while also getting exercise, building confidence and learning how to navigate the BMX race scene. Sessions run on both Tuesdays and Saturdays. Participants must be able to ride a bicycle without training wheels. Space is limited.

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Racing is starting back up in the US after the coronavirus lock down, with USA BMX holding Nationals in Oklahoma two weeks ago while this past weekend was the Desert Classic in Phoenix, Arizona.

Our 15x Peter Choat has been spending some time in Texas doing camps and riding daily during this down time from racing and went into Oklahoma feeling good, coming away with the win all three days. Peter skipped Phoenix but heads out to South Carolina next weekend for the Carolina Nationals.

The rest of the Team went to Phoenix and put in a good showing with Derin Merten and Brooke Craft scoring two podiums and Connor Eaton four podiums. Maddie Desentis in her first event of the year – due to injury on top of the lock down – came away with a handful of podiums as well.

In all, a great few weeks of racing for our Team and we will all be present in Lemoore on July 10-12 for the Summer Classic Nationals. We are looking forward to the easing of quarantine orders so we can update our schedules with more Nationals.

As always, thanks to all of our team sponsors for supporting our racing efforts.

Haro, Cliq, Dale Holmes Racing, 100%, Barona Casino, WD40, 3dyn Composites Inc, Dvide, ODI, Box, Tioga, HRP Designs.

Even though the domestic USA BMX season started early January in Las Vegas, the Winter Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona this past weekend was the first, big team outing of the year. 

This year’s team has the addition of 15x Peter Choat from Bakersfield who had a solid showing in Phoenix with a 2nd on Saturday and 3rd on Sunday. Super stoked Peter joins us and even at a young age already brings a great vibe to the team in the pits. 

Connor Eaton, Brooke Craft and Derin Merten all raced the World’s qualifier Friday night and all made the mains, with Brooke winning and all three of them securing a place in this year’s UCI World Championships which will be held in Houston, Texas in May. 

Brooke also backed up Friday’s win with a 2nd and 4th for the weekend’s Nationals, with Connor Eaton making 3 out of his 4 main events and Derin Merten rocking the flat pedals and making her class main both days. Maddie DeSantis unfortunately crashed in practice last week and couldn’t make the trip to Arizona but should be back very soon. 

All in all a great outing for the team. Big thanks to John Buultjens at Haro for coming out and supporting the team and hanging out in the team pit all weekend. Note of thanks to Haro Bicycles and all of our sponsors that continue to support not just our team but also all of our programs. 

Haro, Cliq, Dale Holmes Racing, 100%, Barona Casino, WD40, 3dyn Composites Inc, Dvide, ODI, Box, Tioga, HRP Designs.

It’s crazy to think the 2019 season is a wrap and in the books and we’re are already planning for 2020 for all of our teams and programs as we speak. Last weekend, the full Haro Factory team headed out to Tulsa, Oklahoma to finish up the USA BMX season at the River Spirit Expo during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Payton Ridenour continued to top off a great year winning her class both Friday, Saturday and Sunday with Brooke Craft making the NAG 5 Challenge Main event Saturday night and another main event appearance and National number 4 for the year.

Connor Eaton placed 3rd at Friday’s Race of Champions, Cam Mason put it in the main and Maddie DeSantis also walked away with a podium Sunday night with another consistent, good year for Maddie.

Derin Merten didn’t make the main event in Tulsa but still had a solid year.

Big thank you to Tommy Craft and Haro’s John Buultjens for the team support all weekend and having a good Haro Pit presence for our crew and of course, a big shout-out to all of our team sponsors this year for making it all happen.

Haro, Dale Holmes Racing, Cliq, 100%, WD40, Dvide, 3dyn, Composites Inc, ODI, Tioga, HRP, Box, Gaerne.

As we head into the USA BMX Grands later this month, which is also the final race of the year – it’s already been a fantastic year for Payton Ridenour. With her first year in the Junior Women’s class, Payton has been banging out National double wins all year and a solid 4th place at the UCI World Championships in Zolder. Last month, Payton became the first official UCI Red Bull Pump Track World Champion in Switzerland earning the coveted Rainbow jersey.

Shot of our guy Dr. Jason Richardson during our recent DVIDE shoot this week with Justin Kosman. Dr. J has been an instrumental part of our after school program, Ride to End Obesity, with his presentation on inspiring young people to be kind, active and happy. For more on DVIDE check out dvidebrand.com.

NEW – Dvide Spring Line has dropped and available online over at dvidebrand.com.

Check out all of the NEW Snapback Hats, Beanies, Tees, Long-Sleeve Tees, Backpacks, Hoodies and Coffee Mugs.

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This past weekend the team headed to Phoenix, Arizona for the Winter Nationals. Luckily, we missed out on the rain that had hit the race in previous years and we got to set up in the pits and had a good weekend of racing all-around for the team.

Cam Mason flew out from South Carolina for his first race of 2019 and came in 3rd and 4th in Junior Men giving him a great start to the year.

New to the team this season, Derin Merten put herself in the main event both days but unfortunately crashed out Sunday – still lots of positives moving forward to Albuquerque next month.

Madelynn DeSantis already has wins under her belt from Vegas last month and she continued hitting the podium with 2 wins, a second and third for her efforts in Phoenix.

Brooke Craft started 2019 on fire with wins in Vegas, Oklahoma and another two this weekend in Phoenix. Brooke’s on a great track for the 2019 title chase.

Solid weekend all-around for the team.

Now that the dust has settled, reflecting back to the Grands and Winning the race and a National Number 1 Girl Title, how does it feel to put your name in the record books?
It feels amazing! Winning the amateur title is one goal that I’ve always wanted to accomplish! Winning the national age group title is cool, but to win an award this huge and for my name to go into the record books alongside riders like Alise is an honor.

How did you approach the main event? Anything different?
For the main event I didn’t do anything different than I would usually do when I go up for a race. I knew I was up for the title, but honestly I forgot about it by the time I crossed the finish line and was just stoked I won (haha). For prep leading up to it, I just kept it fun. I had fun in the chutes and on the gate, and that’s what helped me win and stay relaxed in the end.

How did you celebrate?
I was absolutely amazed by the amount of people who congratulated me on the title, and especially all of the pros who came up to me. After the races, my family and I went to an Irish Pub for dinner where we celebrated. It meant a lot to receive congratulations from my competitors, friends, family, sponsors, frankly from lots of people I didn’t even know, and tons of riders who inspire me.

We see you’ve been riding your park bike and some MTB in the off season. Do you think switching things up helps with your racing?
I’ve been trying to ride at some indoor bike parks during the winter since no tracks are open near me because of the weather. I’ve ridden at Ray’s Indoor MTB Park in Cleveland, Ohio once and the Wheelmill in Pittsburgh, PA a few times this year. I’ve also done a few cross-country mountain bike rides with my Dad on the local trails. I think switching things up helps with my racing tons! Exposing myself to different kinds of cycling not only expands my skills but could also present me with new opportunities.

Have you been checking out the Women’s Park events now that they’re in the Olympics? What are your thoughts on it?
I haven’t really checked out the Women’s Park events too much. I think it would be super cool to branch out and try some of that stuff someday, though. But right now, racing takes up just about all of my schedule. Plus, I’m planning on competing in some extra events this year.

Phoenix kicks off in a few weeks. How are you feeling after the off season?
I’m feeling amazing! I’ve been training in the off season at the indoor bike parks and on the rollers. I haven’t gotten any track time in because of the snowy and freezing weather, but I’ll be out on the west coast a little bit before Phoenix, so I’ll get plenty of track time out there. At my house the highs have been below freezing all day and it’s either raining or snowing!

I know you’ve been keeping your eye on the Red Bull Pump Track Series. Any plans on hitting it up this year?
Awww, yeeaahhh! When I saw the Red Bull Pump Track Series last year it definitely caught my eye. I’m signed up to hit up one of the qualifiers this year so I’m super pumped to race that. I’ve been working on my pump-track skills at the indoor bike parks lately, and it’s so much fun!

What’s the rest of the year looking like?
For the 2019 season a big goal of mine is to go to Zolder, Belgium for the world championships and race the junior class there. I would love to travel to and race my first world cup too. As for nationals, the system is a little confusing but I was planning on racing quite a few junior races in the U.S. this year. I was also going to do a few other events like dual slaloms, the Red Bull Pump Track Series, and hit up some local trail jams.

Final words…
A huge thank you to my Mom and Dad, Coach Arielle, Jamie Staff, Dale Holmes, and my sponsors (Haro, Cliq, Dale Holmes Racing, 100%, WD40, 3dyn Composites Inc, Dvide, ODI, Gaerne, Box, Tioga, HRP Designs, EVS Sports) for supporting the dream! See everyone in Phoenix!

As we kick-off 2019, we’ve changed gears a bit on the team front, Haro will now be our primary sponsor. The goal is to now rebuild the next Haro Factory Team over the next few years. Big thanks to everyone supporting this new effort and we look forward to a good year and to continue building on this program.

Team

Payton Ridenour @paytonridenour
Cam Mason @cam.mason
Brooke Craft @craft_brooke
Maddie Desentis @maddie_desantis1
Derin Merten @derinmerten
Connor Eaton @connoreaton

Sponsors

Haro, Cliq, 100%, Barona Casino, WD40, 3dyn Composites Inc, Dvide, ODI, Gaerne, Box, Tioga, HRP Designs.