Stu Thomsen
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Stuart L. Thomsen (born May 20, 1958, in
Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States ...
) is an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer. Stu Thomsen was one of the first of the "Old School" of professional BMX racers who gained fame in the early days of the sport beginning in 1974. His prime competitive years were 1976–1985. Sometimes called the
Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
of BMX for his prolific success and domination of BMX racing during the sport's early days from the mid-1970s into the mid-1980s, Thomsen's considerable career accolades and legacy remain a benchmark for modern sports achievement. His nicknames, "The Man" and "Stompin Stu", were due in part to his size at 6 feet 1.5 inches and 200 lbs.


Racing career milestones

Note: In the early days of professional racing, 1976 and prior, many tracks offered small purse prize money to the older racers of an event, even before the official sanctioning bodies offered prize money in formal divisions themselves. Hence early professionals like Stu Thomsen turning "pro" in 1975 at 16 years old racing for small amounts of money at track events when offered even before the NBA, regarded as the first true national BMX sanctioning body, had a professional division. The NBA started the first professional division in BMX in the 1977. For the sake of consistency and standardization noted professional first are for the first pro races for prize money offered by official BMX sanctioning bodies and not independent track events. Professional first are also on the national level unless otherwise indicated. Retired from Senior pro (NBL-"A"/ABA-"AA"): July 1987 Aged 29. He couldn't find a factory sponsorship for the expensive national circuit which even with the resources of his bikeshop Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center. A combination of him being let go by Huffy and the depressed economic state of BMX which resulted in a dearth of sponsorship offers despite his looking; and a shoulder injury that he himself didn't let heal properly due to his competitiveness. At 29 he had largely made his goal to race until he was thirty years old. However, he did race in large races that was both close to his Yorba Linda home and had large purses. For example, he did race at least once in 1988 at the ABA Winter Nationals at Chandler, Arizona, with a 4th and 7th in Pro Cruiser at the two races over that weekend. This is in addition to him racing locally close to his home. He raced in the 1990 ABA Fall Nationals and made the Pro Open Main in the Sunday race, coming in sixth. He also raced the 1991 ABA Fall Nationals as well along with fellow "retired" pros
Eric Rupe Eric Fitzgerald Rupe (born June 14, 1963) is an American professional bicycle motocross (BMX) racer. His prime competitive years were from 1978 to 1990. Considered one of the most underrated BMXers in its history, he also had one of the longest c ...
and
Harry Leary Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
but did not make any of the Mains. He raced the Fall nationals again a year later reclassifying to "A" pro (along with Harry Leary) coming in third in Pro Cruiser on Day 2 (October 24). In 1993 he resumed racing on a serious level in Pro Cruiser and in the then new ABA Veteran Pro class for a few years. Today he still races occasionally as an amateur in the ABA 45-50 cruiser and 36 & Over Expert 20" class sponsored by Redline. His last Senior Pro win in the 20" division before retiring from serious Senior pro competition appeared to had been at the NBL National in
Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...
, on March 28, 1986. *Classifications at the time were determined by size and weight and not age and proficiency, so his age in this case is irrelevant. The Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup was the first "National" to be held in BMX.
**At the time there was no separate pro class for pros due to the relatively small number of pros. They raced with the 16 Experts, making it a Pro/Am class essentially. This is why during the early years of the pro division the national number one racer of a sanctioning body could be either an amateur or professional. This practice continued until the NBA's 1979 season in which the pros earned separate pro points and a separate pro plate from the amateurs. The NBL and ABA followed suit a year later for the 1980 season. These original Pro classes were the equivalent to Senior Pro/Elite Men at the time. In the following season, 1981, the pro class was divided into Junior and Senior levels in the ABA and NBL. The NBA remained with a single level pro class in 1981.


Career factory and major bicycle shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous cosponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.


Amateur

*Newport Design & Manufacturing, Inc.: ? – July 1974 *Dirtmaster Racing Products: July 1974 – August 1975. *Webco Inc.: August 1975 – Late March 1976. Webco disbanded its team in March 1976. *D.G. Performance Specialties (The initials stood for ''D''an Hangsleben, ''G''ary Harlow): Late April 1976 – October 1976. Stu was kicked off the DG Team for bad-mouthing and abusing his DG issue bicycle after a poor showing in a race. Chuck Robinson, DG team manager, heard Thomsen's outburst. According to
Jeff Bottema Jeffery Bottema (b. April 14, 1960 from Norwalk, California United States) was an American professional "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1976 to 1981. He had the nickname of "Battling". Racing car ...
, Thomsen's teammate at the time, noted in the June 1977 issue of ''Bicycle Motocross Action'', it was not the first time Thomsen had slighted DG and Mr. Robinson acted punitively on this alleged occasion, at least the second In a June 1978 interview in ''Bicycle Motocross Action'', Stu said about the incident:
... I stayed with them (DG) for another year and then got ejected from the team somehow ... I don't even understand that.
He reiterated this point five years later in an interview that appeared in the September 1983 issue of ''Bicycles And Dirt'' magazine:
... for some unknown reason I was dropped from the team. I never really found out why.
*Flying Machine Factory (FMF): October 1976 – Mid 1977. He joined FMF after leaving D.G. a week and a half later. Stu would turn pro with this sponsor.


Professional

*Flying Machine Factory (FMF): October 1976 – Mid 1977. FMF was created in part by
Scot Breithaupt Scot Alexander Breithaupt (July 14, 1957 – July 5, 2015) was an entrepreneur, "Old School" professional motorcycle MX and bicycle motocross (BMX) racer and a founding father of BMX in 1970 whose prime competitive years were from 1970 to 1984. ...
, a pioneer of the sport. He will later split from FMF and start Scot Enterprises Racing (SER). Stu Thomsen would leave FMF with Breithaupt. *SE (Scot Enterprises) Racing: Mid 1977 – December 31, 1979. *Redline Engineering: January 1, 1980 – December 31, 1983. After sometime on SE Racing he would move on to Redline. Financial reasons was the prime motivation as he explained in ''Bicycles And Dirt Magazine'':
BAD: Why Redline when you had been with S.E. for so long?
Stu: At the time, pro racing had been going on for a few years, but the prize money wasn't all that big yet. Redline was a much bigger company than S.E. Racing. The dollar signs were what attracted me more than just wanting to change. I needed to get more out of racing if I was to stay in it any longer. The opportunity to earn money by riding someone's product, other than just going out and winning it, was a big push. I decided racing was what I wanted and I had to get the best I could out of it.
*Huffy Corporation (Huffman Manufacturing Company): January 1, 1984 – Early November 1986. Thomsen left Huffy in part because, according to the December 1986 issue of ''BMX Plus!'' Huffy decided to end the "Stu Thomsen" signature line of BMX bicycles. *Motobecane (MBK): November 22–23, 1986. This was a one weekend sponsorship in France for the Bicross/Yop King of Bercy championship race in Bercy, France. It was not a permanent position nor was it meant to be. *Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center: Late November 1986 – 1992 This is a Bicycle shop was started and was owned by Stu Thomsen beginning in November 1984 until approximately 1992. *Largely retired for six years 1987–1992. Raced once or twice in the pro cruiser and 20" classes a couple of times a year for fun. *Southridge Cycles: 1992 He resumed racing on a serious level starting in 1992 in Pro Cruiser and Veteran Pro. *SE (Sports Engineering) Racing: January 1993–


Amateur

*Redline Bicycles: 1999–2014. He has reclassified himself as an amateur and represents Redline bicycles on the occasions he races. *SE Bicycles: 2015–current. Stu rejoined SE and raced at Nationals on occasion.


Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in ''italics''. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.


Amateur

Independent Associations *Late 1973 – 1974 Thomsen won a ten-week race series at Palms Park in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, his first title. *1974 Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup California State Expert Champion *1975 Western Sports Arena (WSA) No. 1 Expert National Bicycle Association (NBA) *''1977 Western States Champion'' *''1977 15 – Up South Pacific BMX Championships Champion.'' *1977 16 Expert Grand National Champion.* *In the early days of professional competition professionals still could race in the amateur 16 Expert class and win amateur titles. Therefore, Thomsen was both the Professional and 16 & Over Expert Grandnational Champion for 1977. National Bicycle League (NBL) *None 'National Pedal Sport Association (NPSA) United Bicycle Racers (UBR) *None American Bicycle Association (ABA) *1977 16 Expert Gold Cup Winner.


Professional

National Bicycle Association The National Bicycle Association (NBA), later known as the National Bicycle Motocross Association (NbmxA), was a United States-based Bicycle Motocross (BMX) sports sanctioning body originally based in Soledad, California that was created by Ernie A ...
(NBA) *1977 Open Pro-Am Grand National Champion *''1977, 1978 National No. 1 Pro'' *''1978 Jag Pro World Champion'' (NBA/NBL sanctioned)
National Bicycle League The National Bicycle League (NBL) was a United States–based Bicycle Motocross (BMX) sports sanctioning body originally based in Deerfield Beach, Florida, but after several moves it was based in Hilliard, Ohio. It was created by George Edward Ess ...
(NBL) *1981 "A" Pro Grandnational Champion *''1981, 1982 National No. 1 Pro'' *1981 Knott's Berry Farm Pro Grand Champion (NBL, United Bicycle Racers (UBR) & World Wide Bicycle Motocross Association (WWBMXA) sanctioned.) United Bicycle Racers (UBR) *1980 Pro Grandnational Champion
National Pedal Sport Association The National Pedal Sport Association (NPSA) was a South Eastern USA regional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) sanctioning body originally based in Palm Harbor, Florida. It then soon after moved to Dunedin, Florida, for most of its existence. Then in its la ...
(NPSA) *1982 20" Pro Grandnational Champion *1986 Pro Cruiser National No. 3
American Bicycle Association The American Bicycle Association (ABA) was a US-based BMX sports governing body in Gilbert, Arizona. In 2011, the ABA merged with the former National Bicycle League and became the current USA BMX. The organization was founded by Merl Mennenga ...
(ABA) *1977 Open Pro* Gold Cup Champion. *1978 Pro Class Grandnational Champion *1979 Pro Money, Pro Trophy and 15 & Over Trophy Dash Grandnational Champion (triple) *''1979 National No. 1 Pro.'' As a prize the ABA awarded him a white 1979 Chevrolet Van. *''1980 National No. 3 Pro'' *''1982 Pro Northwest Gold Cup Champion'' *1983 Pro Cruiser Grandnational Champion *''1984 Pro Cruiser U.S. Gold Cup Champion'' *He also won the 16 Expert Gold Cup. At this time the professional and the older amateur classes were not separate classes earning separate points. Professionals could still win amateur titles. The 1979 season was the first in the ABA for the professionals to have a separate points classification (measured in purse winnings), making them a separate class from the amateurs.
United States Bicycle Motocross Association The United States Bicycle Association (USBA) was a short-lived Bicycle Motocross (BMX) national sanctioning body based in Tempe, Arizona. It was founded in March 1984 by five former members of the American Bicycle Association (ABA): Rich Mann, Dave ...
(USBA) *1986 Pro Cruiser National No. 3 International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF) *''1986 Pro Cruiser North American Continental Champion'' Other Titles *''1981 Jag Pro World Champion'' (No official BMX sanction). Sanctioned by the United States Cycling Federation, now known as
USA Cycling USA Cycling or USAC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the national governing body for bicycle racing in the United States. It covers the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, and BMX across all ages and ability leve ...
. Various ABA and NBL track officials and scores aided. *''1983 Jag Pro Cruiser World Champion'' (Non-sanctioned) Pro Series Championships and Invitationals *''1981 First Venezuelan National Championship Champion'' (American Class) This was an exhibition invitational that Stu Thomsen and several other American professionals including (but not only) Greg Esser,
Eric Rupe Eric Fitzgerald Rupe (born June 14, 1963) is an American professional bicycle motocross (BMX) racer. His prime competitive years were from 1978 to 1990. Considered one of the most underrated BMXers in its history, he also had one of the longest c ...
and
Tim Judge Timothy Judge (born July 8, 1964 in Miami, Florida U.S.) is a former American "Old School" professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1979-1985. When he was a young racer his given name was used in the dimin ...
went to at the request of the
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
BMX officials to promote and celebrate the Venezuelan Bicicross Association's first national Championship. *''1984 Bicross International de Paris Bercy Champion'' (King of Bercy 1)* *The International BMX Race of Bercy Paris was an invitational race sponsored by the Association Francaise de Bi-Crossing (AFB), the French BMX sanctioning body and was held in
Bercy Bercy () is a neighbourhood in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, the city's 47th administrative neighbourhood. History Some of the oldest vestiges of human occupation in Paris were found on the territory of Bercy, dating from the late Neolithic ...
an eastern area in the city of
Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
north of the river
Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...
. It was sponsored by the Yoplait Yogurt company and ''Bicross Magazine'', a French BMX publication. As such it was also known as the Bicross de Paris Challenge Yop Champion (The Paris Yoplait BMX Challenge) in which American, English and German pros as well as French pros were brought together to compete in a single race. They were offered a 12-day all expenses paid holiday to compete in the race with a
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
5,000 purse. As is typical in Europe, the public had greater enthusiasm for BMX than the American public, in part because bicycle racing of any type was and is much more popular in Europe (and in Asia and South America as well) than in the United States. Thirteen thousand spectators ventured into the Palais Omnisport de Paris Bercy (POPB) to watch a BMX race. In America you would be fortunate to seat 2,000. In the 1984 addition 330 racers were invited to France including United States professionals like
Pete Loncarevich Peter Pete Loncarevich (born April 8, 1966) is a former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer. Loncarevich was an "old school" professional BMX racer whose prime competitive years were from 1980 to 1994. He is of Croatian origin. Nicknamed the "Pistol ...
,
Harry Leary Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
Rod Beckering, Mike Miranda and Greg Hill in addition to Stu Thomsen. As it would be with the 1985 addition, which
Tommy Brackens Tommy Lee Brackens (born November 20, 1960, in Los Angeles, California) is an American former professional "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer. His prime competitive years were from 1980 to 1988. His nickname was "The Human Dragster", so ...
won, it was a hit in France with tickets sold out three months in advance.


Amateur

Note: Thomsen reclassified himself as an amateur in the late 1990s. National Bicycle League (NBL) *2008 50-54 Cruiser Grand National Champion American Bicycle Association (ABA) *1999 41-45 Cruiser Grand National Champion


Notable accolades

*He is one of the winners of the first nationally recognized BMX Championship (albeit a state Championship); the Bicycle Motocross Championship of California State a.k.a. The Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup along with
David Clinton David Clinton (born January 2, 1960 in Sun Valley, California) is an "Old School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1973 to 1979. Nicknamed "Dynamite" early in his career David Clinton coul ...
(Junior Champion) and Bobby Watts (Novice Champion). *He was named Rider of the Year by ''Bicycle Motocross News'' for 1977. Also named by BMX News as number one top rider of
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
for 1977. *He is a multiple winner of ''Bicycle Motocross Action'' magazine's Number One Racer Award (NORA) Cup: **1979* with 1,040 votes or 25.13% of 4,140 votes cast. **1981* with 1,208 votes or 32.7% of the votes cast. He received $500 as a cash prize and a personalized jacket. *Thomsen is a winner of ''Super BMX'' Racer of the Year Award for 1982 via a reader ship survey in the October 1982 issue of ''Super BMX''. No voter break down was given. *He was the first pro to earn a National No. 1 plate twice and to do so consecutively (1977, '78 NBA) *He was the first pro to win the No. 1 pro title with three different major sanctioning bodies (NBA, NBL, ABA). *At least one book was published by him: ''"Stu Thomsen's Book of BMX"'' (1985) *He was one of the founding members of the Professional Racing Organization (PRO). *He is a 1986 inductee of the ABA BMX Hall of Fame. *He is also a 1998 inductee of the
United States Bicycling Hall of Fame The United States Bicycling Hall of Fame, located in Davis, California, is a private 501c3 non-profit organization formed to preserve and promote the sport of cycling. The organization was founded in 1986 in Somerville, New Jersey and has inducte ...
, the first BMX racer to be so honored. *He now a 2008 NBL BMX Hall of Fame inductee, making him the first BMXer to be inducted into the Hall of Fames of three major Cycling organizations. *Thomsen is also credited with the first documented Aerial (180 degree turn in the air and returning in forward) in a skatepark in the late 1970s. *Thomsen was featured in the BMX documentary "Joe Kid on a Stingray" in 2005. The title of the film was taken from a comment he made during an interview. *In the early years of the NORA cup the year the balloting was done and tallied was the year it was considered awarded. In 1984 it was switched to when the winner of the cup was presented to the public in ''BMX Action'' magazine (usually in the February or March issue) the following year it was considered awarded and not during the closing months of the previous year when the voting and tally takes place. This was done to give the rider (and the winners of No. 1 bicycle and No. 1 Factory Team) maximum publicity and advantage financially. Therefore, under the new system Stu Thomsen was awarded NORA in 1980 and 1982.


BMX-related product lines

*1977: The SE Racing ''Stu Thomsen Replica-1'' (STR-1). The STR-1 was developed and tested by Thomsen. After Thomsen left SE Racing the frame was rechristened the "Quadangle." :Product Evaluation: ::''BMX Action'' January 1983 Vol. 8 No. 1 p. 14 Model year 1983 ::''BMX Bi-Weekly'' Vol. 3 No. 13 p. 12 (British Publication) Model Year 1983 ::''BMX Plus!'' August 1984 Vol. 7 No. 8 p. 33 Model year 1984 *1982: Redline ''Stu Thomsen Replica STR Series'' "Stu Bars". *1984: The Huffy ''Stu Thomsen Model'' signature line frame and fork and complete bicycles. :product evaluation: ::''American BMXer'' September 1984 Vol. 7 No. 8 pp. 19, 21. ::''BMX Plus!'' December 1986 Vol. 9 No. 10 p. 28 *1986: ODI Inc. Collector's Signature Series Grips.


Notable injuries

*Bad ankle sprain prior to competing in the Yamaha Bicycle Gold cup in September 1974. Competed on it and won his expert class. *Broken Collarbone resulting from a football related
Physical Education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...
class at his high school in early 1975. He returned to competition at the Western Sport-A-Rama track in
Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...
, but promptly re-injured himself at that race fittingly on Friday, June 13, 1975. *Broke leg in January 1976 during a practice session. *Leg injury approximately May 1976. Returned to racing on June 27, 1976 for the NBA Springnational. *Ankle injury in April 1984. Tore two ligaments falling in practice at a
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, NBL race. Laid up for approximately six weeks. Thomsen had a two national winning streak at the time and was showing signs of being dominant again after two off (for him) seasons. This injury hurt his 1984 season. *Shoulder injury and a broken collar bone during practice at a promotional mountain bike race in the
Los Angeles Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...
during half time at the Super Bowl of Motocross motorcycle race on or around November 10, 1985. He was laid up for about six weeks. *He reinjured his shoulder in a fall at an ABA national in
Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
, on April 6. Had surgery on April 22 and laid up for a further two months until late June 1986.


Images

Image of Thomsen racing at the 2008 NBL Grand National.


Racing habits and traits

*Rumors of impending retirement would repeatably emerge going virtually back to the beginning of his career:
Q: "What about rumors that you are getting ready to retire?"
A: "Just rumors. I may not race much anymore, but I will still like it very much."
—''Bicycle Motocross News'' August 1975
This was almost just two years after he began racing. The cause of this was probably because at 17 Stu Thomsen was one of the oldest racers in BMX at the time. During this era BMX racing was still regarded exclusively as a kid's sport and at best a training ground and stepping stone to racing standard Motorcycle Motocross when they reached adulthood. Of course as part of the first generation Stu Thomsen would remain one of the oldest riders throughout his career. These persistent rumors—at times aided by his own statements—would regularly crop up as people wondered what is the outer age limit of a competitive racer in this new sport.
''BMX Plus!'': "When you were interviewed by BMX PLUS! last year you said you were going to retire at the end of 1979. In fact you said you were going to retire every year since 1976. Are you going to tell us the same thing this year?"
Thomsen: (Laughing) "I always say that. You know me."
—''BMX Plus!'' January 1981
The question of his retirement would repeatedly arise until he actually retired at the beginning of the 1987 racing season. *According to the November 1984 issue of the ABA's publication ''American BMXer'' Stu had the penchant to "grandstand" and make a situation like someone colliding with him worse than it was.


Post-BMX career

*Beginning in 1988, Stu Thomsen competed in mountain bike racing on the
National Off Road Bicycle Association USA Cycling or USAC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the national governing body for bicycle racing in the United States. It covers the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, and BMX across all ages and ability lev ...
(NORBA) circuit as other BMX racers had done and would later do including
Tinker Juarez David "Tinker" Juarez (born March 4, 1961) is an American former professional BMX and cross-country mountain bike racer. His prime competitive years in BMX were from 1978 to 1984 and in mountain bike racing 1986 to 2005. Since late 2005, he has ...
,
Cheri Elliott Cheri Elliott (born April 17, 1970) is an American former champion female bicycle motocross (BMX) racer in the 1980s, and a champion Downhill and Slalom mountain bike racer in the 1990s and early 2000s. During her BMX career, she spent most of he ...
,
Pete Loncarevich Peter Pete Loncarevich (born April 8, 1966) is a former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer. Loncarevich was an "old school" professional BMX racer whose prime competitive years were from 1980 to 1994. He is of Croatian origin. Nicknamed the "Pistol ...
and
Toby Henderson Toby S.Henderson (born October 10, 1961, in La Mirada, California United States) is a former professional American "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were between 1979 and 1985. He was given the nickname "Coca ...
. His biggest accomplishment in organized sponsored mountain Bike racing was his third-place finish in the downhill division at the 1988 World Mountain Bike Championships at Mammoth, California. *He ran his bicycle shop, Stu Thomsen's Bicycle Center, with his wife Tanya for eight years. He decided to quit since it was in a highly competitive area with six or seven bike shops within a 10-mile radius of his. Despite being a good bike shop mechanic and was willing to dispense advice to other bike shop owners he didn't like being his own boss and sold his shop in 1992. He tried various sales jobs and was a counselor at a Family Fitness Center as a counselor but neither was successful and he went back to being a bicycle shop manager and bike mechanic (possibly Southridge Cycles in
Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...
, one of his last sponsors at the time he briefly raced in Veteran pro class.) He naturally worked the BMX section of the store. That local shop with Thomsen as its mechanic would help maintain at least some of the bikes the Riverside Police Department had for their Bicycle Patrol program. That was the possible catalyst for his interest in law enforcement. *He is now a Sheriff's Deputy in
Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
, making him literally " The Man" (a prison slang term that could be a pejorative that was created around 1950 for the prison warden. It came into mass usage in the 1960s referring to
the powers that be In idiomatic English, "the powers that be" (sometimes initialized as TPTB) is a phrase used to refer to those individuals or groups who collectively hold authority over a particular domain. Within this phrase, the word ''be'' is an archaic vari ...
that runs society or their servants such as those in law enforcement). When he was a bike shop manager/mechanic at a local shop in Riverside, California, he would help maintain bicycles for the local police department. Later he would move to a new house. His new next-door neighbor happened to be a
Fullerton Police Department The Fullerton Police Department of Fullerton, California, was established in 1904 when the city incorporated. The Fullerton Police Department currently employs 153 sworn officers and 78 civilian employees. It has a budget of about $35 million. ...
officer with whom he became friends. Then in 1994, after another sales job didn't work out, another friend of his went to take the Orange County Sheriff's Department test since they were hiring new deputies at the time. Thomsen decided to "tag along". As they waited in line while his friend took the test, Thomsen himself decided to take it. Thomsen passed while his friend failed and his career in law enforcement started in the Orange County Sheriff's Department. :Thomsen would manage to merge his love of racing with law enforcement, competing in the California Police Olympics (in the year 2000 the name was changed to the California Police and Fire Games after Firemen were invited to compete). From 1995 to 2000 he was undefeated in the Mountain Bike racing division, accumulating 15 gold medals during that time. He also participated in the 1997
World Police and Fire Games The World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) is a biennial athletic event, open to active and retired law enforcement and fire service personnel throughout the world. The WPFG Federation is an arm of the California Police Athletic Federation (CPAF), ...
, in Canada winning four Gold Medals In addition to competitions he is part of th
Project 999-Memorial Ride
the yearly 630-mile trek of around 45 Orange County Peace Officers who ride their road bicycles from th
California Peace Officers' Memorial
in
Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
, to th
Orange County Peace Officers' Memorial
in
Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...
, in tribute of the officers who fell in the line of duty serving the people of California in general and Orange County in particular. The ride, usually held in the last week of May each year, also in support of th
Project 999 Fund
which raises money for the families of the fallen and seriously injured. In 2009 Stu Thomsen and his 44 colleagues raised $40,000. "It is the least I can do to pay homage to those who paid the ultimate price," he said. :Thomsen, in addition to being on the Bicycle Patrol Team, is on the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) and in 2005 was in training to be on the K-9 and as of that date was a K-

i.e. play-acts the role of a fleeing, attacking or non compliant felon for the dogs to attack and hold in training of dogs and their handlers. During his 15-year tenure as an Orange County Deputy he has never used physical force directly against anyone but he has been under fire and earned the Medal of Courage as he relates in a 2009 article in ''Garage Magazine'': *Thomsen still races for fun occasionally. For example, he raced the amateur 41-45 cruiser at the November 2001 ABA Grand Nationals in
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
, and won. He also raced in the 36 & Over Expert 20" class as well as the 45-50 Cruiser class at the ABA Winternationals in February 2007. He made the mains but didn't place in the top three of either class in the mains, but his competitive spirits remained undimmed:
Stu said he'll be training more and plans on racing again this year. 'I still hate losing,' he said. 'I guess I'll always be that way.'
:As proof of that, he won the 50-54 Cruiser main at the 2008 NBL Grand National, amazing onlookers with his jumping ability.redlinebicycles.com September 2, 2008 report on Thomsen's efforts at the 2008 NBL Grand National.


Notes


External links


The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.

The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.

"Deputy Thomsen AKA BMX Racing Legend Stompin' Stu" September 18, 2009. Orange County Sheriff Department blog article on Deputy Stuart Thomsen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomsen, Stu 1958 births Living people American male cyclists BMX riders