Grippen Park BMX track operator, Gary Gitchel spent the better part of the weekend at the annual Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally and has reported back that he had passed out thousands of fliers to eager future BMXers.  We are hoping for a big response and to increase rider counts!

This weekend marks the return of the Quaker State Nationals being held at Cedar Park BMX in Clarks Summit, PA.   If you have never been to a national before,  we recommend taking the short trip south and checking it out.  All classes and proficiencies are held at nationals and everyone is welcomed.  For more info check out the ABA website and/or the Cedar BMX website.  Of course, anyone is always able to use the contact form here at GrippenParkBMX.com and we can answer any questions regarding ABA Nationals.

For those racers not able to make the nationals or not going down until Saturday morning for National #1, Grippen Park BMX will be racing on our regularly scheduled Friday night for the usual $7 ribbon / $10 trophy-or-stamps fee.

New York is averaging about 22 motos so far with three qualifiers down.  We have seen lots of good racing between participants and today should be no different.  Look for the locals and make sure to say hello!

For those families unable to make it up to Upstate BMX, don’t forget to visit us at the Spiedie Fest!  We have also posted race results for our state race that was held on Friday night.

Each race is only $20/class including the triple point race!  Come and see NY and all it has to offer as well as support BMX!

Aug. 6

Kicking off the series weekend is the brand new, indoor Grippen Park BMX, right here in Endicott, NY.  One of three double ABA district points qualifiers.  Registration begins at 6pm and will close at 7:30pm.  Racing under the lights will start right around 8pm.

Aug. 7

Bright and early saturday morning, it’s time to head west about 53 miles from Grippen Park BMX to Horseheads BMX in Horseheads, NY.  The second of the three total double ABA district points races.  Registration opens at 9:30am and will continue until 11:30am.  Racing will start soon after. [Track Website]

Saturday afternoon it’s back east about 43 miles to Owego, NY at Champion Speedway BMX.  The last of the three double points races.  Registration will begin 2:30pm and close at 3:30pm.  Racing at both Horseheads and Champion Speedway?   Be sure to pre-register for Champion Speedway while at Horseheads to save yourself some time! [Track Website]

Wait…two races in the same day?  You guys are nuts! Nope, Ed Garrity and the staff at both tracks ensure that racing goes fairly quickly.  Us upstate NY racers are used to this so watch out!

Aug. 8

Finishing up the weekend is a 90 mile, scenic drive up Rt. 96 through the beautiful Finger Lakes region (truly a site to behold) to Upstate BMX in Newark, NY.  With the final qualifier comes a rare triple ABA district point race, one of very few in the entire country. [Track Website]

Lodging

For those traveling from out of state and chasing all those points, we have made up a quick Google Map to get your bearings, it is posted below.  Directions to and from each track can be found at the link below.  You can find directions to Grippen Park BMX and other lodging info here.  Grippen Park BMX suggests you stay locally at the Econolodge/Roadway Inn right up the block from our track on Friday night, and then head west early Saturday morning.  Saturday night after the race at Champion Speedway, head up north to Newark, NY.   Be sure to contact the guys at Upstate BMX for hotel recommendations in that area.

Google Map:
http://goo.gl/TxaC

Good luck to all racers, and we will see you this weekend!

Each year, Grippen Park BMX will be holding a Race for Life event as a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  This is the only race at Grippen Park BMX that does not require an ABA membership.  Anyone and everyone is welcomed to come down to support the LLS.  Help us reach our goal of at least $1,500! Check our getting started page to ensure that you and everyone you bring with you has the right equipment to ensure safety.

We hope you are as excited about this year’s ABA BMX “Race For Life” Series at Grippen Park BMX as we are. Getting the prizes and winning races is great, but helping others is one of the finest things anyone can ever do in life. This is your opportunity, through the sport you know and love, to help people in two ways. First, through your gathering of donations for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, you will be helping fight and bring to an end a dreadful disease that affects thousands of people each year. Secondly, you can introduce BMX to your friends, family, and neighbors that may not have thought that they would ever be able to participate in competitive BMX. Their contribution will be their entry into the finest sport in the world, BMX.

What is the Race for Life?

It all started in 1981 when an avid 12 year old BMX racer from Michigan discovered he had Leukemia. Todd Kingsbury was his name, and like many BMXers, he had dreams of someday becoming a top pro in the sport. Unfortunately, this dreaded disease would keep Todd from fulfilling his dream.

When Todd`s friends and the American Bicycle Association learned of his diagnosis, it was decided that an organized effort should be made to help in Todd`s “Race for Life.” The first ABA “Race for Life” events were formed that year, with over 130 tracks participating and raising funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society^® .

Ever since, the ABA has held a series of “Race for Life” events nationwide to help in the fight to find a cure for blood-related cancers. There are awards given to top fund raisers which include t-shirts, jackets and trips to the ABA Grandnationals of BMX.

Of course, the best reward of all is the good feeling of helping others with Leukemia.

The Todd Kingsbury Story

Todd Kingsbury

Like many kids his age, 11-year-old Todd Kingsbury lived and breathed bicycle motocross (BMX) 24 hours a day. In the early part of 1980, he was the leaders in the American Bicycle Association’s BMX district points competition. However, as the year went on, Todd went from winning the district-wide events to just barely qualifying for local BMX championship events. Something was wrong.

At a Michigan state championship race in July 1980, Todd crashed and had to get his arm checked out. Like most BMX accidents, everything checked out fine but Todd’s arm continued to hurt the following week. After getting bumped at school, his arm swelled up to the size of a grapefruit. The Kingsbury family became very concerned and decided it was time for a thorough examination.

Todd would spend the next nine days in and out of the hospital, enduing many tests and exams, while at the same time dreaming of someday becoming a BMX Pro. Finally, the doctors completed their diagnosis and explained to Todd and his parents that Todd had leukemia.

Todd was now faced with the biggest race: his race for life. In July 1981, when the American Bicycle Association (ABA) staff learned of Todd’s diagnosis, the organization and the “family-like” sport of BMX decided to pitch in and help by launching the “Race For Life” series, with all the proceeds going to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s efforts to help find a cure for kids such as Todd. An amazing $223,000 was raised that first year, with 130 ABA tracks putting on Race For Life events.

Although weakened by leukemia, Todd continued to ride and worked harder than anyone to support the Race For Life event at the Waterford Oaks, MI BMX track. Todd was to be the honorary race director for that race and told a reporter, “This (event) might help other people from getting it (leukemia).”

Todd passed away on Sept. 13, 1981 and was laid to rest in his Powerlite BMX uniform, taking with him a part of the sport he loved. In his 12 years of life, Todd touched many parents and racers. He is remembered in the hearts of all BMXers each year, as every ABA BMX track holds a Race For Life in the hope that someday, there will be a cure for leukemia and a deserving boy such as Todd can live a full life.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ^® Fighting Blood-Related Cancers

Since its inception in 1949, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society^® has been committed to finding cures for all blood-related cancers, but has not been able to effectively portray the breadth of its mission under a banner that emphasized a focus only on leukemia. Additionally, the Society is deeply concerned with the dramatic and unexplained rise in incidence rates of lymphoma during the last half of the 20th century. So on February 1, 2000, the Society unveiled a new name and logo. The new name, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society^® , along with a tag line, Fighting Blood-Related Cancers, was crafted to clarify the diseases that the Society fights.

We`re the same organization with the same mission. But we want everyone with a connection to blood-related cancers – patients, physicians and supporters – to understand that we are committed to fighting all hematological malignancies, including leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

The Society was further moved to implement the name change by a startling rise in lymphoma incidence rates. Statistics from the National Cancer Institute show that from the mid 70s into the 90s, lymphoma rates rose by more than 70 percent, which made it the third fastest rising cancer in the country during that period. Today 454,000 Americans have lymphoma. In 1999 alone an estimated 64,000 new cases were diagnosed. New cases of non-Hodgkin`s lymphoma are rising by 1.1 percent per year while death rates are rising by 1.8 percent each year.

To learn more about The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society^® and it`s mission, Click Here.