Raphael Xavier
BMX in any form Is the $#&@! Just ask anybody who rides and they’ll tell you! That’s why we put ourselves through the crashes, burns, breaks and always come back. Real life got me this year and my season was hit and miss. I try to get in a race as soon as I see an opening. This year I saw 1 national race, 0 Gold Cup qualifiers and 0 state qualifiers. And now I’m sitting in the 42nd place district. So as soon as I got a work break, I didn’t hesitate to hit the NJ State Championship finals at HC BMX on October 1st. AND GOT A 1ST PLACE WIN!!!
Perfect date and perfect weather after weeks of rain and race washouts. I got a chance to catch up with friends and many new faces and there were some great races. A stand out was a kid named Devin Koziel, he put it on em! He made some text book moves in every turn. He rides trails…no wonder. Too many great races to name but I had my favorites….MINE!!
I have been chasing Thomas Hanville and Jason Willever all last year and finally got to a point where I could hang. Then my season was a wash. But I managed to pedal and workout to stay in shape and I think it showed. In a full gate with Joey Cassidy, Ant Dog Brown, Thomas Hanville, Jason Willever, Rolando Carbalo, Dave Kapigian and one other (sorry I forgot who), I managed to pull off a 1st place.
I knew I had to get out quickly. Once I got out, it was absolutely a matter of staying away as long as I could because THEY WERE COMING! But I held off down the last straight by a wheel in front of The Tuna! A GREAT CATCH I might add! Overall HC BMX track is dope! And ran nicely by Jason Avery. I’m looking forward to finishing the year strong. By the way, did I mention that at 42nd place, my goal is to do 30 races by end of season to make the 10th spot in dist. PA02. I need 3k points. That means out of 30 I have to come in 1st or do enough double and triple point races to make up the difference of 2nd or 3rd place.
I’m off for the rest of the year so:
Riders Ready, Watch the Gate…
