Stuart L. Thomsen (born May 20, 1958, in Whittier, California)Orange County Sheriff's Department PDF file of Medal of Valor and Medal of Courage winners in 2005 page 22 is an American 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 of BMXAmerican BMXer January/February 1987 Vol. 9 No. 1 p. 46 (photo caption) 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.
Milestone Event detailsStarted racing: Late 1973, 15 years old. He noticed a flyer about races at Scot Breithaupt's B.U.M.S track in Long Beach, CA. Since he didn't have a driver's licence he had a friend's father drive him to the track with some friends, looking to race in real competition. The track was holding a championship race of some kind.Bicycle Motocross Action June 1978 Vol. 3 No. 3 p. 9Garage Magazine No. 19 p. 47.Sanctioning body: The proto governing body Bicycle United Motocross Society (B.U.M.S.)Home sanctioning body district(s): National Bicycle Association (NBA) District "X" (Orange/Los Angeles Counties) 1977–1981; American Bicycle Association (ABA) California 1 (CA-1) (1985)First race bike: First race result: Fifth place at Scot Breithaupt's Bicycle United Motocross Society (B.U.M.S.) track in Long Beach, CaliforniaBicycle Motocross Action June 1978 Vol. 3 No. 3 p. 9First win (local): First sponsor: Newport Design & Manufacturing, Inc.First national win: Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup a.k.a. the Bicycle Motocross Championship of California State on September 14, 1974, as an Expert, age 16* He won a Yamaha Moto-Bike winning one of the three qualifiers and for winning the final event a Yamaha motorcycle. Strictly speaking, the Yamaha Gold Cup, as it is colloquially known, wasn't a national but the final of a series of four races (including the Final) held at different tracks based in California, but it was the first highly organized mass event in BMX involving a large number of racers and heavily promoted in the mass media in California. The first true National in which racers not from the state of California participated in and national points awarded to those out of state was the NBA Winter Nationals held in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 29, 1975.Bicycle Motocross News May 1975 Vol. 2 No. 4 p. 16Turned Professional**: 1975 Age 16Bicycle Motocross News January/February 1978 Vol. 4 No. 1 p. 22First Professional race result:** First Professional win: Possibly at the National Bicycle Association (NBA) Jimmy Weinert Supernationals on "Weinert Mountain" at the Racing World course in Trabuco Canyon, California on April 3, 1977, when he won the Trophy Dash.Bicycle Motocross News April 1977 Vol. 4 No. 4 pp. 8, 10 It was a 100% payback race in which the racer gets back his entrance fee. This is one of the first officially sanctioned Pro BMX races held in BMX. Stu would go on to win about US$1,500 in 1977.Bicycle Motocross Action June 1978 Vol. 3 No. 3 p. 12 the equivalent to US$5,349.01 in 2008 (Cost of Living Calculator).Height and weight at height of his career: Ht: 6' 1.5" Wt: 200 lbs. Retired from Senior pro (NBL-"A"/ABA-"AA"): Even with the resources of his bike shop, Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center, competition in the expensive national circuit did not make economic sense unless he could find a factory sponsorship.BMX Plus! June 1987 Vol. 10 No. 6 p. 35BMX Action November 1987 Vol. 2 No. 11 p. 12 (Dear Gork, 3-B) Huffy's decision to let him go, his search for a sponsor frustrated by the depressed economic state of BMX that year, and a shoulder injury that his competitive nature prevented him from allowing to heal properly, all combined, led him to retire in July 1987. At age 29, he had largely made it his goal to race until he was thirty years old.Garage Magazine No. 19 p. 48 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 and Harry Leary 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).American BMXer December 1992 Vol. 14 No. 11 pp. 61, 68 (results) 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 have been at the NBL National in Sarasota, Florida, on March 28, 1986.BMX Plus! February 1987 Vol. 10 No. 2 p. 71
*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.Bicycle Motocross News May 1976 Vol. 3 No. 5 p. 9 D.G. Performance Specialties (The initials stood for Dan Hangsleben, Gary HarlowBMX Plus! July 1988 Vol. 11 No. 7 p. 26): 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, 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 secondBicycle Motocross Action June 1977 Vol. 2 No. 2 p. 13 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.Bicycle Motocross Action June 1978 Vol. 3 No. 3 p. 9He 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.Bicycles And Dirt September 1983 Vol. 1 No. 12 p. 57 Flying Machine Factory (FMF): October 1976 – Mid 1977. He joined FMF after leaving D.G. a week and a half later.Bicycles And Dirt September 1983 Vol. 1 No. 12 p. 57 Stu would turn pro with this sponsor.
Professional
Flying Machine Factory (FMF): October 1976 – Mid 1977. FMF was created in part by Scot Breithaupt, a pioneer of the sport. He will later split from FMF and start Scot Enterprises Racing (SER). Stu Thomsen would leave FMF with Breithaupt.Bicycles And Dirt September 1983 Vol. 1 No. 12 p. 57 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.Bicycles And Dirt September 1983 Vol. 1 No. 12 p. 57 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.BMX Plus! December 1986 Vol. 9 No. 12 p. 14 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.BMX Action April 1987 Vol. 12 No. 4 p. 13 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