Transplanted Buckeye! (from left:) Bryan Dickerson, Fred Yanke and Todd Zimmerman examine Milwaukee BMX's newest track improvement Saturday afternoon. All of the Milwaukee BMX volunteers work hard ... and then there's Fred. All he did this weekend was drive to Ohio on Friday morning, load a 1,200 lb 24' long mass of steel and wire onto a trailer, tow it back to Wisconsin the very next day ... and, within 10 minutes of arrival had it roughly positioned on the hill. The dedication of Milwaukee BMX's volunteers is absolutely amazing.



Good News ... Bad News ...

The track operations team met last night to discuss a bunch of stuff, and since we covered a whole lot of ground during our meeting, there's plenty of each (good news + bad news) to report.

The most important result of the meeting was ... practices are nixed (cancelled) until further notice ... we've got a whole lot of work to do and a few super independent minded ducks we've still got to get in a row (due dilligence).

Good - We have a gate (see photos above and below)
Bad - (alright, this doesn't count entirely as a bad ... just not good) The gate we have needs a bit of work, and so does the hill to make everything workable.










































Good - Fred and Mike are figuring it out. There's a whole lot of experience between the two ... so, we're confident what they come up with is going to be right.
Bad - the weather forecast this weekend really looks pitiful as far as being able to get any work done. There is a chance the starters house is going up there this weekend and on Friday John will compact and roll the jumps we enlarged last weekend.

Good - An Angel donor has made an offer to finance at least part of the upgrade to the hill and the starting gate ... that totally rocks.
Bad - Another political hurdle that needs to be cleared popped up yesterday, and I'm afraid this one isn't cheap. The special use permit we were asked to pull is chump change compared to what popped up yesterday.

Good - were determined ... we're going to make this work.
Bad - it's just not going to work this year.

Good - We're talking about a 12 race schedule in 2007.
Bad - We're almost completely sure, based on what lies in front of us, that there will be a 0 race schedule in 2006.
Good (counterpoint) - Thank goodness for the Walworth County BMX ... and the decision to take our track ABA ... indoor season will start in a little over a month so, all of you who bought a membership still have somewhere to race through the winter. Walworth County BMX is located at the Walworth County Fairgrounds about 45 minutes SW of downtown Milwaukee, making it the next closest track to Milwaukee BMX.

Good - after deciding that at least 12 races would be the magic number, we had three volunteers step forward to get rolling on selling "event sponsorships" for the races.
Bad - there is no bad for this one ...

Good - we're planning several fundraising events (1 this fall ... 1 in spring) that will benefit Milwaukee BMX. The fall event is likely to be a swap meet at Crystal Ridge and the spring event will involve the Milwaukee Premiere of Joe Kid on a Stingray at an event TBD. We're also going to be at Walworth County BMX both racing and horsing around ... and, with Jake's (the Walworth BMX track operator) permission, learning the track operator and volunteer ropes. Jakes entire operation is entirely first rate, so, we feel really fortunate to have such a great resource. If we run our races half as well as the Walworth crew runs theirs, I know a bunch of you are going to be really pleased with racing at Milwaukee BMX.

We're going to be rolling out additional print promotional materials at Crystal Ridge and local bike shops ... they seem to be going through it pretty quickly. We'll also put information for Walworth BMX at many of those locations.

Just news, not good or bad ...

We are going to move ahead and procure the ram and sure start system from the ABA and finish up as much of the gate refurbish and starting hill improvemenets that we can this fall. We all felt we should put things together as much as we can this fall so that we can move forward. Our goal is to set up the gate to make sure everything fits and works properly this fall. Hopefully, that will make coming back and setting it up in the spring a much simpler task.

We established a "Wish List" of things we (the club) really could use between now and the first time we race (April or May). The list includes, but is not limited to:

- an electrical power run from the chalet to the start hill area.
- a compressor (size TBD)
- T-Posts (I'm going to be donating a bunch ... but, I figure you can never have to many of these)
- Laptop Computer - (ideally a P-3 that will run moto-maker in a hurry)
- printer
- equipment shed
- chalk liner
- plexiglass (size TBD)
- outdoor lighting
- chain link fence (ideally we're looking for both 4' and 6' ... if you catch wind of somebody who needs to get rid of a fence ... we offer a real economical means of removal)
- grass seed (fescue would be best as it's hearty and will practically grow in concrete)
- public address equipment - amplifier, speakers, sound board, microphone ... what have you got sitting your attic?
- a wooden playhouse structure - sure, this seems like a weird request ... after all ... most of us around 6' tall. That said, we'll take a look at anything that's free ... with a little TLC, this could become our announcers tower and scoring area.

So, there you have it ... lots of stuff to report after last night.