Benfleet track!

[lazychubs]

adam me and mark from the bike shop rode rom during our lunch or bretons
race track every day lol
and i was gutted it shut as lost me job lol

[superbikedan]

series of large bomb holes in the middle of nowhere

that's exactely how i remember it aswell

[lloydieboy]

Good god!!! I was over the gunny for about five years of my life!!! Was very good friends with Eric Hall, Jason Robinson, Barry (Mouse) Morgan, Steve Mc Claron, Terry haggerty, Mark Metson... The list goes on. We built new quarter pipes pretty much each year (there's a feature in an old Action Bike with us building it up). We also all rode for a trick team called Holeshots, WAY before Ruffell came up with the name. Had a transportable quarterpipe to do the shows.

Saw Jason about a year ago for some bits for my Kappa Starsky and noticed he had the pics up with him riding. Background info, that day Eric and Jay were fighting it out for a place on the Skyway team. Jay landed HARD on his face and shattered his nose and ended up in hospital. Eric ended up getting offered the Skyway deal but lit up a fag and blew it, was bad for the Skyway image or some bollocks like that. Honestly, Eric Hall was probably one of the best i've ever seen. I've seen Billy (at Rad City), Craig Campbell, Jason Hassell and loads of others and if Eric hadn't lit that fag he would truly have been one of the top riders of the day. So smooth...

I have pictures of the gunney and some of the shows we did, I'll have to dig them out.

Lloyd

Jayz is still there, last time I went in about 9months back he had an old Skyway he was building. those pics of him at the gunny in it's hay day are well cool, defo big air That's on the Wooden Qtr that was at the top of the conceret banking. There was also a Bowl dug out in the mud, and a table top.

The place used to be rammed BITD, I'm gutted, I was just to young to appreciate it and only went a few times as was more into racing at 6.

However talking to people who where there the day of the Mag shoot, and just generally by all account there where always top riders over there Jay, Sid, Eric Hall & I think Mayo/Hayo brothers all who where pro's.

[stumpy]

lloydieboy, what did you ride bitd? And Eric Hall, what's he doing now?

[lloydieboy]

I rode a PK Ripper most of the time, very late i got a Craig Campbell Prolite in Baby Blue but gave up soon after that for some reason!!

A few shots over the Gunny









And a couple of shots when we did a show over Waterside Farm in the tennis courts right next to the new skatepark...

Used to love pulling fakie airs


This was probably the best air i ever got...


As for Eric, i know he still lives on the Island, near he seafront I've heard. Haven't seen him for years though.

Lloyd.

lloydieboy, what did you ride bitd? And Eric Hall, what's he doing now?

[ronnie360]

great old pics lloydie 

[QuadPaul]

Those pics are wicked Lyodieboy.

I'll see if I can get over the gunny  in the next few days as I still live on Canvey and take some pics of it in it's current state.

Found some pics of Benfleet track as well, but still waiting for my dad to scan them in.

[QuadPaul]

Finally got my Dad on the case with the scanning. Here are some pics of the old benfleet track. That's me aged about 6 on the #26 plate.

[ronnie360]

excelent pic paul and i to remember riding round that track 

  

[bmxband1t77]

Brilliant! I only ever rode that track for one day but those pics bring it all back. Wasn't it in association with Castle Point Council and Essex Police to get kids off the streets?

sometime in '84 0r '85 Tim March held a BMX race training day to launch his new brand and products.
TMR or something was it?

anyways , i got there on my trusty '82-'83 Diamond Back Pro (with the 2 dropout fork settings) to have a go as i heard there were prizes.
To my surprise none other than Sid Salisbury was there too. I had heard the name and the reputation, boy he was a nuttah!

So we did the training, berms, whoops and all that....then there was the final race.

Guess who i was up against? Yup...Sid.

can't remember what he was riding then funnily enough....just gone that is.

So....there was me n him (hes was older an way much bigger than me) battling for first....i wanted that prize man....

i actually held him off blocking him 'till the last berm....(i think he nipped my back wheel) all of a sudden i wiped out, back end just went from under me....damn!

Tim March gave me the jersey and signed it, i have it to this day, signature was intact last time i looked.

my name?  JonEastoe..... I used to work in Rad City BMX at tarpots in the school summer breaks '84-'85.....ended up with a factory baby blue PK Ripper....but thats another story!

bmxband1t77