Charles Townsend (BMX rider)

Last updated
Charles Townsend
Personal information
Full nameCharles Heath Townsend
Nickname"Choo-Choo Charlie", "Amtrak"
Born (1967-01-25) January 25, 1967 (age 57)
Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight88.5 kg (195 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineBicycle Motocross (BMX)
RoleRacer
Rider typeOff Road
Amateur teams
1981Woodside Bicycle Shop
1985U.S. Boss Racing Products
1985Free Agent
1985–1986Hutch Hi-Performance
Professional teams
1986Hutch Hi-Performance
1987Cyclecraft
1987CW Racing
1987–1988Revcore
1988–1989Diamond Back
1990–1991Powerlite
1991–1998Robinson Racing Products
1999–2000Troy Lee Designs
2000Airborne
2000–2001Kona/Rocket Cash.Com
2003Phantom Bikes
2004Advent

Charles Heath Townsend (born January 25, 1967, in Kansas City, Kansas) is an "Old School/Mid School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1985 to 1996. He has 2 kids.

Contents

Nicknames: Various and many dating back to his days as a young amateur. Many railroad related: "Steam Engine Charlie", "Speeding Locomotive Charlie", "Choo-Choo Charlie", "Amtrak". [1] Also "Black Magic" (which he had stenciled on the back of his racing pants in 1985 [2] ), "Big Chuck", "The Fleein' Korean", [3] "Chasemainian Devil". [4]

Racing career

Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.

MilestoneEvent Details
Started Racing:1979/80 age 12 or 13. Townsend himself is rather vague on this point [5]
Sanctioning Body:
First race bike:
First race result:Third place in Beginner class in Hellyer Park in San Jose, California.
First win (local):
First sponsor:Woodside Bicycle Shop.
First national win:In 17 & Over Open at the 1985 American Bicycle Association (ABA) Supernational in Pico Rivera, California, on January 27, 1985. [6]
Turned Professional:December 28, 1986, at the National Bicycle League (NBL) Christmas National at age 19.
First Professional race result:First in "B" Pro on December 28, 1986, in Columbus, Ohio, at the National Bicycle League (NBL)'s Christmas National. He won US$600, the equivalent of US$1,126.09 in 2007 (Cost of Living Calculator) He also took a sixth in Pro Award but he finished out of the money. [7]
First Professional win:See above.
First Junior Men/Pro* race result:See above.
First Junior Men/Pro win:See above.
First Senior Pro** race result:First in "AA" Pro at the American Bicycle Association (ABA) Gilley's Nationals in Pasadena, Texas, on March 7, 1987. He won US$535, [8] the equivalent to US$1,004.10 2007. After the ABA Scottsdale National, Charles Townsend called the ABA and moved himself up to "AA" pro. [9] This was reminiscent of Brian Patterson asking permission from then ABA Vice President Gene Roden to move up to "AA" after one race in "A" pro in early 1982. [10]
First Senior Pro win:See above.
Height and weight at height of his career:Ht:6'2" Wt:~195 lbs.
Retired:2002. He raced in the Veteran Pro class of the ABA and the NBL's Master class until 2004.

*In the NBL it is B" Pro/Superclass/"A" Pro depending on the era; in the ABA it is "A" Pro.
**In the NBL it is "A" Pro (Elite Men); in the ABA it is "AA" Pro.

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 ever changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question.

Amateur/Junior Men

  • U.S. Boss Racing Products: January 1985 – March 31, 1985
  • Free Agent: March 31, 1985 – December 27, 1985
  • Hutch Hi-Performance BMX: December 28, 1985 – December 31, 1986. He would turn pro with this sponsor.

Professional/Elite Men

  • Hutch Hi-Performance BMX: December 28, 1985 – December 31, 1986.
  • Cyclecraft: January 1, 1987 – March 21, 1987.
  • CW (Custom Works) Racing: March 21, 1987 – November 27, 1987. "CW" never stood for "Coast Wheels" as it is widely thought. Coast Wheels was a bike shop that Roger Worsham owned. Custom Works was a completely different and independent company. [11] This is in contrast with JMC (Jim Melton Cyclery) which did start out as a bicycle shop and then began manufacturing its own BMX components including entire bicycles.
  • Revcore: November 28, 1987 – November 26, 1988. Revcore was owned and operated by Roger Worsham who also owned CW Racing, It was a separate product line much like Shadow Racing was in 1983. Townsend's last race for them was the Friday night November 27 Honda Super Cup, one day prior to the start of the 1987 ABA Grand National, where Townsend switch over to Revcore and captured ABA No.1 pro for that year. By 1989 Roger Worsham would divest himself of both Custom Works and Revcore.
  • Diamond Back (Centurion): November 27, 1988 – December 31, 1989. At the end of the 1989 season Diamond Back decided to let the entire team go except for Matt Hadan, a pro. Harry Leary decided to retire. Charles Townsend was sponsorless for three months until April 1990.
  • Powerlite Industries*: Mid April 1990 – November 1991.
  • Robinson Racing Products: November 1991 – December 1998. After seven years Robinson dropped Townsend after the 1998 racing season.
  • Troy Lee Designs/Jones Soda: April 1999 – March 2000. Charles didn't have a primary sponsor for approximately 15 months between Robinson Racing and Airborne Direct. Troy Lee Designs and Jones Soda were many co-sponsors that helped support him on the national race circuit while he searched for a main, primary sponsor. [12]
  • Airborne Direct: March 28, 2000 – December 2000
  • Kona/Rocket Cash.Com: December 20, 2000–
  • Phantom Bikes: January 2003 – December 2003
  • Advent: January 2004–

*By this time Gary Turner (GT) Racing had brought Powerlite.

Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.

Amateur/Junior Men

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • 1985 18 & Over Expert Grandnational Champion
  • 1986 18 & Over Expert National No.1

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)

  • 1986 17 & Over Expert and 18–24 Cruiser World Champion

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)

  • None

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)

Professional/Elite Men

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • None

National Bicycle League (NBL)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • 1987 Honda Supercup Champion. He also won a Honda XR-250R motorcycle as a prize.
  • 1987 National No.1 Pro. He won a Honda pickup truck as a prize.
  • 1990 Pro U.S. Open East Champion
  • 1990 National No.3 Pro

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

  • None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

  • 1989 Pro World Champion

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

  • None

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

*Note: Beginning in 1991 the IBMXF and FIAC, the amateur cycling arm of the UCI, had been holding joint World Championship events as a transitional phase in merging which began in earnest in 1993. Beginning with the 1996 season the IBMXF and FIAC completed the merger and both ceased to exist as independent entities being integrated into the UCI. Beginning with the 1996 World Championships held in Brighton, England, the UCI would officially hold and sanction BMX World Championships and with it inherited all precedents, records, streaks, etc. from both the IBMXF and FIAC.

Pro Series Championships

Notable accolades

Significant injuries

Racing habits and traits

Post BMX career

Miscellaneous and Trivia

BMX magazine covers

Bicycle Motocross News:

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:

BMX Plus!:

Bicycles and Dirt:

Snap BMX Magazine & Transworld BMX:

Moto Mag:

NBA World & NBmx World (The official NBA/NBmxA membership publication):

Bicycles Today & BMX Today (The official NBL membership publication under one name change.

ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (The official ABA membership publication under two name changes):

USBA Racer (The official USBA membership publication):

BMX and general press magazine interviews and articles

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References

  1. ↑ American BMXer September 1990 Vol.12 No.8 pg.10
  2. ↑ BMX Action June 1985 Vol.10 No.6 pg.54 sidebar
  3. ↑ BMX Plus! September 1987 Vol.10 No.9 pg.29
  4. ↑ BMX Plus! June 1988 Vol.11 No.6 pg.43
  5. ↑ BMX Plus! September 1987 Vol.10 No.9 pg.29 & pg.30 "Fast Facts"
  6. ↑ Super BMX & Freestyle May 1985 Vol.12 No.5 pg.41
  7. ↑ BMX Plus! May 1987 Vol.10 No.5 pg.23 (picture caption) & 26 (race results)
  8. ↑ BMX Plus! July 1987 Vol. No.7 pg.24
  9. ↑ Super BMX/Freestyle July 1987 Vol.17 No.7 pg.14
  10. ↑ Super BMX March 1983 Vol.10 No.3 pg.55
  11. ↑ "History of CW page". Archived from the original on 2006-05-22. Retrieved 2006-07-09.
  12. ↑ Snap BMX Magazine May 2000 Vol.7 Iss.5 No.43 pg.38
  13. ↑ BMX Action May 1986 Vol.11 No.5 pg.72
  14. ↑ BMX Action August 1987 Vol.12 No.8 pg.60 (photo caption)
  15. ↑ American BMXer August 1988 Vol.10 No.7 pg.22
  16. ↑ BMX Action November 1988 Vol.13 No.11 pg.15
  17. ↑ BMX Plus! October 1988 Vol.11 No.10 pg.8
  18. ↑ American BMXer September 1988 Vol.10 No.8 pg.17
  19. ↑ Super BMX/Freestyle December 1988 Vol.15 No.12 pg.41
  20. ↑ Super BMX/Freestyle October 1988 Vol.15 No.10 pg.72
  21. ↑ BMX Action April 1989 Vol.14 No.4 pg.18
  22. ↑ BMX Plus! October 1992 Vol.15 No.10 pg.28
  23. ↑ Snap BMX Magazine May/June 1996 Vol.3 Iss.3 No.10 pg.14
  24. ↑ transworld.net January 27, 2004 article.
  25. ↑ BMX Plus! June 1992 Vol.15 No.6 pg.64
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