Cheri Elliott

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Cheri Elliott (b: April 17, 1970 in Citrus Heights, California) was an old school American champion female bicycle motocross (BMX) racer in the 1980s, and also a champion Downhill and Slalom mountain bike racer in the 1990s and early 2000s. During her BMX career, she spent most of her racing career on the national circuit with the Skyway Recreation factory team. Although she had a relatively short BMX career, she left a legendary impression. She could be called the female Stu Thomsen such is her stature. As is the case with Mr. Thomsen in the male amateur and professional classes, all other successful female BMX racers have been and are compared to her.

Contents 1 Racing career 1.1 Career BMX milestones 1.2 Career BMX factory and major bicycle shop sponsorships 1.2.1 Amateur 1.2.2 Professional 1.3 Career BMX titles 1.4 Career MTB Racing sponsorships 1.4.1 Amateur 1.4.2 Professional 1.5 Career MTB titles 1.5.1 Amateur 1.5.2 Professional 2 Notable accolades 3 Notable Peccadilloes 4 Notable Injuries 5 Events and interest outside of BMX and MTB 6 Post cycling career 7 BMX and MTB magazine covers 8 BMX, mountain bike magazine and General media interviews and articles 9 End Notes 10 External links

[edit] Racing career

Elliott's BMX career lasted from 1979 until 1986, and saw a brief comeback in 1989. From an early age, was not only dominant in the girls division of BMX (formerly called "Powder Puff"), but was usually competitive with the boys of her age groups. A well built, very athletic strawberry blond with deep dimples when she smiled and bearing a passing resemblance to then child actress Tina Yothers, Cheri was big for her age. She was approximately five feet tall in the seventh grade, making her somewhat larger than most of the boys in her class, both at Will Rodgers Intermediate Junior High School and on the BMX track. When there weren't enough girls in her age group at a particular BMX race to form out a separate class, she often raced with them, winning "Motos", the qualifying heats and "Opens", the class in which was open to both male Novices and Experts and Girls where free to race each other. She would with notable frequency, make the "Mains" (the race final that would decide the winner for the day) in the boys division. Even when there were enough girls to form a class, and she did compete in the girls division, she still often participated with the boys in the United Bicycle Racers (UBR) in the 11 Expert Class, complaining that the girls where "too slow", since she dominated so completely. At a 1981 UBR National held in Laguna Seca, California, she raced in the 14 and over girls competition, despite being only 11 at the time, "because the 12 to 13 is too easy".^{[1] [2]}

Indeed, UBR rules at the time stated that if a girl raced in the boys expert classes she could not race in the girls class. The result was she raced mostly in the boys Expert and Open class. She also frequently participated in, and sometimes won, the "Trophy Dash", the final event in which the winners of two closely related age classes and the three skill classes (Novice, Intermediate and Expert in the ABA, and Rookie, Novice and Expert in the NBL) participate in a mostly exhibition race (no points are collected that go to the ranking achieved at the end of the year). Unlike the UBR and the National Bicycle League (NBL), the American Bicycle Association (ABA) did not allow girls to compete in the boys Expert Class (they would do so beginning in 1984).^[3] They did allow her to run in the Trophy Dash and 12 and under Cruiser Class. She surprisingly often won on the local level, occasionally beating the male Experts, the highest amateur class before going professional. In the 1982 ABA Grand National she came in second in the Cruiser Class, beaten by only Danny Steplight. She also won a few Trophy Dash races on her 20 incher at national level, including at the 1983 ABA Cajun Nationals in Shreveport, Louisiana, beating Jason Griggs (see "Career BMX Milestones" below).

Not only was she a very talented BMX racer, she excelled, in comparison with other girls, in Quarter Pipe BMX freestyle trick riding, which was unusual at the time for a girl.

She was also one of the few girls at the time that could do a "Table Top", in which the rider after launching herself high into the air off a steep ramp or ramp-like dirt berm lays the frame of her bike parallel with the ground with feet still on the pedals (or one foot off or no feet in variations) while sailing through the air in the direction of travel and righting the bike again before landing. This is sometimes done by racers during a race to give a little flair.

She is a four time national champion and four time world champion in BMX, including three consecutive Number One girl racer titles for the ABA from 1983 through 1985. She also held the regional UBR Number one girl racer title in 1982. She was the only female racer in the ABA BMX Hall of Fame to be inducted in 1989.

Cheri Elliott retired from 20" racing early in the 1986 season. The reason she gave was "I did all I wanted to do. I wanted to quit last year (1985), but I thought about getting ABA #1 two years in a row. And I did it; that was my goal."^[4] (Ms. Elliot misspoke about the number of consecutive No.1 plates she was going for. It was three years in a row, not two.) She also wanted to pursue and concentrate on sports in school, like her favorite, Basketball. Another possibility for her retirement is that Skyway Recreations, the factory racing team that sponsored her, dropped their racing team after the 1986 racing season. Some have said that she did not want to shop around for a Bicycle manufacturer to sponsor her because they were, in effect, not hiring. The year 1986 was known to racers as the "The year of no sponsorships" due to some bicycle manufactures who sponsored racing teams like Torker and JMC going out of business in part to low cost Asian imports. An even stronger factor was the paring back of race teams such as the one sponsored by Diamond Back and Redline or, like Skyway, dropping them all together in favor of either creating BMX Freestyle teams or expanding pre-existing ones. As a result, many notable talented racers on both the amateur and professional levels like Matt Hadan, Danny Millwe, Scott Clark, Tommy Brackens and Toby Henderson went for extended periods of times without factory team sponsorship. Even the great Stu Thomsen was forced into retirement after he failed to land a sponsor for the 1987 season. These BMX "layoffs" were in response to the rise of BMX Freestyle trick riding in the mid 1980s' a part of the sport that was created in 1979. This and the resurgence of skateboarding is said to partly responsible for the decline in BMX racing from the late 1980s until its rekindled popularity starting in 1995. She did race in some nationals in early 1986, including the ABA Supernationals in late January,^[5] all sponsorless. With her apparently reading the writing on the wall, some believe as the BMX periodical BMX Action put it she "...decided it was easier to just quit the sport while on top than shop for a ride."^[6] Somewhat ironically, in 1996 she would co-author a book called The Athlete`s Guide to Sponsorship during her subsequent Mountain Bike racing career.

Although Cheri retired from BMX in early 1986, she was not completely done yet with it. After an almost four year layover she came out of retirement on the national level on Saturday October 28, 1989 when she raced the ABA's Fall National of 1989 in Yorba Linda, California apparently for the fun of it due to her ABA BMX Hall of Fame induction the following November. She probably thought she would be at the ABA Grand Nationals anyway for her acceptance speech, why not race as well?^[7] Prior to the Fall Nationals she was seen practicing at the Roseville, California Oak Creek BMX track. Showing that she hadn't missed a beat, she dominated the 15 & over girls class at the Fall Nationals on Saturday. However, she slipped her pedals in the main and finished in seventh place, last in this case, in the main. On Sunday she again came in last (out of six) in the main. Uncharacteristic to say the least. At the Grand Nationals she again showed she had lost none of her speed and talent she was on the verge of winning her 15 & over girls Main at the 1989 ABA Grand Nationals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. However, fate bit her again (and perhaps a bit of ill caution) as it did at the Fall Nationals. She fell doing one of her stylish moves over a jump. She landed badly and crashed. The rest of the pack passed her and her chance of being the Grand National winner with it. Mapuana Naki won the National number one girl title for 1989.

Elliott continued her BMX retirement after that race.

Retiring from BMX again still did not cure her entirely of the racing bug. After college and after a three and a half year layoff she showed that she had barely slowed down. Starting in 1994 (and following in the footsteps of a lot of BMX racers) she went on to show the same talent in mountain bike racing, a sport similar to BMX that uses bicycles with 26" wheels (similar to the "Cruiser class" bicycles in BMX circa 1980) but with courses that are much longer and on steep, downhill slopes, and with certain events, especially snow racing, resembling downhill skiing. Races could last up to 10 minutes (compared to BMX's 30-40 seconds) with speeds hitting 70MPH (compared to BMX's 25-35MPH for Experts and Professionals). In her very first year of racing Mountain Bikes, she became the National Dual Slalom Champion, and attained many more the following years. Over her unprecedented cycling career, she has won 14 major world and national titles, including four National Off Road Bicycle Association's (NORBA) National Championships and two ESPN X Games gold medals.

Elliott retired from competitive racing during the 2001 Mountain Bike season due to injury, but this "Rad" girl has left people in awe of her memory in both BMX and Mountain Biking for decades to come.

[edit] Career BMX milestones

First race: 1979 9 & over Girls class. Prairie City. 1st Place.

First Win (Local): See above.

First National Win: At a 1980 United Bicycle Racers (UBR) national in 9-10 girls. She also took a third in 9-10 open and raced in 10 Expert but did not make main.^[8]

First National Win against boys: At the January 17, 1982 UBR Bay Area National beating Mark Perez in 11 Expert.^[9] She also won the 11-12 Trophy Dash at the 1983 ABA Cajun Nationals in Shreveport, Louisiana in January 1983, overpowering 12 Expert winner Jason Griggs who dominated his age class throughout 1982 and 1983. She was at the time perhaps the only girl to win the Trophy Dash at an ABA national that anyone could recall.^[10]

First sponsor: JR Racing, local sponsor. 1980-December 1981.

Turned Pro: Never did in BMX, although she did express interest in there being a pro class: "There needs to be a pro class for the girls so we will have more interest in the sport."^[11] There was a pro girl class which started in the 1985 seaon in the NBL. Although most of her fame came in the ABA with her three consecutive National No.1 girl titles, she had raced and even earned an age class national No.1 girl in 1984 so she was more than familiar with the NBL. She was happy when the NBL's Competition Congress authorized one in late 1984: "I think it's great that they finally passed it... Now girls will have something to stay in the sport for."^[12] However, she was still a few months too young at the time of her retirement and more importantly the girl NBL pro class was struggling. Indeed, it would last only three seasons, 1985-1987* but she could had stayed a year or indeed just a few months longer and race pro if she wanted to. Unfortunately the difficulties of talented racers getting factory rides at the time (1986) prompted her retirement despite the existence of a girls pro class during her career.

Retired: Early 1986. With a brief comeback in late 1989.

Height & Weight at the height of her BMX career (1985): Ht: 5' 1" Wt: 110lbs.^[13]

*It was restarted at the beginning of the 1997 racing season.

[edit] Career BMX factory and major bicycle shop sponsorships

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage at the time in question.

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[edit] Amateur

• JR Racing: 1980-December 1981
• Boss Racing Frames: January 1982-December 1982

• Skyway Recreations: January 1, 1983-December 1985

• Bicycle Center USA (bike shop): October 1989-November 1989

[edit] Professional

No Pro career

[edit] Career BMX titles

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

• None

National Bicycle League (NBL)

• 1981 11-13 Powder Puff Knott's Berry Farm Grand Champion (NBL, United Bicycle Racers (UBR) & World Wide Bicycle Motocross Association (WWBMXA) sanctioned.)

• 1984 National No.1 14-15 Girl.

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

• 1982 11-12 girls Jag World Champion (ABA sanctioned)
• 1983 13-14 Girls Gold Cup Champion
• 1983, 1984, 1985 National No.1 Girl.

United Bicycle Racers Association (UBR)

• 1982 National No.1 Girl.

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)

• 1985 14-15 Girls World Champion

Other titles

• 1983 12-13 Girls Jag World Superbowl Champion (Non sanctioned)

[edit] Career MTB Racing sponsorships

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by MTB press coverage at the time in question.

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[edit] Amateur

Cheri was never amateur status. She entered Mountain Biking as a Pro.

[edit] Professional

• KHS Bicycles: 1994-1995.

• Mountain Cycle/Maxxis: 1996.

• Maxxis/Azonic/Intense: 1997-1998.

• Maxxis/Azonic/Tomac: 1999.

• Maxxis/Odi/Azonic/Intense: 2000-2001.

[edit] Career MTB titles

[edit] Amateur

No amateur status.

[edit] Professional

National Off Road Bicycle Association (NORBA)

• 1994 & 1995 National Dual Slalom Champion.

• 1997 National Downhill Champion.

• 1998 National Dual Slalom Champion.

• 2000 United States Dual Slalom Champion

ESPN X-Games

• 1995 Summer Speed Downhill Gold Medalist.

• 1997 Winter Speed Downhill Gold Medalist.

[edit] Notable accolades

• Named the seventh of the 25 Hottest amateurs in BMX racing by a 1984 survey conducted by BMX Plus! for the opinions of four prominent figures in BMX: Two racers, Brent Patterson and Mike Poulson; and two team officials: Dr. Gary Scofield of GT, Howard Wharthon of Diamond Back.^[14]

• She is the first girl to earn two overall national No.1 girl titles and to do it consecutively (1983,'84 ABA) and the only girl to do so three times and to do it consecutively (1983,'84 '85 ABA).

• She is a 1989 ABA BMX Hall of Fame Inductee and is the only female member.

• During the 1997 and 1998 seasons Ms. Elliott won and holds the "Guinness World Record" for most X-Games Medals attained in Mountain Biking.^[15]

[edit] Notable Peccadilloes

[edit] Notable Injuries

• 1994 Broken Right Thumb^[16]

• 1995 Received two concussions^[17]

• 1996 Right Shoulder AC Separation^[18]

• 1999 Broken Right Elbow^[19]

• 2000-2001 Spinal Chord Annular Tear and Retrolisthesis L5-S1 (forced retirement)^[20]

[edit] Events and interest outside of BMX and MTB

Her athleticism showed early. She snow skied when she was all of two years old If more evidence of her almost unique athletic ability was needed she was asked while still in sixth grade and in junior high school to play first string on the Varsity Senior High School Basketball team. She helped that high school team win the championships.^[21] Cheri was awarded "MVP" in both Basketball & Volleyball her High School Senior Year. She also played in her Freshman year in college at the University of the Pacific (UOP).

[edit] Post cycling career

• Ms. Elliott is now a Senior Broker-Associate/Realtor in California who bills herself as "The Broker on a Bike".

• Ms. Elliott is a published Author, public speaker, and a helmet safety advocate for children.

• Ms. Elliott ran her own Sports Management Company (JED Sports Management) through most of her Professional Mountain Biking career and became known as business icon for others to follow.

• Ms. Elliott holds her B.S. in Business (Graduated with Honors), concentrated in Real Estate and Finance. (1994)

• She also co-authored and published (1st edition in 1996 and 2nd edition in February 2000) "The Athlete`s Guide to Sponsorship." VeloPress ISBN 1-884737-78-1

[edit] BMX and MTB magazine covers

Bicycle Motocross News:

• None

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

• Super BMX: Spring 1985 American Bicycle Association (ABA) Grand National Special Edition.
• Super BMX: March 1984 Vol.11 No.3 in insert with fellow amateur racers Doug Davis, Brett Allen and pro Brian Patterson as the 1983 ABA National Number Ones. Brian Patterson in main image.

Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:

• None

BMX Plus!:

• None

Bicycles and Dirt:

• September 1984 Vol.2 No.10 with Gary Ellis and Brit Audeoud in separate frames.

Mountain Bike Action:

Mountain Biking:

• July 1995 Vol.9 No.7

NORBA News:

• January 1995 Vol.12 No.1

Bike Racing Nation: (Official Publication of USA Cycling)

• November/December 1998 Vol.20 No.2

[edit] BMX, mountain bike magazine and General media interviews and articles

[edit] End Notes

[edit] External links

• A photo montage of Ms. Elliott during her BMX career.
• A site dedicated to her old BMX factory team circa early & mid 1980's.
• A history of Skyway Recreation.
• Photo of her in action during her Mountain Bike Racing career.
• Historical Cheri Elliott page with MTB and BMX photos.
• Cheri Elliott's last Sponsors
• Google cached 1997 Mountain Democrat article about her career.
• What she looks like today
• The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.
• The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.
• USA Cycling website
• NORBA website

• Cheri Elliott's book The Athlete's Guide to Sponsorship
• Cheri Elliott's current Website