Dale Holmes

Dale Holmes
[[File:|290px|alt= |]]
Personal information
Full name Dale John Holmes
Born 6 October 1971 (1971-10-06) (age 40)
Heanor, United Kingdom
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 83 kg (180 lb; 13.1 st)
Team information
Current team Free Agent
Discipline Bicycle motocross (BMX)
Mountain bike racing (MTB)
Role Racer
Rider type BMX: Off Road
MTB: Four-cross
Amateur team(s)
1982
1983–1984
1985
1986		 Nottingham Outlaws
Bunnys/GT BMX
JMC Racing Equipment
Powerlite Engineering
Professional team(s)
1986–1987
1988–1989
1989–1990
1990–1991
1992
1993–1999
1999–2001
2002
2002–Present		 Powerlite Engineering
Cyclecraft
ELF
MCS Bicycle Specialties (Europe)
Webco Bicycles
GT Bicycles (UK/Europe)
Nirve
O'Neal/Atomic
Free Agent/KHS Bicycles
Infobox last updated on
17 July 2008

Dale John Holmes[1] (born 6 October 1971, in Heanor,[2] Derbyshire, UK) was a British professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1990-2004. He is now a respected champion mountain bike (MTB) racer.

Contents

Racing career milestones

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

Started Racing: 1982 at age 9, in England. He first noticed BMX on reading a BMX mag back in 1980.[3]

First race result: Fourth place in 9 Novice at the Nottingham Outlaws BMX track in Nottingham, England.[4][5]

Sanctioning Body:

First win (local):

First sponsor: Bunny's Bike Shop (Private Company)[6]

First national win: At a 1985 United Kingdom National in Slough, England in 13 Expert.[3]

Turned Professional: In Mid 1987 at 16 in England directly after the 1987 IBMXF European Championships.[7]

First Professional race result: Second Place in Superclass.[5]

First Professional win: NBMXA British Championships 1988.

First Junior Pro* win: 13 Expert Slough 1985.

First Senior Pro** race result: Second Place UKBMX National Poole.

First Senior Pro win: NBMXA British Championships 1988.

Retired: In late 2006 to concentrate on Downhill Mountatin Bike (MTB) Racing. He recently started BMX racing again in the ABA Veteran's Pro class. His debut race was on 1 September 2007 at the ABA Black Jack Nationals in Reno, Nevada. He won on Saturday (1 September) and came in second on Sunday.[8]

Height & weight at height of his career (1995–2006): Ht:5'9" Wt:182 lbs.

*In the NBL it is B"/Superclass/"A" pro (beginning with 2000 season); 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 bike 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. When possible exact dates are given.

Amateur/Junior Men

Professional/Elite Men

Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Only sanctioning bodies active during the racer's career are listed.

Amateur/Junior Men

National Bicycle Motocross Association (NBMXA)(UK)

*See note in professional section

Professional/Elite Men

British Cycling Bicycle Motocross (BCBMX)(England)

English Bicycle Motocross Association (EBA) (UK)

National Bicycle League (NBL)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

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 and Invitationals

Notable accolades

Significant injuries

Racing habits and traits

Miscellaneous

BMX press magazine interviews and articles

BMX magazine covers

Note: Only magazines that were in publication at the time of the racer's career(s) are listed unless specifically noted.

Moto Mag:

Post BMX career

He retired in October 2006 to pursue a Mountain Bike Racing Career full time. However, as of November 2008 he is team manager of the Free Agent World Team in BMX and has returned to BMX racing in the Veteran Pro Class. He continues to race mountain bike four-cross for KHS. At the time of his BMX retirement he said it was just time for a change:

"It's time for a change, I love BMX racing but decided the life style it takes to be in the top 10 in the World at my age is a lot of work and dedication. The older you get the more you have got to do to prepare yourself correctly, and I feel after reaching all my goals it's a hell of a lot of work just to be where I have already been for the last 15 years. It would be nice to sit and drink a beer or have a few glasses of wine without worrying about being up at 7am to do some sprints, or not getting my eight hours sleep in without stressing. Not that I'm done with that, I still love training and the life style, but alongside that, the way the direction, the tracks and sport is going, at my age I really don't feel comfortable putting it on the line week in week out anymore. I can still race 4X MTB, which is not quite as crazy, have an off season, something BMX racing does not allow, enjoy life a bit more and hopefully still be a top 5 4X guy in the World with some more bike time."
—fatbmx.com 6 November 2007[18]

Mountain Bike Career Record

Started racing: 2002

Sub Discipline: Four-cross

First race result:

Sanctioning body: UCI

Career MTB factory and major Non-factory 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 MTB press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.

Professional

Career Mountain Bike Racing (MTB) titles

Note: Listed are Regional, National and International titles.

Professional

British Cycling

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)

Honours

In 2009, he was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame.[19]

Notes and references

  1. ^ BMX Plus! April 1991 Vol.14 No.4 pg.48
  2. ^ bmxactiononline.com interview by Greg Hill
  3. ^ a b BMXpros Double "A" Marketing Dale Holmes 2003 interview
  4. ^ a b October 2000 bmxultra.com interview.
  5. ^ a b Dale Holmes interview conducted by Greg Hill published 21 February 2008
  6. ^ BMX Biker Monthly 1984 No.8 pg.36
  7. ^ Dale Holmes's obsolete website; photo page 6.
  8. ^ bmxnews.com article. Monday, 10 September 2007 entry.
  9. ^ BMX Plus! December 1996 Vol.19 No.12 pg.68
  10. ^ BMX Plus! September 1988 Vol.11 No.9 pg.28
  11. ^ University of BMX Old and New(s)" category and "Webco Factory Teams" drop down menu.
  12. ^ Snap BMX Magazine January 2000 Vol.7 Iss.1 No.39
  13. ^ Transworld BMX March 2003 Vol.10 Iss.3 No.77 pg.24
  14. ^ britishcycling.org.uk 2002 British BMX Championship results.
  15. ^ bmx2day.com 10 December 2005 interview
  16. ^ BMX Plus! Inside Scoop through out the year
  17. ^ Transworld BMX April 2004 Vol.11 Iss.4 No.90 pg.24
  18. ^ 6 November 2007 fatbmx.com interview
  19. ^ "50 Cycling Heroes Named in British Cycling's Hall of Fame". British Cycling. 2009-12-17. http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/sport/article/bc20091216-Hall-of-fame-fifty. 

External links