Stuart L. Thomsen (born May 20, 1958, in Whittier, California)[1] is an American former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.
Stu Thomsen was one of the first of the "Old School" of professional BMX racers who gained fame in the early days of the sport beginning in 1974.
Sometimes called the Babe Ruth of BMX[2] for his prolific success and domination of BMX racing during the sport's early days from the mid-1970s into the mid-1980s, Thomsen's considerable career accolades and legacy remain a benchmark for modern sports achievement.
His nicknames, "The Man" and "Stompin Stu", were due in part to his size at 6 feet 1.5 inches and 200 lbs.
Note: In the early days of professional racing, 1976 and prior, many tracks offered small purse prize money to the older racers of an event, even before the official sanctioning bodies offered prize money in formal divisions themselves.
Hence early professionals like Stu Thomsen turning "pro" in 1975 at 16 years old racing for small amounts of money at track events when offered even before the NBA, regarded as the first true national BMX sanctioning body, had a professional division.
For the sake of consistency and standardization noted professional first are for the first pro races for prize money offered by official BMX sanctioning bodies and not independent track events.
Retired from Senior pro (NBL-"A"/ABA-"AA"): Even with the resources of his bike shop, Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center, competition in the expensive national circuit did not make economic sense unless he could find a factory sponsorship.
[10][11] Huffy's decision to let him go, his search for a sponsor frustrated by the depressed economic state of BMX that year, and a shoulder injury that his competitive nature prevented him from allowing to heal properly, all combined, led him to retire in July 1987.
He also raced the 1991 ABA Fall Nationals as well along with fellow "retired" pros Eric Rupe and Harry Leary but did not make any of the Mains.
Today he still races occasionally as an amateur in the ABA 45-50 cruiser and 36 & Over Expert 20" class sponsored by Redline.
This is why during the early years of the pro division the national number one racer of a sanctioning body could be either an amateur or professional.
In the following season, 1981, the pro class was divided into Junior and Senior levels in the ABA and NBL.
Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question.
for so long?Stu: At the time, pro racing had been going on for a few years, but the prize money wasn't all that big yet.
United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA) International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF) Other Titles Pro Series Championships and Invitationals This was an exhibition invitational that Stu Thomsen and several other American professionals including (but not only) Greg Esser, Eric Rupe and Tim Judge went to at the request of the Venezuela BMX officials to promote and celebrate the Venezuelan Bicicross Association's first national Championship.
*The International BMX Race of Bercy Paris was an invitational race sponsored by the Association Francaise de Bi-Crossing (AFB), the French BMX sanctioning body and was held in Bercy an eastern area in the city of Paris, France north of the river Seine.
It was sponsored by the Yoplait Yogurt company and Bicross Magazine, a French BMX publication.
Thirteen thousand spectators ventured into the Palais Omnisport de Paris Bercy (POPB) to watch a BMX race.
As it would be with the 1985 addition, which Tommy Brackens won, it was a hit in France with tickets sold out three months in advance.
In 1984 it was switched to when the winner of the cup was presented to the public in BMX Action magazine (usually in the February or March issue) the following year it was considered awarded and not during the closing months of the previous year when the voting and tally takes place.
These persistent rumors—at times aided by his own statements—would regularly crop up as people wondered what is the outer age limit of a competitive racer in this new sport.