FOOTBIKING HEROES
We promise to keep this blog down to less than 1000 words. But we really want to bring to your attention a few places to read and learn and know the world of footbiking. We are completely and insanely addicted to this sport, so are we a neutral stage to spout our beliefs? Absolutely not, so take a look at these places and see why we think like we do.
1. Gary Schmitt. Our personal hero. He has been overseas to compete in both European and World Championships (see details from Gary himself in the comments of this blog). At 58 years young he beats competitors at half his age. Join us at the World Championships in Italy next August and see the legion of fans that come from around Europe to watch Gary kick his stuff. We finally got him to start talking about it all and you can see for yourself at http://garyschmitt.wordpress.com/.
2. Sarah Cox. The fastest woman in the USA, and setting her sights on competing in her first World Championships. She has turned Utah into a state of footbikers, and will likely not stop until she has a World record. Check her out at http://kickitmarketing.blogspot.com/ .
3. Robert Schutz. Bob has been living the life of a footbikers for many years. Like his work in physical education, and bringing good health and habits to the kids of New Jersey, Bob is the epitome of what we all want to be like. At 67 years young you would be pressed to think he was over 40. I wanna be like Bob too! Read about is in depth analysis of what it is like to be a footbiker—and not even know it! http://www.schutzgymnastics.com/FOOTBIKING.htm.
4. Mike Santa Cruz. Mike has been watching and learning about the sport of footbiking for over a year. With the introduction of his new baby daughter, Luna, he knew that he needed to get involved with a product that was going to supplement his 6 hour mountain bike rides that he used to stay competitive. Mike started a blog to have a release for this new passion of footbiking. Mike is all of us, and all of you. You can read of his view at http://www.santacruzmarketingco.com/
5. Joe Jung. We are not sure where to start with Joe. 63 years young, 1000 miles a year on his scooter over the last 10 years!? Joe’s mission in life might be to turn all of the cyclists in the Clark County Riders of Springfield Ohio into footbikers. Take a peek into the mind of a founding father of this sport in the USA at http://joe-ccr.blogspot.com/
6. John Varrill. Speaking of founding fathers. I am not sure any of us know for sure how long John has been kicking, but he started writing about it in 2003. He has carefully documented the Who’s Who of USA footbiking fame at his blog at http://kickblogger.livejournal.com/.
7. The World Association of Kicksports can be seen at www.iksaworld.com. You can also read deeper into the origins of the sport at http://www.autoped.nl/home.htm. Make sure you practice your Dutch before you check out that last link. The first competitive footbiking events are documented starting in 1951. It is real, and it is amazing to see what they kicked on in the beginning!
8. Mario Reijne. We want to be this guy too. Not because he is also a World Champion and multiple record holder in the sport. It is due to what he is bringing to the sport of the future. Check out his work at http://www.stepteamhighlevel.nl/. Without our children learning the benefits of fitness and good old fashioned competition, were will we be tomorrow?
We wanted to show you that the footbiking world was not designed in our backyard over a hot barbeque and a cooler of beer. Yes, some of these folks have been recruited to strut their stuff at Team FootbikeUSA Racing, Our goal is to travel the USA to promote the sport and hone our competitive kicking skills in preparation for the World Championship in Italy in 2010. But these folks only write about it because the love it. And we think you will too.
FootbikeUSA
Just Kick It!
yOmOyO,
Thanks for the write-up. Very nice to read more about the other Footbikers and I learned a few things.
As far as accuracy, my information should probably be revised: Alex Beckerman from Long Island was the first to go from the U.S. to the first World Scooter Championships which were in the Czech Republic in 2004. His experience inspired me to go - I was so excited by his stories.
Also that same year Rick Van Camp, another U.S. citizen attended, but he lives in Finland. He is actually the fastest U.S. kicker so far, as of the results he had from 2002-2004.
As you already obviously know, Bob Dymond and I traveled to Finland together as Team U.S.A. in 2006. But you may not remember the story that Bob and I had talked Rick into kicking the relay race with us even though he was previously injured from a mountain bike accident. He was a great sport to do it so that we could become the first all U.S. team to kick in a relay. If he had been healthy, he would have been up there with the very fastest kickers. To give you an idea of his level of speed, he, Hannu, and Erwin Borremans won the relay race at the Worlds in 2004.
G-hound
HeckYa this is important stuff. We will make sure our history books are straight as we are trying to make more history. I will make sure that JohnV. gets these details logged into his system. Thijza at the IKSA says that they are setting up a section of their website to document any and all details in the form of official and non-official ‘firsts’. I expect Bob, Alex, and Rick will appreciate you making sure that the facts are whole. We know that Bob is still kickin’ it. Does anyone know where Alex or Rick are now? Hopefully they haven’t taken up wheelbarrow racing or anything weird like that.
Mo,
Spot on about the condensed ride times. Even with diaper duty,Similac cocktails and broken sleep I can still get a rigorous workout even when running Hana, our 2 yo lab. My kick burst routine helps with the weekend rides when I’m “dancing on the pedals”. One complaint: I need to get more Footbikers in OC!