Alice Bixler

Alice’s Hall of Fame Address-

In the spring of 1974 the neighborhood was all a buzz as the new BMX track was opening in Sarasota, Fla. We went down to the Schwinn bicycle store and got my son a top of the line, heavy duty BMX 16 inch bicycle. Off to the BMX track we went with the van full of kids and bikes. When we got there, we found out that the kids had to wear boots. So off to the Army Navy store we went for boots.

When we got back to the track, we signed up for the races. I signed for all the kids to ride; back then you did not have to have a parent sign. The kids were ready to race in their new boots, shorts and a tee shirt and their long hair blowing in the wind. It wasn’t long after that long pants and long sleeve shirts as well as helmets were required.

At that first race they asked for volunteers. I knew how to score motorcycle races so I volunteered to score. It was so much fun I loved it. So did all the kids I brought except for my son! He insisted that I get him a 20 inch bike as he was not competitive on that 16 inch. That was the start of my local BMX team, Hap’s Honda BMX, and my involvement as a volunteer. After about a year, the local track was turned over to the parent council and things started getting better. When the track was first built we did not have any real jumps but they had water holes that the fire department filled up with water when we raced. There was no starting hill. There was a flag start and no berms, there were flat turns instead.

As I got more involved in the local program I became the secretary of the parent council and I brought hot dogs, a grill and a cooler full of sodas to sell.   The track started to make some money so we wanted to improve it. It took an act of God to get our first starting hill. It was four foot tall and we used a rubber band start. The poor kid on the end always got the worst start as the rubber band would get tangled in his tire. As time went on I held every job at our local track. When I was track director it was tough on me. I had very little help. I was tired and it seemed to always rain before the race. Then one day Dave and Erma Miller stopped to see what was going on. Their son, Doug, wanted to race. They were the answer to my prayers. Dave and Erma were into landscaping so the first thing we did was plant some trees. They were little twigs but now they are beautiful. The forest of pine trees in the staging area was planted by us as well as many of the beautiful oaks you will find on the property.

At the same time we were looking for a better sanction for the riders from our track.  We needed a true National organization so we met with George Esser in the fall of 79. We decided to join his sanction and we formed the Sunshine State BMX Association. I was elected secretary of the association. Before the first year was up, I became the race commissioner as everyone else had resigned their positions. At the same time our local track, Sarasota, got lights and a real starting hill with the greatest manual gate you can imagine. I became the starter locally. The Florida riders loved it when I started. I also made some road trips with my team. A lot of other teams always came when we went out of state. One of those trips was to North Park in Pittsburgh, Penn., where I met Bob Tedesco. It was really a great trip. The kids that made their main got to race inside the Three Rivers Stadium during half time of the Pittsburgh Steelers football game. It was great and so was Bob. He got that track looking good and most of the kids I took came home with a trophy. They knew the Florida kids were good competition.

In the early 80′s my youngest son needed some help with his gate starts. So I bought a DG cruiser and started racing. I immediately saw a need for a ladies class. Bob was in charge of the NBL then and I tried to convince him that the class was need. Well after he told me no way, I convinced the Sunshine State Association to have a ladies cruiser class in Florida. The first class was girls 24 and under and girls 25 and over. I loved racing and eventually earned a #2 Florida State Plate in that class. At the same time I was volunteering and was a district commissioner as well as President of the Sunshine State BMX Association. Marie Kurtz was race commissioner and eventually became President of the NBL so I became the Race Commissioner again. Gary Smith was the President of the Sunshine State BMX Association and after Marie was the President of the NBL then Gary became President of the NBL. During all that time I was the race commissioner of Florida.  I kept that job until November 2007 when I decided to not run again. I also served a few years on the National Bicycle League Board of Directors and helped with the first scholarship program for the NBL. That scholarship program became the current Bob Warnicke Scholarship program.

I convinced Bob Tedesco and the rest of the board that we could pass out the number plates at the Grands.  I have done that every year since and will continue to pass them out as long as I am needed. I loved being on the board, but I could see it was hurting my progress in Florida so I decided to not run again when my term came up. It was the right decision as it takes someone many hours a week to keep up with all the programs and training of new tracks in Florida. When we first went to the NBL in 1979 we only had five tracks. Today the NBL can brag of 22 tracks in Florida.

One of the greatest programs that I had the pleasure of helping start is the President’s Cup program. What a terrific race. I have always been Florida’s coach, all 22 years of the President’s Cup. Florida won the President’s Cup 10 times and the original President’s Cup was retired to Florida. I have it and it is very happy in the Sunshine State. The second Cup Florida has won 7 times. Three more times and it can come home to Florida also. Steve Doan is now the Race Commissioner for Florida. I must say he is doing a terrific job. I still run the computer at the races but Steve is there to take care of the problems, the new tracks and getting the race schedule on track. He is one terrific person. I have to say that I am addicted to BMX and it was hard to step down as state commissioner. However, I know we have some terrific young people eager for the job and I have had that pleasure for many years. I have to remember that I was 25 when I got involved so it is time now to let the younger parents step up to the plate. I want to see the program grow and improve. And it will. When my kids were young we use to talk about BMX in the Olympics. It is now going to happen. I am so glad that I got to see the next step in our sport.