A Letter to our NJ friends |
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July 4th, 2001 was when Cory (then just 5 years old) took to Hunterdon's BMX track for the very first time. He was too shy to take to the track alone, so Dad rode his mountain bike around the track with him. We didn't understand gearing, or bike sizing, carbon fiber from titanium, "jumping the doubles" or what it meant to manual, we just knew that Cory wanted to ride his bike and enjoyed doing it. On Saturday July 7th, 2001 he raced his first race at Hunterdon BMX and finished an outstanding 2nd place. His first trophy brought a smile a mile wide to his face and made us as proud as parents can be. From that point on, he was hooked and wanted to race more and more....and as they say folks......."The Rest Is History!" We quickly started to make friends and enjoyed our relaxing Saturdays as a family at the track in beautiful Hunterdon County NJ more then ever. People like John Anderson, Brian Lynch, Jeff Lamb, Chris Moore, Sean Wilson, others from North Jersey Racing and Matt & Virginia LeMaitre were some of the first people to teach us the BMX ropes. We laughed, shared victories and shared disappointments. Everyone was an extension of OUR family and as the years went on, our "family" grew both internal and external.......and folks....THIS IS WHAT BMX IS REALLY ALL ABOUT - Family, friends, kids and piles of dirt! Through the last two years Cory has piled on dozens of wins, many championships and thousands of miles, traveling around the State of NJ for local, regional and national events. We've since made Central Jersey BMX our "home track" (the closest track to us) and we've met hundreds of great people around the state. What we've learned from the sport of BMX and the great people in it will be a valuable part of our lives forever and before we leave we just had to say: "Thank You to the great folks involved in BMX here in NJ." On August 3rd, 2003 Cory raced his last NJ State Qualifier event on the very same track where it all began - Hunterdon BMX - finishing just like he did in 2001 - a 2nd place. Around August 15th the family will be relocating to the Sunshine State of Florida and will no longer be a part of the NJ BMX scene. We wanted to say Thank You to all the friends and "family" that we will be leaving behind on the NJ local and regional levels. In addition to everyone listed above, we wanted to say Thank You to some special NJ people like Pat Stella and Team Pedal Militia (for believing in Cory first back in 2001), Jerry Landrum from BMXMania (OK..not from NJ but for giving Cory an awesome opportunity none the less), the Manninos, the Kuhfahls, the Andersons (Kevin & Ryan), the Varanyaks (Go Hamilton!!), Fred & Randi Fisher, the Rizzutos, the Behms, the Walshes, the Wolfs, the Filippones, Jeff Morgan, the Vanderhoffs, the Demolas, Eric Sr. & Eric Williams Jr. and countless others that are just too numerous to mention here. Please forgive me as you all will aways have a place in our hearts. We hope to see you all on the tracks at the National races and even during our visits back to NJ. To our competition we also say Thank You. Thank you for teaching us how to win and how to lose - with dignity. You've helped make us faster and you've helped make us a better racer. You've helped make us a fighter and a winner both on and off the tracks. We wish all the best to you and your families and we hope you've learned something from us too. To some of you (and you know who you are) we leave you with these thoughts: we hope you someday get back to the basics of what this sport is really all about. We hope you someday remember to get back to having fun with BMX because without having fun as a "family", what's your real reason for doing this sport? We're leaving New Jersey but not the sport of BMX. We'll see everyone at the National races (and maybe even some locals here and there). We'll still be a force to be dealt with in BMX and we're still committed to getting better every year. We'll always be having fun with BMX and we'll always look forward to meeting new friends and seeing old ones. We encourage old friends to stay in touch via the email addresses within our website and come on down to the warm sunshine state for some Nationals or some relaxation. In the meantime, stay tuned for how Cory does within the ranks of Florida BMX by keeping your finger on the pulse of his career at www.coryhouse.com. Best of Luck to all of our Friends within
New Jersey BMX and Keep Racing Hard! |