Charles Townsend

Personal information
Full name	Charles Heath Townsend
Nickname	"Choo-Choo Charlie", "Amtrak"
Born	(1967-01-25) January 25, 1967 (age 57) Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	88.5 kg (195 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
Role	Racer
Rider type	Off Road
Amateur teams
1981	Woodside Bicycle Shop
1985	U.S. Boss Racing Products
1985	Free Agent
1985–1986	Hutch Hi-Performance
Professional teams
1986	Hutch Hi-Performance
1987	Cyclecraft
1987	CW Racing
1987–1988	Revcore
1988–1989	Diamond Back
1990–1991	Powerlite
1991–1998	Robinson Racing Products
1999–2000	Troy Lee Designs
2000	Airborne
2000–2001	Kona/Rocket Cash.Com
2003	Phantom Bikes
2004	Advent

Charles Heath Townsend (born January 25, 1967, in Kansas City, Kansas) is an "Old School/Mid School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1985 to 1996. He has 2 kids.

He has various nicknames, many dating back to his days as a young amateur. Many are railroad related: "Steam Engine Charlie", "Speeding Locomotive Charlie", "Choo-Choo Charlie", "Amtrak".^[1] Other nicknames include "Black Magic" (which he had stenciled on the back of his racing pants in 1985^[2]), "Big Chuck ", "The Fleein' Korean",^[3] and "Chasemainian Devil".^[4]

Milestone	Event Details
Started Racing:	1979/80 age 12 or 13. Townsend himself is rather vague on this point[5]
Sanctioning Body:
First race bike:
First race result:	Third place in Beginner class in Hellyer Park in San Jose, California.
First win (local):
First sponsor:	Woodside Bicycle Shop.
First national win:	In 17 & Over Open at the 1985 American Bicycle Association (ABA) Supernational in Pico Rivera, California, on January 27, 1985.[6]
Turned Professional:	December 28, 1986, at the National Bicycle League (NBL) Christmas National at age 19.
First Professional race result:	First in "B" Pro on December 28, 1986, in Columbus, Ohio, at the National Bicycle League (NBL)'s Christmas National. He won US$600, the equivalent of US$1,126.09 in 2007 (Cost of Living Calculator) He also took a sixth in Pro Award but he finished out of the money.[7]
First Professional win:	See above.
First Junior Men/Pro* race result:	See above.
First Junior Men/Pro win:	See above.
First Senior Pro** race result:	First in "AA" Pro at the American Bicycle Association (ABA) Gilley's Nationals in Pasadena, Texas, on March 7, 1987. He won US$535,[8] the equivalent to US$1,004.10 2007. After the ABA Scottsdale National, Charles Townsend called the ABA and moved himself up to "AA" pro.[9] This was reminiscent of Brian Patterson asking permission from then ABA Vice President Gene Roden to move up to "AA" after one race in "A" pro in early 1982.[10]
First Senior Pro win:	See above.
Height and weight at height of his career:	Ht:6'2" Wt:~195 lbs.
Retired:	2002. He raced in the Veteran Pro class of the ABA and the NBL's Master class until 2004.

• U.S. Boss Racing Products: January 1985 – March 31, 1985
• Free Agent: March 31, 1985 – December 27, 1985
• Hutch Hi-Performance BMX: December 28, 1985 – December 31, 1986. He would turn pro with this sponsor.

• Hutch Hi-Performance BMX: December 28, 1985 – December 31, 1986.
• Cyclecraft: January 1, 1987 – March 21, 1987.
• CW (Custom Works) Racing: March 21, 1987 – November 27, 1987. "CW" never stood for "Coast Wheels" as it is widely thought. Coast Wheels was a bike shop that Roger Worsham owned. Custom Works was a completely different and independent company.^[11] This is in contrast with JMC (Jim Melton Cyclery) which did start out as a bicycle shop and then began manufacturing its own BMX components including entire bicycles.
• Revcore: November 28, 1987 – November 26, 1988. Revcore was owned and operated by Roger Worsham who also owned CW Racing, It was a separate product line much like Shadow Racing was in 1983. Townsend's last race for them was the Friday night November 27 Honda Super Cup, one day prior to the start of the 1987 ABA Grand National, where Townsend switch over to Revcore and captured ABA No.1 pro for that year. By 1989 Roger Worsham would divest himself of both Custom Works and Revcore.
• Diamond Back (Centurion): November 27, 1988 – December 31, 1989. At the end of the 1989 season Diamond Back decided to let the entire team go except for Matt Hadan, a pro. Harry Leary decided to retire. Charles Townsend was sponsorless for three months until April 1990.
• Powerlite Industries*: Mid April 1990 – November 1991.
• Robinson Racing Products: November 1991 – December 1998. After seven years Robinson dropped Townsend after the 1998 racing season.
• Troy Lee Designs/Jones Soda: April 1999 – March 2000. Charles didn't have a primary sponsor for approximately 15 months between Robinson Racing and Airborne Direct. Troy Lee Designs and Jones Soda were many co-sponsors that helped support him on the national race circuit while he searched for a main, primary sponsor.^[12]
• Airborne Direct: March 28, 2000 – December 2000
• Kona/Rocket Cash.Com: December 20, 2000–
• Phantom Bikes: January 2003 – December 2003
• Advent: January 2004–

*By this time Gary Turner (GT) Racing had brought Powerlite.

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

National Bicycle League (NBL)

• 1985 18 & Over Expert Grandnational Champion
• 1986 18 & Over Expert National No.1

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

• None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)

• 1986 17 & Over Expert and 18–24 Cruiser World Champion

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)

• None

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

• None

National Bicycle League (NBL)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

• 1987 Honda Supercup Champion. He also won a Honda XR-250R motorcycle as a prize.
• 1987 National No.1 Pro. He won a Honda pickup truck as a prize.
• 1990 Pro U.S. Open East Champion
• 1990 National No.3 Pro

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

• None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

• 1989 Pro World Champion

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

• None

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

Pro Series Championships

• Named one of the new BMX Action's "Terrible Ten" top amateurs and future professionals for 1986.^[13]
• Named BMX Action's Pro Rookie of the Year for 1987.^[14]
• Named BMX Plus! 1988 "Racer of the Year" with 20.74% (1,930) of the vote out of 9,305 cast. He won a Suzuki RM125 motocross motorcycle.

• Cracked Tibia and dislocated knee at ABA Lone Star National in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 2, 1988, on the back straightaway in the third and last pro main.^[15] Laid up for about five weeks^[16][17] until the International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF) World Championships in Santiago, Chile on August 14. This was his very first BMX related injury.^[18] What precipitated the accident was his front wheel coming off in mid race at a jump.^[19] He did along with Pete Loncarevich who was nursing broken ribs, roll off the gate at the NBL Waterford Oaks, Michigan, race in a pro forma act to achieve the prerequisite number of NBL races participated in a season to be eligible to race in the NBL Grand Nationals and become national number one pro pending the results of the Grand Nationals.^[20]
• Broke ankle at NBL Grand National in September 1988.^[21]
• Separated shoulder at the 1992 ABA National in Topeka, Kansas, on May 10. The rumored prognosis was an eight- to ten-week lay off but he was racing two weeks later at the ABA Summer Nationals in Sunol, California, on May 23. Racing in pain, he did not make the mains on Saturday but did get a third on Sunday in "AA" pro.^[22]
• Broke thumb in early 1996.^[23]
• Broke hand in mid January 2004 during practice.^[24]

• Named number five on the list of the "Dirtiest Riders in BMX" in the June 1992 issue of BMX Plus!^[25]

Bicycle Motocross News:

• None

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

• September 1988 Vol.15 No.9 with Gary Ellis and Greg Hill (SBMXF) In insert freestyler Matt Hoffman.

Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:

• August 1987 Vol.12 No.8 with Billy Griggs and Eddy King. (BMXA)
• October 1991 Vol.2 Iss.12 In insert freestyler Jay Miron (Go).

BMX Plus!:

• August 1987 Vol.10 No.8 in bottom insert (CW) behind Gary Ellis (6) and Greg Hill (3) and tied with unidentified (23). Top insert freestyler John Ludvigson; Main image: freestyler Matt Hoffman.
• March 1988 Vol.11 No.3 in bottom insert (15) ahead of Travis Chipres (8) and unidentified. In top insert freestyler Woody Itson, BMX Plus! tester Todd Britton, Harry Leary and Kevin Hull. In circular insert Steve Broderson; main image freestyler Josh White.
• April 1988 Vol.11 No.4 In bottom half of cover (1). In top half freestyler Ron Wilkerson.
• May 1989 Vol.12 No.5
• May 1992 Vol.15 No.5
• December 1992 Vol.15 No.12 (3) in top insert in a dead tie with Gary Ellis (2) in center and Pete Loncarevich (1) in foreground. In right center insert Tim Judge circa 1984; in bottom left insert unidentified BMXer and MXer. Main image freestylers Brian Blyther & Ron Wilkerson in 1986.
• July 1993 Vol.16 No.7 in top insert behind John Purse (20). In bottom left insert Todd Corbitt. In lower right insert freestyle frames and forks.
• February 1997 Vol.20 No.2 (10) in center insert in fourth place behind Randy Stumpfhauser (100) leading; Brian Foster (3) in second; Unidentified (16) in third. In bottom right insert Kiyomi Waller (403); in top insert dirt jumper Matt Beringer. in bottom left insert various helmets.

Bicycles and Dirt:

• None

Snap BMX Magazine & Transworld BMX:

• None

Moto Mag:

• None

NBA World & NBmx World (The official NBA/NBmxA membership publication):

Bicycles Today & BMX Today (The official NBL membership publication under one name change.

ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (The official ABA membership publication under two name changes):

• American BMXer March 1987 Vol.9 No.2 (15) behind Gary Ellis (3) in first, ahead of obscured unidentified in third and Todd Slavik (4) in fourth place.
• American BMXer September 1988 Vol.10 No.8
• American BMXer September 1990 Vol.12 No.8 ahead of Travis Chipres.

USBA Racer (The official USBA membership publication):

• December 31, 1999 BMXUltra.com interview at the Wayback Machine (archived May 16, 2006)
• The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.
• The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.