brentbarton.com

Some random shots

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Testing the Picasa plugin for WordPress–these photos are pulled from my Picasa gallery (that means if you’re at work at the company I work for, they may not be visible if you click on them).

Photos from 1/3/2009

Rad Canyon Indoors 2009.01.03

Photos from 1/26/2009

Rad Canyon BMX Indoor 2009.01.26

CPSIA grants 1 year stay for “t0ys” to get the lead out…

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09115.html

This is really big for the makers of BMX bikes and components. Hopefully, in this 1 year timeframe, our BMX bicycles and components can be classified correctly as “sports equipment” rather than toys.

Yo, da gubment, get it right, please!

This is my open letter to Mr. Obama in response to Mike Carruth’s comments on the matter as posted on Change.gov.

Mr. Obama,

My 5 year-old son and I found competitive BMX racing 15 months ago. This was something that I had always wanted to do as a kid growing up in the 1980s but unfortunately didn’t have the facilities for the sport in my hometown. Nonetheless I “lived” on my BMX bicycle. Similarly, my son loves riding his bike at the track as do I now. And my wife has recently found the joy of competitively racing her BMX bicycles. Even our 3 year-old, while he doesn’t race competitively (yet), loves to ride his bike. This has turned into our family’s main activity.

However, I am extremely concerned that our favorite sport could suffer the ultimate fate as a result of an apparently erroneous classification of our primary equipment–the bicycle–as outlined in the CPSIA. And while I can understand the intent of the legislation, it is gravely flawed in the items that are classified as “toys”. The bicycles we ride around our neighborhood and race on the track are absolutely NOT toys. They are most definitely vital pieces of sports equipment to competitive BMX racers and are highly specialized instruments. 

The analogy has been made by many that the competitive BMX bicycle are akin to golf clubs for Tiger Woods; as the helmet, cleats and pads are to the football player–from little league to the professional ranks; as the tennis racket is to the Williams sisters, Andy Roddick and the countless number of children and adults who participate in the sport of Tennis. Yet the golf club, the football gear and the tennis racket are “sports equipment” while the same bicycle that I, my son, my wife and every single 2008 Olympic BMX athlete (from which 2 medals were brought home to the USA) uses to compete is classified as a toy–merely because of language in the CPSIA that bicycles with wheel sizes of 24 inches or smaller classify them as such.

That said, I want to let you know that I concur wholeheartedly with Mr. Carruth’s statements that the equipment we use–the bicycle and all of its related components and protective gear–for competitive BMX racing should be reclassified or exempted from such broad sweeping legislation.

The damage that this legislation will cause is already being felt in this sport and industry. Businesses are closing. The costs for the testing as require by the CPSIA are running them out of business. People are losing their livelihoods. Next will be the bicycle shop. We, as a community of BMXers and cyclists would rally against such legislation in even the best economy. But this will only compound our Nation’s financial woes.

Please, Mr. Obama and team, make the necessary changes to H.B. 4040 so it will not damage my family’s favorite sport and the associated industry.

Sincerely,

Brent Barton

Salt Lake City, UT