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graves unstoppable !

FarkinRyan

Monkey
Dec 15, 2003
611
192
Pemberton, BC
Yep. Graves schooled the vast majority of the Australian 'High Performance' BMX development squad for the '08 Olympics the week before that as well.

These are people who've been hand-picked by the Australian Institute of Sport to receive special coaching and support in the lead-up to the Olympics in the middle of their 'on' season. Graves is in the middle of his off season.

Notice his snap and the amount of first straight pull he has in that video of the Bubba invitational final; 2-3 bike lengths over Bubba by the end of the first straight, fricken phenomenal.
 

thejames

Monkey
Oct 22, 2004
133
0
austin
mike king comes to mind too, only one that i know of that has multiple championships in bmx and mtb.number 1 amateur and pro bmx back to back, world champ dh and many 4x and slalom wins. lopes and carter are better mtb pros than they were bmx pros.
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
ummm........ what about eric carter?
Lopes as well. And before the Lopes/Carter/King period, there was always Tomac, and he threw down in XC also. There have been a number of guys that can dominate overall and are amazing, well rounded riders/racers. Graves is in that club, no question.
 

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
I rode with Graves at my local BMX track (Sycamore BMX) last season and was completely blown away. Not only was he smoking fast and smooth, but he is a super nice guy.

For the folks who may not follow BMX, beating Bubba Harris is a huge accomplishment. Bubba is one of the most dominate BMX racers out there right now. He was the 2005 BMX World Champion and the ABA #1 AA Pro for 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Big congrats go out to Jared…
 

DylanDeanDesign

Turbo Monkey
Dec 10, 2004
1,097
0
San Diego area, California USA
Jared's my hero!

the following is from Redline's website...

"The much anticipated International “Invitational Challenge” at Australia’s infamous Nerang track, definitley lived up to all of the pre-hype and left every spectator in attendance shaking their heads in amazement. For months now, this race has been billed as a sort of “USA’s Best Dude -vs- Australia’s Finest Blokes.” It would be Redline’s Bubba Harris up against some of the fastest Aussies from the east side. It would be a one-lap showdown, and coming in to this event Bubba was figuring that his toughest comp would come from local Pros Michael “Tiger” Robinson and former Redline factory rider Wade Bootes.
Another invited past Redline pro – Kamakazi, pulled out of the race a few days prior. (C’mon, Kama! Where were you!)

With 3 practice laps under his belt, Bubba was loving the Nerang course and its beefy 2nd straightaway pro section.
After some hot Aussie BMX action, loaded to the hilt with Redline bikes, the big moment finally arrived late in the evening. The sidelines suddenly packed in and everybody began waggering bet on whether the 3-time ABA Pro Champ could beat Australia’s best. Among those lining the track were BMX International’s Shepard family; who are responsible for introducing Redline and Tuff wheels to down unda’.
After an ABA-like pro rollout, introducing each rider, the invited-eight lined up in the gate and readied themselves for the 4-beep start. And smack dab in the middle was Bubba in lane 5 and Tiger in lane 4. With this track having an inside-gate advantage, both Bub and Tiger knew they’d have to pull the ultimate start to snap the Aussie’s in lanes 1 thru 3 – including Jamie Gray and Jared Graves.
Beep, beep, beep, beep … and the gate slammed down.

Right out of the gate, Bubba and Tiger hooked up and clashed together on their second crank. This left the first straight wide-open for Jared Graves, unclipped Tiger out of his pedals and practically blasted Bubba back to last. Luckily, the Redline hero got back on the gas and powered back up to third place by the second jump. In to the first turn, the dust flew as mountain-bike World Champ Jared Graves held a strong lead and Bubba swooped underneath Jamie Gray to take over 2nd place.

Next came the rhythm section, and the Aussie crowd was going nuts as the pros flew down the 2nd straightaway pro section.
Graves definitley showed his skills and power and was doing a greta job at holding off the ABA Champ, and Bubba was givingit every trick in his book to gain some ground. Entering the last turn, Graves chose the high line with our Redline hero railing it hard enough to pull up alongside for the tradtional drag-race to the finishline. By ths time, the crowd was all on their feet and yelling for the home-countryman to hold on. They were practically grip-to-grip as they crossed the line, with both contenders pushing at the line for an advantage.

Was it Graves? Or was it Harris?! It was THAT close of a finish, and the gaggle of scorekeepers gathered to exchange notes and decide on the outcome. With anticipation, the announcer finally gave the call – “first place goes to Jared Graves! 2nd to the American Redline superstar, Bubba Harris.

Without a doubt, it was a great day for Australian BMX, and for mountain bike star Jared graves, who will be making a bid for a spot on the Australian BMX Olympic team in 2008."
 

BC VAN

Monkey
May 4, 2005
624
0
Graves will be 4x world champ at some stage... mark my words.
You’re not going out on a limb here,
I had a long talk with Jared at world last year about this and I can tell ya he is super focused on this one goal.

I have no doubt he will be 4x world champion at some point of his career.
In regards to all around riders, a lot of the names mentioned have accomplished lots in different disciplines, but most only focused on one at a time Jared going as fast as he is right now in BMX while not really trying to be a BMXer is very impressive, anyone know if he is still as fast in the DH? I think that would be the most impressive as the bikes are so different.

I still think Johnny T is the all time best, i think he has won at very high levels of competition in Road/XC/DH/DS/XC the physical demands of this are unreal.
 

DylanDeanDesign

Turbo Monkey
Dec 10, 2004
1,097
0
San Diego area, California USA
You’re not going out on a limb here,
I had a long talk with Jared at world last year about this and I can tell ya he is super focused on this one goal.

I have no doubt he will be 4x world champion at some point of his career.
In regards to all around riders, a lot of the names mentioned have accomplished lots in different disciplines, but most only focused on one at a time Jared going as fast as he is right now in BMX while not really trying to be a BMXer is very impressive, anyone know if he is still as fast in the DH? I think that would be the most impressive as the bikes are so different.

I still think Johnny T is the all time best, i think he has won at very high levels of competition in Road/XC/DH/DS/XC the physical demands of this are unreal.

Yah, jared's still blazing fast in DH... it was only a year ago that he was norba DH series champ (as well as 4x champ)... he beat Minnaar at the Deer Valley NCS, & came runner up (to Minnaar) at the Angelfire World Cup. He does fairly well on the world cup dh circuit, but averages around top 10-15 i believe.... he seems to do best on the dryer & dustier courses (Deer Valley, Angelfire & the sort), but still can rip it up everywhere else.

all in all, i think he's happiest on a 4x bike though. i know that Prokop was on a tear this year...but i firmly believe that Jared would have won worlds if he hadn't been injured.

yah, JonnyT is by far the best of all time... he's one of the few you can put in the "legend" status.... it'll take years & years of sure dominance for anyone to even come close.
 

BC VAN

Monkey
May 4, 2005
624
0
word !


worlds track looked like perfect for graves..but he will slingshot everyone at fortwilliam :)
it's why we race, nothing is certain, i know Lopes probably was the fastest guy in 04 in Lest Gets but one bad gate and he got cut off by Prokop and went down, and i certanly wasn't the fastest but it worked out well for me.

we'll just have to see after ft bill i guess?
 

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,698
1,053
behind you with a snap pop
I still think Johnny T is the all time best, i think he has won at very high levels of competition in Road/XC/DH/DS/XC the physical demands of this are unreal.
I agree. The fact that he could win a Norba DH race on Saturday and a Norba XC race on Sunday separates him, because they are so different.
I also remember him taking up slalom really late in his career and he was still damn good at it too.
 

DylanDeanDesign

Turbo Monkey
Dec 10, 2004
1,097
0
San Diego area, California USA
From the pictures I've seen it looks like a Revtec with Yeti decals.
yep, it's a Revtec.... pretty sure it is.. After he got injured in Whistler this past summer, he spent the time researching & ordering up each individual piece of that bike... (that's literally all he was doing...that, drinking some Jack & talking to his chick on IM.) i'm still getting some of the parts shipped to my house! lol... last was a fresh set of tires & some bmx videos! little punk.... i get all excited at the new box for me... then it says it's for Jared.... DAMNIT!! lol
 

Akula_7

Monkey
Nov 15, 2004
917
0
yep, it's a Revtec.... pretty sure it is.. After he got injured in Whistler this past summer, he spent the time researching & ordering up each individual piece of that bike... (that's literally all he was doing...that, drinking some Jack & talking to his chick on IM.) i'm still getting some of the parts shipped to my house! lol... last was a fresh set of tires & some bmx videos! little punk.... i get all excited at the new box for me... then it says it's for Jared.... DAMNIT!! lol
So, your helping an some kangaroo eatin' Aussie cheat the US customs department by having his kids bike crap sent to you instead of straight to Aus?!?! :busted:

On a more serious note, do you know if Scott Sharples is still training Graves for DH/4X/BMX? Just interested to find out is Sharples in the process of creating some super race of bike riders...must be all the koala bear meat and vegemite.
 

General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
On a more serious note, do you know if Scott Sharples is still training Graves for DH/4X/BMX? Just interested to find out is Sharples in the process of creating some super race of bike riders...must be all the koala bear meat and vegemite.

That process started centuries ago when the Aussie gene pool was hand picked by some of the finest judges in Great Britian