Heavy Metal Heroes
Dave Dillewaard looks back at the HMH contest series, where a lot of Aussies got their start in contest riding, and a Fit frame in GT paint from early 2004. From Issue 01.
HMH was the start of contest riding for a lot of Aussies back in the day including myself. They had comps on most of the ramps and dirt jumps and included lots of age groups which was great for the scene! People would come from far and wide for these events. It’s where I saw a lot of riders I had only heard about and tricks I could only dream of for the first time. Shout out to Mark “Wolfman” Schneider for running these back in the day and creating an awesome scene and contest series.
People would come from far and wide for these events. It’s where I saw a lot of riders I had only heard about and tricks I could only dream of for the first time.
There are some familiar faces on the deck here. “D” Dimitri Romeliotis, Brad Taylor on the left, my Dad down the bottom having a look. Hard to see the other side but could be the likes of Yonny Wakefield, Corey Bohan, Nick Cooper, and maybe even Perko.
This was in early 2004. I had just finished my first 6-month stint in the USA a few months before. I picked up GT as a sponsor on that trip and they started helping me out with bikes, travel budget and a little bit of cash. GT didn’t have good frames at that time so the TM Chuck Fallon got me on a Fit Aitken frame from 5050 bike shop in Salt Lake City. Bit of a paint job and some stickers and we were set. That was pretty common back then for bigger companies not to have frames for their riders and have to outsource. Still happens a little bit today too!
How it ran on page 29 of Issue 01.
Words by Dave Dillewaard. The printed version is on page 29 of Issue 01.
