Austin Close 11X Yorktown, Virginia. Rider for ALPHA FACTORY ALPHABICYCLEPRODUCTS.COM Home track Hampton bmx

Zac Close 13x Yorktown, Virginia. Rider for ALPHA FACTORY ALPHABICYCLEPRODUCTS.com Home track HAMPTON BMX ALWAYS BE ALPHASTRONG!

Donny Robinson is currently the eldest AA-pro in our sport - having turned Pro in 1999. His moniker is “dR” (his initials), often followed by 10 (his UCi career number. According to Wikipedia, the use of the lowercase “d” for his given name is perhaps related to his relatively diminutive physical size. Always small in stature, since a very young age, Donny was always the smallest child in his age group. But what he missed out on in size, he far made up for it in heart, drive and determination. On June 25, 2008, Robinson was chosen by Mike King, team director of the 2008 USA BMX Olympic Team, to represent the U.S.A.. His teammates at the 2008 Beijing debut were Jill Kintner, Mike Day, and Kyle Bennett. His Olympic dream was realized at least in part when he came in third at the Summer Olympics winning a Bronze Medal; avoiding a pileup that saw South Africa’s Sifiso Nhlapo take out nearly half the field. Since it was the sport’s debut and the Mens final was run after the women’s, he officially became the third American and the sixth person overall to win an Olympic Medal in BMX Racing. Throughout his career and often since Beijing, dR has gained a reputation of landing onhis head. A LOT. One of the toughest guys around, he admitted in late 2013 to suffering at least 25 concussions over the course of his career. In the same interview, he advocated for better concussion protocol at the lower levels of BMX racing. Donny’s great sense of rumor - mocking his own reputations as the “little, old guy with memory loss” has boosted dR’s popularity, and he always seems to be a fan favorite, drawing the most cheers from the crowd.

At first, Brooke was completely against racing. Her parents only got her a bike so she wouldn’t feel left out when the family went to watch her brother race on their hometown BMX track in Tulare, Calif. Of course, she was only six at the time but, in a discipline where racers start as young as five, Brooke sized up the peer competition and told her parents that she wanted to try racing. Racing BMX in southern California is a bit like playing football in central Texas, the talent pool is deep and wide and the competition is fierce. The distinctions started piling up when Brooke was nine. She has consistently compiled top-3 titles in national age group rankings ever since. Her big break came in 2009 when, as a 16 year old, she scored two world titles and a national title. Brooke graduated from Mt. Whitney High School in 2011 and began to focus on BMX racing full time. While she has lived under her parents’ roof, she has benefited immensely from their sustained support. They have - according to Brooke - always pushed her to be at her very best. They have also pulled double duty as her coach, which sometimes isn’t easy when the going gets rough. As a teen, Brooke has learned that the price of racing at an elite level has cost her a bit of a social life but, rather than be adrift in the life of a normal teenager, she is a determined BMX racer and she credits her parents, in part, with being where she is today. Coming just a tad short on the UCi points scale, Brooke was chosen as the back-up rider for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, and kept training and pushing her two friends and Olympic team members - Alise Post and Arielle Martin. With the Olympic games already started, and just days before they were all to leave for London, Arielle snapped a chain while practicing on the London-replica course, and suffered some serious injuries. Suddenly, Brooke was IN, and on her way to London to represent the United States. In one of the more memorable moments of the BMX event, Brooke flashed the palm of her glove to the TV cameras. Written there on the palm of her Deft family gloves was scribbled “AMV” - her tribute and salute to her OTC roommate, who was watching from a hospital bed back home in San Diego. Despite a gnarly crash in qualifying on the first day of the Olympics - a bail that was seen around the World, Crain went on to make the main event and placed 8th. When Brooke’s not training or riding her bike, she likes to hang out with a few of her close friends, play basketball, or relax at home with her family.