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". Other nicknames include "Black Magic" (which he had stenciled on the back of his racing pants in 1985), "Big Chuck ", "The Fleein' Korean", and "Chasemainian Devil".
Contents
Racing career
Career factory and major bicycle shop sponsors
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. 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.
Career bicycle motocross titles
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
Notable accolades
Named one of the new BMX Action's "Terrible Ten" top amateurs and future professionals for 1986.
Named BMX Action's Pro Rookie of the Year for 1987.
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.
Significant injuries
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. Laid up for about five weeks until the International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF) World Championships in Santiago, Chile on August 14. This was his very first BMX related injury. What precipitated the accident was his front wheel coming off in mid race at a jump. 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.
Broke ankle at NBL Grand National in September 1988.
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.
Broke thumb in early 1996.
Broke hand in mid January 2004 during practice.
Miscellaneous and Trivia
Named number five on the list of the "Dirtiest Riders in BMX" in the June 1992 issue of BMX Plus!
BMX magazine covers
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.
