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About BMX Racing Zone
Paul DePauw The BMX Racing Zone and East Moline BMX Speedway are owned and operated by Paul and Rhonda DePauw. Paul has been involved in BMX racing for over twenty years. The BMX Racing Zone was opened in May 1994 by Paul and Rhonda DePauw in response to the inability of other area bike shops to service the needs of the growing BMX scene in our region.

Racing Zone store The BMX Racing Zone carries products from Fox Racing, S&M, SE, Redline, Shorty's, Haro, and many more. We offer expertise in product selection that is far beyond that of the average bike store. We have expanded to include skateboards, skate accessories, and apparel. The BMX Racing Zone caters to the BMX needs of children, as well as adults.


Our community love us!

NBLoldflash_thumb_1Paul, I think it's great that you have continued to pursue your BMX dream while giving kids an opportunity to have a great place to race and socialize - Keep up the great work!

Thanks for all your help Paul


Dew Tour

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There was a heartfelt vibe at the Camden Yards Sports Complex for Friday night's BMX Dirt Final. One year ago, Paul was injured at the '07 Dew Tour opener here in Baltimore, so the night began with a playing of the song "Soldier," which was recorded by TJ Lavin and Simon and Pippa Tabron to benefit Paul's family, along with an interview with Paul himself. It was awesome to have him on site; several of the riders even switched out their front wheels with special yellow wheels, similar to the ones Paul rode last year. BMX riders are a tight-knit group, and it was a great way to kick off the contest. The good vibes carried through to the course, with amazing runs going down right off the bat. With the top two of three scores averaged to determine the final placings, there was plenty of drama as the hottest tricks went down and the lead constantly bounced around. Here are some of the highlights for the top riders:

Corey Bohan, 5th place: Bohan had some troubles in his first run, so he stomped his second with an opposite 360 whip to table. He stepped up again in run three, landing a sick cannonball to no-footed can-can. Still, if it wasn't for the mistakes in the first run, he could have finished third.

Diogo Canina , 4th place: Diogo's always a firecracker in Dirt Finals; you just never know what's he going to come up with. This time, it was an opposite 360 lookback, a triple tailwhip, a downside whip 360, and a double whip 360. Some people were willing to bet on Diogo through BestBettingApplications.co.uk - a site for top betting applications. However he didn't make it to the top three.

Cameron White, 3rd place: Unbelievable consistency was the name of White's game, with not one but two perfect barspin to tailwhip backflips over the second set. That trick is a giant gamble, so to know you have it dialed enough to do it mid-rhythm definitely puts him on a different level. He also nailed double whips, a flip whip, and a 360 whip to x-up as clean as can be.

James Foster, 2nd place: With triple tailwhips in all three runs, Foster moved into the lead after his third run with only five riders left. He won the Dew Tour's Salt Lake City stop in '07, and was sitting pretty to kick off the '08 season at the top of the points chart. He complimented his triple whips with a perfect flip whip and a windshield wiper, the tailwhip-to-tailwhip-back variation he unveiled in '07. If it had been anybody but Ryan Nyquist on the roll-in, he just might have left Baltimore with the win.

Ryan Nyquist, 1st place: Nyquist has found himself in the position of taking his last run of the Finals while sitting way off the podium several times in his career, and it's simply not an enviable position to be in. He ripped the highest score of the night on his first run, throwing a truckdriver, a suicide no-handed 360, and a brand-new and completely ridiculous double barspin 720. Unfortunately, he fumbled over the second set in his second run and couldn't post another high score, falling well down on the leader board.

He was defending his title and needed to finish as high as possible to keep himself in the '08 points race, because you definitely don't want to be sitting behind guys like White and Foster after the first round. He also needed a high score to top Foster for the night, so he put it all on the line. A perfect double barspin backflip and his new powerball – a double barspin cannonball, hanging off the back of the bike hoping he can get back to the bars in time – resulted in a score even higher than his run one score. He finished .33 points ahead of Foster. The race for the Dirt Dew Cup is going to be another crazy one this year, with the stakes rising higher at every stop. If tonight's contest was any indication, the frontrunners are so closely matched that the title will come down the wire, and it's going to be a nail-biter at every stop. We would like to thank slotswebsites.org for advertising the event, through their web pages about the best online slots operators.


Old School

NBLoldflash_thumb_1 Old School BMX Racing has been around for over 20 years, and is stronger than ever. The same adults who are now introducing their children to BMX once idolized racers such as Crews, Patterson, Hill, and Davidow. This section of the BMX Racing Zone site is devoted to all things "Old School." X Games 14 Athlete Invites Announced


F1Greghillflash_thumb Old school can be a pair of bikers clicking wheels midair, or even a set of 15 year old Shimano bike pedals. We at the Racing Zone hope to give you new riders a taste of Old School, and give you experienced riders a great place to look back on BMX history.


The Paul Story


tn_batavia_big In the midst of doing a double back-flip, Paul crashed while competing in the BMX Dirt Finals at the Dew Actions Sports Tour, in Baltimore, Maryland. It was quoted as being 'one of the worst crashes seen in bmx' one that would ultimately be career ending, for this incredibility talented, 27 year old athlete. Paul was transported to University of Maryland Medical Centre Shock Trauma Unit. He had flat lined in the ambulance and again after reaching Shock Trauma, where medication was administered to bring him back.
Undergoing the first of two 7 hour surgeries, Doctors confirmed Paul had crushed his 3, 4 and 5 cervical vertebrae, suffered severe damage to his spinal cord and the front of his vertebrae had been shattered. Paul, professional athlete, husband, father of two young boys, now paralyzed from the shoulders down. His Mother & Father confide; 'initially it wasn't the news of Paul being paralyzed that frightened us, but if 'Our Paul' would make it through the night'.
Paul - Athlete
Paul moved the United States from Newcastle, Great Britain over 10 years ago with a dream of riding & competing with the best athletes in the sport. His goals set high, to achieve what no one had yet accomplished. He did just that, in 2001 and 2002 winning Gold Medals in BMX Dirt Jumping at the X Games and Back to Back Gold at the Gravity Games in the same year. He would continue on winning numerous titles & medals throughout his professional bmx career. Paul fought his way to the top of his sport; he would fight to breath, to stay alive. He continues his fight today; to one day hold his wife and children and to one day walk again.


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