Strider is honored to have John “the Jackal” Purse be a part of the Strider World Championship as he puts on a Strider Clinic on Friday morning, October 14th from 10am to Noon at Sarasota BMX.
John "the Jackal" Purse
Last Thursday night, John “The Jackal” Purse was inducted into the USA BMX Hall of Fame. The annual ceremony was held in conjunction with the UCI BMX Supercross race at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. He was introduced by fellow Hall of Famer and good friend, Greg Hill, who will also be putting on the clinic. John was and continues to be one of the most successful and hardest working racers to ever ride a bike.
John and Greg have used their vast experience to coach dozens of champion racers through their clinics and coaching BMX racers around the world. You can’t get coaching like that everyday!
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CLINIC!
Read More (from the BMX Hall of Fame Induction) and get ready to meet him in Sarasota!
John “The Jackal” Purse started racing in 1981 at Armadillo Downs in Conroe, Texas. Little did he know from that day forward he would go on to be one of BMX Racing’s all-time greatest. The Jackal has over 30 years racing experience, with 17 of those years racing at the professional level. After turning Pro at the ripe age of 17 (forging his mother’s signature in the process to do so), he won in his A-pro debut and jumped up to the AA-pro ranks in four months time.
John has never been one to back down from anyone, at anytime, and his riding style reflected this as well. He would scrap for everything he got on and off the track. This led a fellow competitor – Eric Carter, to nickname him “The Jackal”.
After struggling on the circuit for a few years, John began to win more steadily and won his first two No.1 Pro titles in the NBL in ‘95 and ‘96. The following year, The Jackal would have his best year yet – claiming the UCI World Championships (in Canada), as well as the ABA National #1 Pro title. Following that season, with full support from Redline, John had the confidence and determination in 1998 to break the ABA record for “Most Wins in a Single Season” – standing on top of the podium 25 times in a single season. It’s one of his many career records that will be hard to beat.
John is ranked second on the list of all-time AA Pro wins, with 71 ABA mains. He also holds the ABA record for most AA Pro Main appearances in a career – set at a remarkable 310. **He is the only Pro with over 300 lifetime mains. Add in his unrivaled accomplishment of popularity awards — 3 consecutive ABA Golden Crank Awards for “Pro of the Year” (`97, `98 and `99), BMX Plus! Pro of the Year (`98 and `99) & 1999 SNAP Magazine NORA Cup Rider of the year, and there is no doubt that he is deserving of this year’s Racer induction.
