Geth Shooter — The Derbyshire Rider Who Skipped Superclass

Legend Bike Co · BMX heritage series

British BMX in the 1980s had a ladder, and everyone climbed it in the same order. You raced age groups until you aged out, you moved up to Superclass and got knocked around by men who had been doing it for years, and if you survived that, you turned Pro. That was the route. Nobody skipped a rung.

At the end of the 1984 season, Geth Shooter looked at the ladder and stepped straight past Superclass into the Pro Class. He was sixteen. Within a year he was Pro Class national number one, the top prize-money earner in British BMX, and the fastest British rider in a televised series that put the sport in front of the whole country. The gamble was not a gamble at all. He had already worked out what he was.

From: Eastwood, Derbyshire

First bike and team: a Mongoose Pro Class, on the Two Wheel Service shop team, winter 1983

Teams: Two Wheel Service · Bunneys Bikes GT, Nottingham (1984) · Hotshot Redline (1985) · GT and the GT European Team (1986) · GT / On Yer Bike Mansfield (1987)

Documented titles: 1984 NBMXA national champion, 16 Expert and Cruiser · 1984 NBMXA British champion, 16 Expert and Cruiser · 1985 NBMXA Pro Class national No. 1 · 1985 UKBMX Champion of Champions, Pro · 1987 NBMXA Pro Class national No. 1 and British champion · 1989 EBA Supercruiser national No. 1 · 2005 British champion, Masters 20-inch

Also: won the opening round of the Kellogg's series broadcast on Channel 4, the highest-placed British rider in that series

Industry years: 2002 to 2006 with Raleigh, Diamondback and Free Agent

Honors: British BMX Hall of Fame, Class of 2022 — Male Racer

Eastwood, winter 1983

He showed up on the British BMX radar riding for Two Wheel Service, the local shop team in Eastwood, Derbyshire, on a Mongoose Pro Class through the winter of 1983. His first competitive rides were indoors, which was how a lot of British BMX got through a British winter, and the British BMX Hall of Fame's account says it did not take long for people to notice there was something unusual about him.

In 1984, at sixteen, he was picked up by Bunneys Bikes in Nottingham, running GT equipment — one of the strongest shop teams in the country. The moment that made his name came at the NBMXA National at Ribby Hall the same year. He was still a regional rider as far as the national scene was concerned, and he made the 16s final and went straight at Scott Williams, a GT factory rider. They both went down fighting over the win. Nobody in the building had to be told what they had just watched.

The 1984 double, and a decision

The rest of that season he simply took. He finished NBMXA national champion in 16 Expert and in Cruiser, and then doubled again at the NBMXA British Championships at Derby — where, by the Hall of Fame's account, he was the only rider in the meeting to clear the quads on the final straight. He also crossed over to race UKBMX, the rival sanction, upsetting established factory riders and finishing the year fourth in the country in both 16s and Cruiser over there.

That is a lot of plates for one year, and it made him one of the most wanted riders in Britain. He won a Superclass money race at Chesterfield, and then made the call: no Superclass season. Straight into the Pro Class, which was brand new for 1985.

1985 — Pro at sixteen

Managed by Tony Hoffman and riding for Hotshot Redline, he finished his first Pro season as NBMXA national number one and UKBMX national number two, won the Champion of Champions at Perry Park in Birmingham, and finished the year as the top prize-money earner in British BMX.

The result that traveled furthest was on television. The Kellogg's series was broadcast on Channel 4 and pitted British riders against visiting Americans, which in 1985 was a lopsided proposition on paper. Shooter won the opening round and finished the series as the highest-placed British rider in it. For a lot of people watching at home who had never been to a BMX track, that was the first time a British rider had beaten the Americans on their own screen.

One footnote for anyone reading British results from these years: the country had two competing sanctions running their own national series, their own British Championships and their own number one plates. Shooter's 1985 is a clean example — NBMXA number one and UKBMX number two in the same season, both real, both simultaneous, and neither one canceling the other out.

GT, an ankle, and Slough

In 1986 he signed with GT and was picked for the new GT European Team. He was leading the national series when a skateboarding accident wrecked his ankle badly enough to need surgery, and it kept him out of the World Championships at Slough — the one year the worlds came to England during his prime, and the one he could not ride.

He came back and won the Pro Class at the British Championships. In 1987, riding for GT / On Yer Bike Mansfield, he had the season a rider gets once: unbeaten on overall results, national number one, and all three finals won at the British Championships.

Going the other way

Most riders move up. In mid-1988, while leading the Pro Class standings, Shooter went the other direction and switched to Superclass, looking for something harder than what he was winning.

The timing lined up with a change in the sport's structure. The NBMXA and UKBMX merged into the EBA, and 1989 gave Britain one national ranking instead of two arguing with each other. Shooter rode a full Superclass season under the new setup and finished Supercruiser national number one and Superclass national number two, behind Dale Holmes. He reached European finals in Denmark that year, and put in another strong European ride in Switzerland in 1990, finishing that season third in the British Superclass rankings behind Holmes and Neal Wood.

Then an off-track accident took him out, and it eventually took him out of elite racing altogether. He came back in patches through the early 1990s without ever going back to a full campaign.

Trails, brickyards, and a job at the bike company

What brought him back was not a comeback plan. In the late 1990s he started riding trails and skateparks again — Ilkeston Brickyard and Derby Storm in particular — which is where a lot of British riders of his generation rediscovered why they had started in the first place.

From 2002 to 2006 he worked inside the industry with Raleigh, Diamondback and Free Agent, and helped put together a UK national team. In 2005 he pinned a number on again and won the Masters 20-inch British Championship, taking nearly every national he entered that year. The published 2005 BCF British Championships results have him as the 30-plus champion, which is the same result seen from the other side.

The British BMX Hall of Fame inducted him in the Class of 2022 as a Male Racer. Their write-up, published in February 2023, closes by saying he is still on two wheels, mostly road bikes and charity rides. As of that account, Geth Shooter is alive and riding.

Where the record runs thin

  • The 1986 British Championships Pro win. The British BMX Hall of Fame's induction write-up says he rebounded from his ankle injury to win the Pro Class at the British Championships in 1986. The same organization's published 1986 NBMXA British Championships results list the Pro order as Tim March, Andy Ruffell, Geth Shooter. Britain had two sanctions running British Championships that year, so both statements can be true of different meetings — but we cannot confirm which title the write-up refers to, so it is flagged rather than smoothed over.
  • His birth date and full first name. Neither is documented in anything we could reach. His age is only fixable against events — he was sixteen in 1984.
  • Frames and equipment. Team affiliations are well documented; the specific frames, forks and components he raced year by year are not, beyond the Mongoose Pro Class he started on.
  • The European finals. Denmark in 1989 and Switzerland in 1990 are recorded as strong European results, but the finishing positions and the exact events are not published anywhere we could reach.
  • Sources we could not reach. bmxsociety.com was unreachable throughout this research and bmxmuseum.com blocks the access methods available here. Period British magazine coverage — BMX Bi-Weekly and BMX Action Bike in particular — would very likely close most of the gaps above.

Timeline

  • 1983 Rides for the Two Wheel Service shop team in Eastwood, Derbyshire, on a Mongoose Pro Class; first races are indoors.
  • 1984 At sixteen, joins Bunneys Bikes GT in Nottingham. Breaks through at the NBMXA National at Ribby Hall against GT factory rider Scott Williams.
  • 1984 NBMXA national champion in 16 Expert and Cruiser; doubles again at the NBMXA British Championships at Derby. UKBMX national No. 4 in both 16s and Cruiser.
  • 1985 Skips Superclass and turns Pro. Rides Hotshot Redline under manager Tony Hoffman. NBMXA Pro national No. 1, UKBMX No. 2, Champion of Champions winner at Perry Park, and the season's top prize-money earner.
  • 1985 Wins the opening round of the Kellogg's series on Channel 4 and finishes as the highest-placed British rider in it.
  • 1986 Signs with GT and joins the new GT European Team. A skateboarding accident wrecks his ankle and rules him out of the World Championships at Slough.
  • 1987 Riding GT / On Yer Bike Mansfield: unbeaten on overall results, NBMXA Pro national No. 1, and all three finals won at the British Championships.
  • 1988 Leading the Pro Class standings, switches mid-season down to Superclass.
  • 1989 Under the merged EBA, rides a full Superclass season: Supercruiser national No. 1 and Superclass national No. 2. Reaches European finals in Denmark.
  • 1990 Another strong European ride in Switzerland; third in the British Superclass rankings. An off-track accident begins the end of his elite career.
  • Early 90s Sporadic returns to racing, no full campaign.
  • Late 90s Rediscovers riding through trails and skateparks, notably Ilkeston Brickyard and Derby Storm.
  • 2002-2006 Works in the industry with Raleigh, Diamondback and Free Agent; helps build a UK national team.
  • 2005 Returns to racing and wins the Masters 20-inch British Championship, taking nearly every national he enters.
  • 2022 Inducted into the British BMX Hall of Fame, Male Racer category.

Sources

British BMX Hall of Fame, "Congratulations to Geth Shooter! Inducted into The British BMX Hall of Fame Class of 2022 — Male Racer," published 14 February 2023 — the primary source for this page: Two Wheel Service and the Mongoose Pro Class, the 1984 Bunneys Bikes GT signing, the Ribby Hall final against Scott Williams, the 1984 NBMXA national and British doubles and the quads at Derby, the UKBMX No. 4 rankings, the Chesterfield money race and the decision to skip Superclass, Tony Hoffman and Hotshot Redline, the 1985 Pro national No. 1 and Champion of Champions and prize-money record, the Kellogg's opening round on Channel 4, the 1986 GT and GT European Team signing and the ankle injury that cost him the Slough World Championships, the 1987 unbeaten season on GT / On Yer Bike Mansfield, the mid-1988 switch to Superclass, the NBMXA and UKBMX merger into EBA, the 1989 Supercruiser national No. 1 and Superclass No. 2 and the Denmark European finals, the 1990 Switzerland result and the off-track accident, Ilkeston Brickyard and Derby Storm, the 2002 to 2006 Raleigh, Diamondback and Free Agent years, the 2005 Masters British Championship, and his current riding. British BMX Hall of Fame rankings archive — the 1984 NBMXA national champions and British Championships tables, the 1985 NBMXA Pro national champion listing, the 1985 UKBMX Champion of Champions Pro result at Perry Park, the 1986 and 1987 NBMXA British Championships Pro finishing orders, the 1987 NBMXA national champions listing, the 1989 EBA national rankings and British Championships Supercruiser results, the 1990 EBA national Superclass ranking, and the 2005 BCF British Championships 30-plus result. BMX Weekly's Geth Shooter podcast episode and the British BMX Hall of Fame's own on-stage interview footage were identified as further primary material but are audio and video, and are noted here rather than cited. bmxsociety.com was unreachable during this research and bmxmuseum.com blocks server-side access; neither is cited.

Related Legend Bike Co. chapters

  • Redline — the brand under him for his first Pro season, on the Hotshot Redline team
  • GT — his shop-team equipment in 1984 and his factory ride from 1986, including the GT European Team
  • Mongoose — the Pro Class he started on in the winter of 1983
  • Andy Ruffell — the rider he shared Pro Class podiums with, and the face of the same televised British boom
  • Jamie Staff — the younger rider coming up through the same national series as Shooter moved into Superclass
  • Jive Number Plates — Belfast-built plates from the same British-Isles boom
  • The History of BMX — the whole story, start to finish

Connections to other British chapters still being written: Tim March, who finished ahead of him in Pro at the 1986 NBMXA British Championships; Raleigh, whose distribution he worked inside from 2002 to 2006 and which handled Free Agent in Britain; and BMX Bi-Weekly and BMX Action Bike, the British magazines that covered his Pro years. His Superclass-era rivals included Neal Wood, Dale Holmes and Dylan Clayton.