Do you like to ride your bike? How about speeding down the street on your bike? If you like to do that kind of stuff, you should try BMX. Ever heard of it? BMX is a sport for kids of all ages. Adults can also enjoy this sport. Are you wondering what BMX is? BMX stands for Bike Motocross Extreme; it is really fun and all it takes is a bike!
BMX is a sport you might not have heard of. It is something I do, and you should too. It's where you go as fast as you can on a dirt track. A dirt track is just like riding on a plain road with bumps. You start off on a little strip of metal, called the gate. You hear, "Riders ready, on the gate, here we go." Then you'll hear a beep. After you hear the beep, the gate is down.
Next, you'll go down a hill. That's where the jumps come. You go down a hill and go on the jumps. When you're done, you'll go past a little line. It's the finish line. There are many races in BMX. You have moto 1, moto 2, moto 3, and your main. Depending on how many people you are going to race, it'll tell you what place you have to get to go to the main. In the first moto, you have to get a certain place. After that you'll be in the main and you won't have to race the 2nd or 3rd moto. You have already qualified for the main.
If you have 8 riders, that's considered a full gate. If you have 3 riders, it's total points. Total points is where you race the 1st and 2nd moto only. You get a brake for the main. Anyway, the least points wins. If you get 1st in both motos, that's 2 points. The one with the least amount of points wins. You get a trophy for 1st place only in total points. In regular races, you'll get a trophy for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Full gates are just regular races.
There are tons of jumps. A table top is a flat jump. A camelback is a jump that's the same as a tabletop but with a hump in the middle. It's like a camel's back. A step up is like a tabletop also, but has the hump at the end of the jump. A double is a tabletop with 2 humps. One at the beginning, and one at the end. A triple is the same but with an extra hump in the middle. The "whoops" are little jumps that go over and over. A little hump, and another, and another, and another.
There are lots of different kinds of races. A national is the hardest competition. It has the best riders, and the most motos. In nationals there can be up to 1000 riders. When there are that many, They usually do only 2 motos. But with 1000 riders, there could be moto 1, moto 2, (maybe moto 3) quarters, eighths, and the semi. Then after those they do the mains and hand out trophies.
Regionals are as hard but they give big trophies. In States for BMX you could be on teams and race with other riders. The States is where your whole team competes. Local races are regular races where they hand out normal sized trophies.
For all the big races, people go across the continent to compete. There are also the Grands. With 500 motos and 5000 riders, it's the fastest people in the world.
For BMX, if you want to race you're going to need a helmet that covers your whole head, gloves, jeans or long pants (or racing pants), or you could race with shorts and pads. You'll also need a team jersey if you have one, or a long-sleeve shirt or hoodie.
Races still run in rain, mud, thunder, or 90 degree weather.
I just came back from Pottstown PA for a National. There were 1000 riders and 200 motos. I got 1st, 1st, and 2nd on day 1. On day 2 I got 1st, 1st, and 1st. I hope that you guys will start racing like me. It's a lot of fun and people all over the world attend to this sport.
Here's a BMX track.
Good luck to all the people of Whyville who BMX like me. This is Myfirekid signing off.
