BMX (Bicycle Motocross) came up in the United States of America in the early 70s. Kids who where inspired by their motocross idols, but didn't have the money to buy a motorbike nor the age to ride one,  imitated them with their bikes on improvised tracks.  Soon the first informal races took place, then the more formal ones, which led to the creation of the first regulating organizations (ABA - American Bicycle Association and NBL - National Bicycle League).

From this cycling sport, practiced with 20' wheel bikes, came up several modalities: Race and Freestyle (Dirt, Vert, Flat, Street), which consists in performing maneuvers in different locations such as bikeparks and on the streets.

A few years latter, BMX - Race was allready known worldwide and recognised as a sport by the International Cycling Union (UCI), consisting of a sport practiced by both men and women with ages that range from 5 to 55 years old.

Tracks evolved to circuits with various types of obstacles, from huge jumps to technical sections. Nowadays, it is a very complete and complex sport, demanding a great level of technic, tactic, speed and endurance. Thus, a good BMX - Race pilot may take a while to reach proficiency levels suited for competition. This sport, although demanding a great deal from the athletes, is also rewarding. The huge jumps provide a great amount of adrenaline and speed and allow friendship relations to develop among riders.

The tracks

Tracks begin with an elevated starting gate, with a maximum capacity of 8 riders. They must be between 350 and 400 meters long and are composed by inclined curves and jumps of varying shapes and sizes.

Bellow, we present some photos that represent a BMX-Race track:

Starting Gate

  Inclined curves

Races

Competitions

The races begin, in each category, with 3 qualifying rounds (with a maximum of 8 athlets each). If the total number of riders in the category is smaller than 8, the classification of the athlets is the average of those 3 rounds. If there are more than 8, from each 3 round series only 4 of them pass to the next series with 8 riders again (4 from each qualifying moto), and so on until the final.

The Bikes

Equipment:

  To practice BMX it's essential propper equipment:

- Helmet

- Jersey

- Pants

-Preferably motocross style helmet, jersey and pants (for protection).

-Shoes that stick well in the pedals, or authomatic ones  (SPD)

-Pads are mandatory in the top tube of the frame, stem and handlebar.