BMX Basics

What a month (or two) it's been! As some of you may know, I broke my wrist at an indoor track in Dayton, Ohio, right at the end of November. The healing process has been long and annoying. Perhaps the greatest annoyance was that I was unable to race the Christmas Nationals. I did have the wonderful opportunity to play host to four young riders from Bolivia, and I plan to write more about that experience in a month or two.

I learned quite a bit about international BMX racing from my houseguests. As someone who rather seriously heeds Thomas Jefferson's recommendation that Americans not travel, lest they be tempted by the "immoral charms" of other countries, I have never had the chance to see a BMX race outside the States, and therefore was rather surprised by some of the rules and customs governing international BMX. Perhaps the most amusing rule from my perspective was the UCI regulation concerning starting lanes.

In most tracks outside the United States, the starting hill has lanes clearly painted all the way to where the hill meets the first straight. Concrete hills are fairly popular overseas, so painting the lines isn't quite the hassle it would be at most American tracks. Under UCI rules, riders are forbidden to cross these "lane lines" until they reach the bottom of the hill, where the lines end.

What's the purpose of this rule? My Bolivian friends believed it was to promote good sportsmanship and to ensure rider safety. The question that naturally follows is, what is "unsportsmanlike" about moving over on someone before you have left the starting hill, and what is unsafe about said moving over?

The answer has to do with the roots of BMX, both in the U.S. and overseas. BMX as Americans know it was an outgrowth of motocross in the late Sixties, and most of our rules and traditions have some roots in MX. Motocross riders start bumping each other from the moment the gate drops; therefore, we're not particularly upset about contact down the hill, since it follows motocross tradition.

Europeans and South Americans became interested in BMX more than a decade after Americans did. Road cycling is far more popular than motocross in those parts of the world, so these folks tend to see our sport, not as motocross without motors, but rather as road cycling moved to a dirt track. Road cyclists shun contact during races, so overseas BMX riders tend to as well. In my opinion, clipless pedals are extremely popular among Europeans primarily because most of them have never been on the receiving end of a hard check in a turn, which is the kind of thing that sours you on SPD before you can say, "Oops, here comes the ground." I can see why they don't fancy the idea of bumping and thumping on a concrete starting hill, with both feet firmly locked in their pedals...

Unfortunately, the European mind-set is catching on fast in America. My Bolivian amigos brought me the most recent issue of SNAP!, which contains breathless, drooling coverage of the "total respect" European riders have for each other. I fail to see how physical riding implies a lack of respect for other riders. You might as well say that passing a rider in a turn is cheating. Oops... some people do think that way. Sorry.

It is probably safe to guess that the spineless, TV-obsessed people who make the NBL and ABA rules will eventually follow the international pattern and outlaw contact down the starting hill. Until they do, however, North American riders are still free to use contact to their advantage out of the gate. Let's discuss how that might best be done, shall we?

To fully understand how to control the other riders on your gate, you need to understand the two ways of physically controlling other riders while riding next to them in a straight line. It is not always strictly sanctioning-body-approved to do this kind of thing, so talk to your parents before you try it, okay?

The first method is used when we are ahead of, or even with, the rider next to us. For purposes of demonstration, we'll bring back our old pals Rider A (the mover) and Rider B (the poor sap who is going to be moved). As Rider A moves over on B, he will put his elbow directly under B's elbow and push up. This will usually have the effect of causing B to "fall" away from A, and B's handlebars will turn first towards A and then away from A as B countersteers to maintain balance. It's not necessary to A to apply a lot of pressure to make this happen - the laws of physics are on his side, especially if B is pedaling vigorously down the hill in front-wheel-up fashion. Before B knows it, he's been effectively moved over, and has probably been forced to slow down a bit to regain balance and direction. Not bad, eh?

Unfortunately, we can't always count on being even with, or ahead of, our target - particularly when we are moving someone over for defensive purposes, about which more will be said below. There are times when it becomes necessary to move a rider over even though he is up to half a bike ahead of you. Conventional BMX wisdom says that this is impossible, but physics and physiognomy don't necessarily respect the conventional wisdom. It is possible to move a rider over in the above situation, even if he is heavier than you are.

The secret is in a little nerve that runs through the hip area. Most people can't stand direct pressure around the hip pivot and will move instinctively to avoid it, especially when this pressure is delivered as a sharp blow. Shall we bring Riders A and B back to demonstrate? Yes, let's...

Riders A and B leave the gate at the same time, but B picks up a half-bike on A in the first two pedals. What can A do if he wants B's spot? Well, he can "swing" his bike, leaning it sharply first away from B and then towards B, and strike the edge of his handlebar into B's hip joint. This will cause B to miss at least half a pedal, and with a hard forward shove, similar to a gate start, A can pull even with B and administer a move-over as noted in the first set of instructions above, placing his elbow under B's and lifting sharply.

It's a tricky move, and it is not permitted under NBL or ABA rules, but it is possible. In fact, it might even be morally justifiable when used for defensive purposes. Example: A friend of mine in the 31-35 Cruiser class has problems with an out-of-control rider who regularly swerves uncontrollably down the starting hill, often injuring other riders. If my friend uses the above technique to prevent being injured himself, is he wrong to do so? I'd say he would be absolutely right to do so, since the contact would be to protect his line down the starting hill. Contact is a two-way street, and like the Force, it can be used for good or evil.

So we've established how to control the riders around you. What should you try to achieve with these techniques? All you really want to do, of course, is to create a clear lane which will permit you to power down the first straight. Having control of the starting hill lets you choose which line you'll take into the all-important first turn. Many riders simply try to "draw to the middle" in the first straight, so to speak, but it isn't always necessary, or even desirable, to do so. A smart rider chooses a turn line based on what he wants to make happen, not based on some lemming-like desire to get to the center of the track.

I could spend an entire column on choosing the correct line into the first turn, so that's probably what I'll do in a month or two. In the meantime, try to think a little bit, both about defending your own lane position and whether or not you think it's ethical to take a piece of someone else's. I know what the right answer for me is, but you'll have to make up your own mind about it, on this as on so many other things in life, dear reader, so choose wisely!