“Growth” AND “Progression” in BMX Racing. BMX News article.

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“Growth” AND “Progression” in BMX Racing. BMX News article.

Postby bnd » Sat May 24, 2014 8:06 am

In the world of BMX, we spend a lot of time talking about “Growing the Sport” (well some of us do, anyway). We also talk a lot about “progression.”

Growing the sport generally means recruiting new people, who are not currently racing, to come to the track, experience BMX racing for themselves, and hopefully like it enough to buy a membership and come back next week, and the next, and the next, etc.

Progression usually means pushing the limits of what our current crop of riders can do on a BMX track–which usually means more technical tracks with bigger, lippier (if that’s a word) jumps and deeper rhythm sections.

In our interview with Arielle Martin and Jonas Harmon last week, Arielle talked about how insane the track looked to the riders at the 2008 Olympic test event in China. By contrast, today’s Beijing track at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista is considered the “Beginner” Supercross track. Only after you have that one mastered should you think about moving over to the London track. Riders have progressed to that point since China, thanks to a deliberate march forward. “Progression,” as part of the BMX racing culture has worked well.

Our local track operators are in a very tough position–desperately needing new riders to balance out the high percentage who do not come back next year, but trying to provide a place where the best riders in the area can ride and “progress” (notice I said “ride” and not “race,” as there is often not enough riders to make a proper expert class for these top riders, in many locations).

New tracks, opening in a location where BMX Racing has not previously had a presence, feel pressure from local hotshoes to build a “national caliber” track, complete with pro section and all the other hallmarks of “progression.” Meanwhile the day-one beginners who are absolutely essential to the success of that new local track roll up to the newly-built showplace of BMX progression, and the “curb appeal” (how the place looks from the parking lot) causes beginner mom & dad to say “no way!” Or they try it once and, when it’s time to pony up $60 bucks, then they say “no way.” It’s not FUN for that beginner, you see–it tends to be terrifying.

The season at our example new track shuffles along with 5 or 6 motos, maybe 10 sometimes, and everyone says “I don’t understand it, we passed out flyers at Wal Mart, and got flyers in the schools. . . we have a National Caliber facility here, which is what everyone said they wanted…where is everyone?” They’re too close to it to really see where the problem lies. We call that condition The “BMX Goggles.”

Wearing the BMX Goggles, even the most extreme track is “totally rollable,” and we tend to say things like “we have to keep it interesting for the Experts,” and “(those novices) just need to ‘man up’, then they’ll get the hang of it.”

We do have to keep the local tracks interesting for the experts–but not at the expense of recruiting and retaining new riders. Obviously, the beginners don’t have a “lobby” inside the sport; it’s hard to ask someone what they think before you have met them.

As progression takes us further from the early days of the sport–and, by extension, from tracks that were more approachable by beginners, we are approaching a time when BMX Racing may be ripe to split into three distinct disciplines.

We already have the tippy-top-of-the-pyramid elite level covered, via BMX Supercross, complete with all the well-thought-out infrastructure that gets 48 people (out of 7.1 billon) to the Olympics every four years. In the US, we have a very successful national and regional series, which brings riders up from the local level to want more (hopefully progressing to that elite level someday).

What we do not have in BMX Racing, yet, is a “recreational” level of the sport, where people who just want to race against other people their age–maybe even get mom & dad to join in–can do so on a track, and in an environment that supports the idea of “fun competition.” That is the component we have been missing for the past 40+ years.

Today’s novice BMXer is no beginner. More likely than not, s/he is a veteran of at least a few nationals, a bunch of state races, double pointers and rider clinics. He may have a $1500 bike and a full racing kit. All this makes him Sam Willoughby to the day one beginner who timidly rolls into the gate. A slim percentage of kids will fight through that, and prevail. The rest we’ll never hear from again.

Some industry leaders (with limited involvement in what I like to call “Classic BMX Racing”) advocate for pump tracks as the bottom-of-the-pyramid gateway to BMX Racing. The problem with pump tracks is that, while fun to ride, they are not BMX Racing. A pump track may get people riding, but they do not necessarily start people on that path to the next level (our current local and national program). No sir, we need a starting gate, and a wide enough course for six or eight people to fit.

A recreational BMX track would be a mellowed-down version of the tracks we see today. Shallower rhythm section, spaced farther apart, and jumps that don’t have quite as much “kick” to them.

BMX tracks used to be a much more common feature in the city parks of America. In the Chicago suburbs, we had 10 tracks or more within an hour’s drive. I would love to see a time when those tracks returned–as smaller footprint, recreational BMX tracks. These tracks would ultimately feed more than half of their riders each year into the mainstream program. The riders who don’t want more of a challenge can stay in the recreational program–but they STAY IN BMX, is the most important point. And, yes, some will drop off the radar and lose interest, or get a car and a girlfriend and drive to Burning Man, never to be heard from until they return with their own kids in 10 or 15 years.

BMXers have no problem driving two hours to race, in another state, on a Wednesday night. But “normal people” don’t usually do such things. We need more smaller, recreational tracks to create ease-of-access–then everyone gets in a bus and goes to the “big track” (otherwise known as our current local tracks) an hour or more away. It elevates the current local program to a more “special” level, with groups coming from the “feeder” tracks to compete on the more challenging track.

When it all boils down to gravy–when all the points and plates and titles and jackets, and trophies, and plane tickets, and MEQ ribbons, and clavicle surgeries are stripped out–we’re left with four ingredients that make BMX racing so awesome. Kids. Bikes. Dirt. Fun. Recreational BMX Racing should be just that–only adding in other elements as support mechanisms to those four bedrock principles.

As you progress in the sport, of course it’s still fun. But it’s a new kind of fun–there’s more on the line, with bigger rewards. It’s a more “mature” form of fun, even if it’s a nine year old we’re talking about.

Progression is a good thing, and it needs to be preserved. I am not proposing one over another–it must be both growth AND progression, but sometimes people think that because the highest level is progressing, we must also be growing.

The bottom-tier must be attended to if BMX Racing has any chance of breaking out of its current participation ceiling–which, some say, has been about the same for a decade. Others say we’re at a post-9/11 high right now, which is a great sign.

While not specifically addressing such a program, current USA BMX rules seemingly do not prohibit a recreational program–it’s us, here in the field, that have to finally embrace the idea that the bottom of the pyramid is not as broad as it needs to be. Talk to your parks people about getting a recreational track going in your town. Let’s take off the BMX Goggles for a little while, and let’s see how it works out.

Why I wrote this article…Today.

As noted above, this is an on-going discussion on places like VintageBMX.com and Facebook. But what prompted me to write this article for BMX News today, of all days, was a chance meeting I had with an old business associate on Monday. He and his family live in an affluent suburb of Chicago, and are in to “all kinds of sports” (his words). He has a road bike, mountain bikes for he and his wife. His two sons, 9 and 11, have bikes and scooters and blades–all of which they have taken to the local skate park.

We got in to the “what have you been up to the past X years” discussion, and I started talking about my involvement in BMX Racing, and how I was heading out on Wednesday to Albuquerque for a national race.

“I took the kids to the Dew Tour a few years ago. Are any of those guys going to be there?” That led in to a 10 minute discussion on how BMX Freestyle is not BMX Racing, and they are two separate disciplines, like Downhill versus Cross-Country Skiing.

Bottom line was that this active, sports-minded family had never heard of BMX Racing–didn’t even know it existed. How is that possible? He said “My boys would probably love to give that a try.”

There are millions of families who would likely say the same thing–if they knew about our sport. But knowing about it, and even taking action to go try it will only be an opportunity lost if what they find when they get there is designed and intended for the most vocal top experts.

As we head out to the USA Cycling BMX National Championships this weekend, the gateway to the World Championships, I thought it would be fitting to start off the weekend of coverage with a few thoughts on how we might open up the sport to more people–people who have never even heard of BMX Racing before. As far as I’m concerned, it’s always a perfect time to have that discussion.

—Mike Carruth


b.
“Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands.”

User avatar
bnd
Information Minister
Posts: 2863
Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2004 11:01 pm
Location: Cottonwood Heights, Utah

Re: “Growth” AND “Progression” in BMX Racing. BMX News article.

Postby bnd » Sun Dec 22, 2019 8:43 am

I was surfing around the site today and found this gem. It’s basically the same thing I’ve been preaching now for 2 years and why Legacy, if I can help it, stay the “novice/inter” level track in the future.
Excellent read by Mike Carruth.

b.
“Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands.”


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