Introduction
BMX is really two sports. For young riders, up to about 12 years old, BMX racing is fun, fast and competitive. Winning races may seem important, but what really counts are fun, friendship, developing skills, and learning the lessons of sport. By participating in BMX as one of many sports, the rider develops physical literacy, the basic movement and sport skills–which are the foundation of athleticism.
When the rider is ready, beginning around age 13 or 14, he or she can start developing the physical abilities, competition skills and experience that leads to World Championship and Olympic podiums. Reaching the top in this sport takes years of hard work and dedication. It demands excellent skills, athletic abilities, speed and power. There is a secret to success: well-developed BMX skills and the overall athleticism learned in other sports is the first step onto the podium. Without those skills, it is difficult to reach the highest levels.
Cycling Canada’s BMX Long-Term Development Model was created to help Canadian BMXers onto international podiums, but also to ensure that every athlete can enjoy participation in cycling for a lifetime.
Task
Most freestyle, street, and park BMX bikes, the wheels have 36 spokes. Race bike wheels are also usually 36 spokes, but wheels for the smallest racers, sometimes as young as three years old, can be built with 18 or 28 spokes. More aggressive riders may opt for wheels with a spoke count of up to 48 spokes, however hub and wheel combinations for this are becoming difficult to source.
BMX Racing bike wheels vary in size, from 16" to 26", with 20" being the most popular.
Dirt jumping and freestyle bike wheel sizes include 16" and 18" for younger, smaller riders, 20" for most other riders, and a few companies including Haro and Sunday offer 24" freestyle bikes for taller or older riders who feel cramped on a standard 20" BMX bike.
Process
BMX racing is pretty straightforward. It's flat-out racing, every man or woman for himself trying to be the fastest around the course. Riders start from a high drop and then attempt to be the fastest to negotiate their way around tracks featuring funky jumps, banked corners and other obstacles.
Eight riders compete in each heat of the Olympic BMX races, which are held on a track usually around a quarter-mile (350-370 meters) long. That means a good rider will take only about thirty seconds to get through the course.
Four initial heats are run with the starting field of 32 male riders (16 riders in the women's event), and the top four finishers in each heat then move up to the next level. This means there are four total rounds in the process to determine who'll be standing on the medalist podium when the dust settles.
Evaluation
Because of the nasty spills riders can encounter in BMX, riders wear helmets, long-sleeved jerseys and pants, and gloves. The long-sleeves are intended to provide protection from abrasion in case of crashes. The helmets -- unlike regular cycling helmets -- feature full masks to protect the rider's entire face. Riders can also wear elbow and knee pads as well as chest protectors and shinguards, but those are less common in high-level competitions like the Olympics.
Conclusion
cycling bmx is a wonderful sport.