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Just about every kid has attempted to jump their bike off something when they were growing up. Those that didn’t certainly never became extreme sport athletes. The small and cruiser-style bikes of the Sixties and Seventies began a shift in how people viewed bicycle riding. Kids found that they were quite maneuverable, and the smaller wheels and fatter rubber tires made them more capable of enduring the thrashing a hard-riding kid could deliver. These new bikes redefined what could be done, and soon kids jumping things found they could jump bigger things, and could ride on softer surfaces, and the idea of dirt racing and jumping just kind of evolved naturally.

Bicycle Motocross was born in Southern California in the Seventies, when organizers first began setting up weekend races on special dirt tracks resembling miniature motocross circuits. BMX dirt racing quickly grew into a national, and then international phenomenon. BMX racing went through a period when it was overlooked as the mountain bike craze hit, but it is now resurging, and many of today’s mountain biking and motoX stars are former and current BMX racers.

BMX racing is organized to create ways for kids to compete safely and consistently. BMX now has local racing organizations in virtually every corner of the civilized world, and the impact on kids seeking a constructive outlet for their energy has been tremendous. Kids as young as five years old are encouraged to compete, and age categories ensure that kids compete against others of similar physical and skill levels. Pro BMX racing is not a kids‘ sport, however. The top pros are in their early- to late-twenties, paid well, and the business of BMX is to win.

Big and dirty air

By the Eighties, BMX had progressed beyond the limitations of the track. Riders seeking to push their limits and redefine what could be done on a 20-inch (51cm) bike pioneered trick riding, which included rolling tricks on a flat surface, called “flat land,” and gravity- driven tricks in a half-pipe, called “vert” riding. Another outgrowth of BMX racing is the “big air dirt” jumping, where riders go fast and high while pulling off mid-air stunts for style with friends, or points in competition.

Flatland riding resembles a kind of pavement ballet, where riders stand and step over and around their bike frames white the bike is moving. Foot pegs are added to the front and rear axles of the bikes to give riders additional places for their feet while doing moves. The addition of foot pegs allows riders to spin their bikes around beneath them and perform other balance tricks they could not do otherwise.

Vert riding also uses foot pegs, but here they are referred to as “grind” pegs, since they are used to do tricks on the half-pipe’s coping, a 2.5-inch (63.5mm) diameter metal tube that sits on the top edge of every half-pipe. Vert riders perform most of their maneuvers well above the coping. Top pros are capable of launching their bikes upward of 10 feet (3m) above the coping, where they adjust the attitude of their bikes and reenter the half-pipe in the same way that a skateboarder or inline skater would.

All the moves

Vert riding has been impacted the most by Matt Hoffman, who at age 15 redefined what could be done in a half-pipe. Since then, “The Condor” has gone on to win the World Championships eight consecutive times. In addition to his wins, he also owns the World Record for a vertical jump, which he set by being towed behind a motorcycle into a 20- foot (6.09m) quarter-pipe (half of a half- pipe). He jumped an amazing 50 feet (15.24m) above the ground, and landed it. Matt burst his spleen from the g-forces at the bottom of the landing, and nearly died from massive blood loss, having not realized he’d injured himself until it was almost too late!

Here are some vert riding maneuvers:

• 540 – spinning 540 degrees while above the coping.
• 900 – spinning 900 degrees while above the coping — very few pros can do it.
• TAIL WHIP – holding the handlebars and spinning the bike 360 degrees beneath you while above the coping.
• PEG GRIND – sliding the bike on both grind pegs on the coping.
• FEEBLE PEG GRIND – sliding one peg while rolling the other wheel on the coping.

• FAKIE GRIND – peg grind on coping moving backward.
• BACK FLIP – doing a back flip above the coping and landing.
• FAKIE BAR SPIN – spinning the handlebars while abovethe coping.
• NAC NAC – kicking one leg over and across
  the top tube while above the coping.

• SUPERMAN AIR – letting both feet fly away with the body outstretched above the coping.
• LEAN AIR – getting the rider’s bike and body horizontal above the coping.

Dirt jumping can be performed just about anywhere you can find dirt—and where you can’t, look for other stuff to jump. Many riders look to vacant lots to build jumps, while others build “box” jumps and other ramps to get air. The object is to go big and do a stylish trick in the process. Many of the tricks, with the exception of coping moves, come straight out of vert riding (or is it the other way around?). Jumping stuff is one part of BMX that’s been around as long as there have been bikes.

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Jump off Extreme Bike Racing, Extreme Sport BMX

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