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BMX Bike Racing – How to Start Your Career

BMX Bike Racing can be a bone chilling and adventure ridden sport. Getting started into BMX Bike Racing is simple and rather inexpensive. First you start out by joining a BMX bike association since they are the groups that typically provide the guidance and rules for BMX bike racing. There is the American Bicycle Association (ABA) and the National Bicycle League (NBL). Annual memberships are about $45, and membership perks include discounts and other services.

The next step is for you to get yourself a bike to ride, specifically one geared towards BMX racing, which is usually a "class" bike, which is a 20-inch wheel bike or a "cruiser" bike, which is a 24-inch wheel bike. If you need assistance with selecting the right bike, a BMX salesperson should be able to assist you. Paying only a few hundred dollars or less for a good used or new bike is reasonable. After you have chosen the perfect BMX bike, then you will need to buy the correct BMX clothing and protective equipment. You will need long pants or jeans, a long sleeve shirt, a full face helmet with a chin strap, gloves, and a set of pads for your handlebar crossbar and stem of your bike.

Upon acquiring your membership, bike, and all of your needed gear, then you can find a BMX track to race. To locate a racing track, you can call your local bike shop or visit the ABA website at ababmx.com or the NBL website at http://www.nhl.org. Once you get in contact with your local track, make sure you find out practice and racing times, fees charged for riding or racing, and if they offer any beginner riding training programs.

Should you be a bit green to BMX racing, it is probably a good idea to get some practice in at the track and around your community before entering your first race. To do this, you can slowly start out by riding various tracks to get a feel for each of them since they are all different. You can also sign up for BMX bike racing training classes and observe other professional riders to see what their riding techniques and styles are. You could also ask some of the riders how to break into the sport and what the best way of starting out is. Outside the track, you can simply ride your bike everywhere you go to get practice in every chance you get. Plus try jumping curves and riding in and out of ditches and up and down small hills. Slowly incorporate small tricks. Once you think you are ready, you can start out by racing locally.

Usually, BMX racing does away with involving Freestyle BMX or performing tricks, but if you are aiming to get into doing tricks, there are other competitions. Some Freestyle BMX competitions include Flatland, where riders perform bike tricks by rarely moving their bikes from the ground; Street, which involves making use of whatever objects that are available in your area to perform a trick; and Dirt, which involves jumping dirt ramps and performing air tricks.

Upon deciding on whether to enter your first race, you can ask the track operator for assistance in getting everything that you will need, including a number plate for you bike. While waiting for your race, observe and watch how riders balance at the starting gate and take the jumps and turns. Your initial race will start out with your skill level and age class, so you do not have to worry about competing against professionals.

In a race it is common that amateurs compete for points and trophies, while the professionals compete for points, trophies, and cash, which can range from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars depending on the competition. So the more competitions you enter and the better you become, the more money you will win, and there are plenty of yearly BMX racing competitions to race in. Also, the better you get at racing, the more likely BMX racing sponsors will take notice and want you to become a part of their team. 

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What size Dirt Bike should i buy to race?

I'm 16yrs old and will be 17 at end of summer. I have raced a kx85 up until i was 14 then sold it for a yamaha banshee and have been riding that till now and just recently sold it. Im looking to buy a new 08 dirt bike to race would a honda crf250r be to big. Im 5'4 118lbs and strong?

You are probably not going to be growing much more at the age you are and so if you want to race at the age you are there are not too many options available to you. You can adjust the suspension on the bike to suit yourself and trim the seat down to make things a bit easier. You may also have to use starting blocks to start with, but it is achievable. Just a little harder for people who are not as tall as others.

My youngest son raced a crf250r at A grade level all last year and while he is taller than you at now 5ft 6 he is a lot lighter at around 105lbs. Getting the bike set up for his weight really makes riding it a lot easier and he has done very well on the bike.

So just see about making sure that the bike is set up to suit you to make it as easy as possible

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