BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general on- or off-road recreation. BMX began when young cyclists appropriated motocross tracks for fun, racing and stunts, eventually evolving specialized BMX bikes and competitions.
BMX racing is a type of off-road bicycle racing. The format of BMX was derived from motocross racing. BMX bicycle races are sprint races on purpose-built off-road single-lap race tracks. The track usually consists of a starting gate for up to eight racers, a groomed, serpentine, dirt race course made of various jumps and rollers and a finish line. The course is usually flat, about 15 feet (4.6 m) wide and has large banked corners that help the riders maintain speed. The sport of BMX racing is facilitated by a number of regional and international sanctioning bodies. They provide rules for sanctioning the conduct of the flying, specify age group and skill-level classifications among the racers, and maintain some kind of points-accumulation system over the racing season. The sport is very family oriented and largely participant-driven, with riders ranging in age from 2 to 70, and over. Professional ranks exist for both men and women, where the age ranges from 18 to 40 years old.
The holeshot is a motorsport terminology to describe a rider who has the strongest start to get up to racing speed. It is usually the driver who leaves a starting area first from a standing start.
Dirt jumping is the practice of riding bikes over jumps made of dirt or soil and becoming airborne. Dirt Jumping evolved alongside BMX racing and is similar to BMX or Mountain bike racing in that the rider jumps off of mounds of dirt, usually performing a midair trick in between. It differs in that the jumps are usually much larger and designed to lift the rider higher into the air. Additionally, the goal is not to complete the course with the fastest time, but rather to perform the best tricks with the best style. But dirt Jumpers are not Off-road BMX’s.
Stuart L. Thomsen is an American former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.
The National Bicycle Association (NBA), later known as the National Bicycle Motocross Association (NbmxA), was a United States-based Bicycle Motocross (BMX) sports sanctioning body originally based in Soledad, California that was created by Ernie Alexander in 1973 and ceased operations as an independent body in 1981. It was the first and for its first few years until 1980 the largest sanctioning body in the United States concerning BMX. It was known for its pioneering works in founding the organized sport of BMX. It was both the first true sanctioning body and the first nation-spanning one, although at first it was concentrated in the west coast of the United States, where it was founded. It was the first body to hold true nationals in which racers coming from all over the country competed for points and in the case of professionals, money, to determine who would earn the right to run a National no. "1" plate in the several divisions and age classes the following year. It was the first sanctioning body to have a professional division, which was created as far back as late September 1974.
GT Bicycles designs and manufactures road, mountain, and BMX bicycles. GT is a division of a Canadian conglomerate, Dorel Industries, which also markets Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose, IronHorse, Dyno, and RoadMaster bicycle brands; all manufactured in Asia.
Scot Alexander Breithaupt was an entrepreneur, "Old School" professional Motorcycle MX and Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer and a founding father of BMX in 1970 whose prime competitive years were from 1970 to 1984. Many consider him, in some ways, a founder of "Old School BMX"—an era from roughly 1969 to 1987 or 1988, from its very beginnings to just after its first major slump in popularity from 1985 to 1988. Racing started to rise in participation again around 1988–89 and is considered the start of Mid School BMX, roughly 1988–2000. He was born in Long Beach, California.
David Juarez is an American former professional BMX and cross-country mountain bike racer. His prime competitive years in BMX were from 1978 to 1984 and in mountain bike racing 1986 to 2005. Since late 2005, he has competed as a Marathon mountain bike racer. In all three disciplines, he has won numerous national and international competitions. Most recently, Juarez finished third in the 2006 Race Across America Endurance bicycle race.
David Clinton is an "Old School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1973 to 1979. Nicknamed "Dynamite" early in his career David Clinton could be truthfully said to be the sport's first true superstar. He was the first racer to win an official National No.1 plate of any kind when the first BMX sanctioning body, the National Bicycle Association (NBA), introduced the title in 1975. During the previous year he won the junior class division of a series of what could be called proto Nationals, a part of the first major BMX series, when he took first place in the Junior class at the Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup which decided the California State Champion. Clinton along with Scot Breithaupt and John "Snaggletooth" Palfryman participated in the first true National sanctioned by the NBA in Phoenix, Arizona in 1975 and became the first official pro in BMX in 1977.
Bobby Encinas is a former professional "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1973 to 1980. He was one of the first superstars in BMX and one of its most savvy promoters. Raised in the barrio of Canoga Park, he had a juvenile criminal record for theft and was on probation for consuming alcohol and drugs before he was 12 years old. He credits BMX for saving him from a life of crime. As a result he devoted much of his BMX career and after to promoting the sport at the grass-roots level, training kids in his BMX clinics, of which he was a pioneer, and launching future BMX careers and winning the respect and love of the BMX world.
Eric Robert Carter is a former American professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1983 to 1998. He had the nickname "The Golden Child," and later in his BMX career, acquired the moniker "The Earthquake." More recently, he has been known simply as "EC." Beginning in 1996, he converted fully to mountain bike racing (MTB) and has become one of the most respected racers in that discipline of bicycle racing.
Edward King is an "Old School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1977 to 1985.
Terry "Mr. T" Tenette is a professional Cyclist Road biking /Gravel road racing/mountain biking BMX|Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years were from 1987 to 2010. Tenette also competed and was a team member of the USA Olympic velodrome team 2002 to 2004 as an Olympic alternate for the Athens Olympics finishing second place at the Olympic trials which was not good enough to go to Athens. Tenette continued racing World Cup Velodrome until 2008 and then switch back to mountain biking. Tenette also competed on the Ritchey mountain bike team as an R&D specialist being sent to Taiwan in Philippines testing products. 2009 to 2015 California downhill mountain bike champion Northstar resort tahoe N V. state finals. Tenette inducted into the cycling Hall of Fame June 2016. Tenette can be viewed on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram posting videos from Championship races. He has also has an assortment of memorabilia collectibles for order in 2019. Tenette also works as a health consultant for Stanford university hospitals contractor. Tenette was briefly married in 2016.
Kelvin Batey is a British born professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer who competed for Great Britain from the start of his career until 2008 and then for Ireland.
A pit bike is a small off-road/on-road 4 stroke motorcycle originally used for riding around the pits or staging area of a motocross race. Since the early 2000s pit bike racing, a sport similar to motocross, has become popular in the United States, especially in Southern California. The term pit bike can also be applied to the use of bicycles or motorcycles used to navigate any type of event staging area.
Dale Holmes is a British former professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1983 to 2009.
Bas de Bever is a Dutch former professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were 1985–1993.
A BMX bike is an off-road sport bicycle used for racing and stunt riding. BMX means bicycle motocross.
Robert L. Morales is a former freestyle BMX rider turned promoter, designer, inventor and business executive. He is the founder of DYNO Bicycles, the American Freestyle Association (AFA), Auburn Cycles, KORE Bicycle Components, Morales Bicycle Co., Carlsbad Motocross Racing (CMXR) and ASV Inventions. He is currently president and CEO of ASV Inventions, Inc.
