PROFESSIONAL BMX

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 19 to 40 years old.

United States

On July 10, 1969, a group of boys riding their Schwinn Sting-Ray bicycles in Palms Park in West Los Angeles wanted to race. A park attendant, Ronald Mackler, a teenager with motorcycle motocross (MX) experience, helped them organize. Palms Park became to BMX as Elysian Fields is to American baseball, for at that moment Bicycle Motocross racing was born. By 1973, entrance fees of US$4.50 (which included a US$1.00 insurance fee for the year) for a 10-week season of Thursday-night racing was charged, and the top three racers in the season were given trophies. Then a new season of 10 weeks would start the following Thursday.

The track operated well into the 1980s largely unchanged;, including the lack of a modern starting gate.

National Bicycle League (NBL)

In the United States today there are two major national sanctioning bodies for BMX racing. One is theNational Bicycle League (NBL), a nonprofit organization started in 1974 by George Edward Esser (September 17, 1925 – August 31, 2006). It was originally based in Pompano Beach, Florida, in the US, but now its headquarters is located in Hilliard, Ohio. George Esser was exposed to BMX by his son Greg Esser, who was famous within the sport and one of the sport’s earliest superstars and first professionals. Like Ernie Alexander and Scot Breithaupt before him, he was a promoter who created the NBL as the BMX auxiliary to the National Motorcycle League (NML), now-defunct, when he became dissatisfied with how the races were run.

The NBL started in Florida, and while it expanded rapidly on the East Coast of the United States and for most of its early history, it had only a few tracks west of the Mississippi River. That changed in 1982 when it inherited the membership and tracks of the defunct National Bicycle Association (NBA) which had ceased sanctioning its own races and then went into partnership with the NBL. The NBL acquired all the NBA tracks in the nation including all those west of the Mississippi. As a result, it became a nation-spanning sanctioning body like the ABA.

In 1997 the NBL joined USA Cycling, a sanctioning body that has long supported road race, mountain biking and other cycling disciplines in the United States, tracing its roots back to 1920. The resulting organization is the National Federated body that represents cycling in the United States. USA Cycling is part of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) also known as UCI Cycling, the Switzerland-based international governing body that oversees virtually all aspects of cycling around the world (see International Sanctioning bodies below).

The NBL had a previous association with the UCI through its affiliations with the defunct NBL sister organization, the International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF), which was also co-founded by Mr. Esser. The UCI absorbed IBMXF in 1993 through its amateur cycling division, Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC), which in the prior five years held joint World Championships for BMX with the IBMXF (See International Sanctioning bodies below).

On May 17, 2011 The NBL announced that a letter of agreement was signed and approved by their Board of Directors, to merge operations with the ABA. The merged organization would be controlled by ABA ownership, and would be called USA BMX. After a month of wrangling, and negotiation between the parties, the final documents were signed on June 18, 2011. That day was the first time in more than 35 years that the sport of BMX Racing was run under a single sanctioning body in North America. The following week, the NBL Midwest National in Warsaw, Indiana was the first event to be run under the USA BMX banner (though was still an NBL-branded event, as part of their 2011 national series). The 2011 NBL Grand National was the final NBL race of all-time, held September 3–4, 2011 and dubbed “The Grand Finale.”

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

The second current national sanctioning body is the American Bicycle Association (ABA), created by Gene Roden and Merl Mennenga in 1977, originating in Chandler, Arizona, USA. Mennenga thought at the time that the kids and their families were being cheated by unscrupulous promoters (not the aforementioned individuals). As the NBA was declining, the ABA inherited many of its tracks and members making the ABA within two years the largest, albeit youngest, and the first truly nation-spanning sanctioning body. It was the ABA which introduced the “Direct Transfer System” that shortened the duration of race events. The ABA also started the team trophy concept to award trophies and prizes to the bicycle shop and factory teams with the best race results over a season. It was also the first to install electronic gates for its starting line with “Christmas tree” style lights (reminiscent of drag racing), to ensure fairer starts. It also started the BMX Hall of Fame, now called the National BMX Hall of Fame, recognizing the pioneers and industry visionaries of the sport.

Today it is the largest sanctioning body in the world (a position it won as early as 1979 when it surpassed the NBL and the old NBA in numbers) with an estimated 60,000 members and 272 affiliated tracks in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is technically an international organization, but does not bill itself as one, based on its mandate to grow BMX in the United States, unlike its predecessor, the International Bicycle Motocross Association (IBMX), and its chief early rival, the NBA, both of which had international aspirations.

The ABA brand stands to be retired at the close of the 2011 season, becoming USA BMX as part of its merger with the rival National Bicycle League (NBL).

Other notable American sanctioning bodies

Along with the majors and pioneers, there were other BMX governing bodies, both national and regional and past and present. Among them were the Bicycle Motocross League (BMXL); the United Bicycle Racers Association (UBR) (1977–1983); the United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA) (1984–1986), which merged with the ABA at the end of the 1986 racing season after financial trouble made it unsustainable; the International Cycling Association (ICA), which was started in part by professional racerGreg Hill in 1990; and the Southeast Region-based National Pedal Sport Association (NPSA) (1975–1988). They are all gone now, but they did make, for good or ill, an impact on the American BMX scene.

General rules of advancement in organized BMX racing

The sanctioning bodies have slightly different rules for qualifications of advancement in races between skill levels and age classification. For instance the ABA and the NBL uses different rules of qualifying for mains from the motos. The ABA uses almost an all or nothing system called the Transfer System while the NBL uses a cumulative scoring scheme called the Moto System.

Below is the general rules, structure of advancement within the American Bicycle Association unless otherwise noted, but the generalities are similar between the sanctioning bodies.

Skill levels, race structure, qualifying methods, awards

Racers in the 20″ class are grouped with others of the same relative age and experience levels; Novice, Intermediate, Expert, Veteran, “A” Pro, “AA” Pro in the ABA; Rookie, Novice, Expert, Elite Masters, “B” Pro (Superclass) and “A” Pro (Elite) in the NBL. They range from 5 & under Novice to 28 & over Expert in the ABA and from 5 & under Rookie to 35 & over Expert in the NBL. Cruiser Class (bicycles with 24″ or greater diameter wheels) and the girl classes are not divided up into skill classes, only age classes in both the NBL and the ABA. The Cruiser class age brackets for example range from 9 & under to 51 & over for males, 10 & under to 41 & over for females in the ABA; and 9 & under to 55 & over males, 10 & under to 40 & over females in the NBL.

In a typical day a racer will race several times with their group to determine the day’s finishing order and awards. The qualifying rounds, called Motos (called heats in other types of racing) determines the number of racers in the finals which are called Mains, up to eight racers. The sizes and number of motos at a skill level and age group is determined by the number of racers who register for that race and in that skill level and age group. Usually a racer gets three chances to qualify. As stated in the previous section, the two sanctioning bodies generally use two different methods of moving racers from the qualifying rounds to the Main (although there is some overlap), the Transfer System, the method generally used by the ABA; and the Moto System, the NBL’s choice. In the transfer system usually one to three people are transferred to the main depending on the size of the class.

For instance, in the ABA transfer system a group of say eight racers sign up for the 17-18 Intermediate class. That is more than enough to have three motos (four is the minimum). Moto #1 will have all eight racers. The first two finishers qualify for and do not race again until the Main. Moto #2 will be a second heat for the remaining six racers; again, the first two across the finish line from that group will go the Main. Finally, a third moto of the remaining four riders is run, from which the first two racers across the finish line will be taken to the Main, forming a six man Main. The last two racers do not qualify (DNQ) and therefore do not race in the Main, do not collect any points, trophies, a chance to take a step in advancement to a higher amateur level or if they are professionals, prize money.

The NBL and the international UCI uses the “Olympic” or Moto System of advancing to the Main. In the Moto System, you must race all three times to make the main or if the race is a large one semi finals. It is a formula combining how well you do with all the registered participant riders in your class racing all three times. It cumulatively determines who will race in the finals. The higher your points total, the more likely you will advance. For instance if you come in 1st, 1st and 1st, 40+50+60, which is 150 points, you are a virtual certainty to race in the Main (or in large races you are merely transferred to the quarter/semi-finals) barring disqualification for some reason. If you come in Last, Last, First, which in a race with eight men in your class translates to 0+0+60 or 60 points, you MIGHT race in the main (or in larger races the 1/8/quarter/semi finals) determining how well the others did. The person who came in 3rd place in all three motos or 30+40+50=120p would have a much better shot at making the Main than you. Even the person who came in 2nd+6th+6th or 35+25+35=95 would have a better shot even if you won the final moto.

In larger races in both the ABA and NBL, then a 2nd moto of the same class but different racers is run right behind the first group. They also race three times but instead of the winners going to the Main they face their first group counterparts (who also went through the three-moto shake out) in the semi finals called the Semi-Main. Then the qualifiers face off in the Main. The same for races large enough for quarterfinals or Quarter-Mains, 1/8s and even 1/16s.

The Amateurs, once they get to the mains usually only race once for the top points and the trophy. The Professionals on the other hand run multiple cumulative Mains just like in the qualifying motos for the points, trophy and most important, prize money. This is both NBL and ABA practice. Like during the qualifying motos the points you earn in each running of the Pro Main are tied into the position you finish in each of the three motos.

Cumulative scoring rewards consistency. The better the racer you are, the more consistent you will be. The transfer system lets you capitalize on the mistakes of others. The better the racer you are, the fewer the mistakes you make.

One major drawback in cumulative scoring is that it is more complicated task in keeping track than in the transfer system. In the 1980s at least two national level scoring scandals (one in 1985) in which the national professional number one was decided after the Grand nationals underlined this. There was also a scoring mix up during the 1983 NBL Grand National in which it was thought Brian Patterson was the winner for two weeks but after a recount initiated after Eric Rupe protested gave Eric Rupe the number one for 1983. An even larger scoring scandal occurred in 1985 in which pro racer Peter Loncarevich apparently beat Greg Hill for the number one pro racer by a mere 3 points. Greg Hill’s wife Nancy (who was the bookkeeper for Greg Hill’s BMX bicycle company Greg Hill Products) kept an independent accounting of the season points of Mr. Hill’s closest competitors and detected an error. At his wife’s urging Mr. Hill ask for and received an audit of the points and the NBL confirmed the error had taken place and awarded Mr. Hill the pro title for 1985.

The Transfer System on the other hand, was never popular with the racers. While very efficient and less error prone than the cumulative method (and allowing the ABA to run much quicker events with fewer finish line scores), the good racers generally did not like it since they would only get to race once, win their transfer moto and wait for hours if the races are big enough to race the mains (on the other hand you get to relax a little without the anxiety of doing poorly in the next two qualifying motos). This means the racers race less often in the ABA and the fun of BMX is in the racing, even if you are losing. Even racers who do not do well did not like the transfer system because the fewer actual races you are in, the less chance you will have to improve your skills in actual race conditions You also race two times less for your money paid for in entrance fees in the ABA in the Transfer system if you win your first moto.

Among the Pros the Cumulative method is preferred. Not only because they get to race more, it lessens the chance of luck playing as a factor in any given race event. In 1985 Greg Hill staged a personal boycott of ABA nationals in part of his dislike of the transfer system. Cumulative scoring is not only used in the ABA and NBL pro qualifying motos but in the mains, in which the pros are required to race the mains three times to win points and prize money. Cumulative scoring, also known as Olympic scoring, is used by the UCI in their international BMX program and was used in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China for both amateurs and professionals. The ABA continues to use the Transfer System for its amateur classes.

Skill level advancement, local points awards and district ranking

The first ostensive goal of a BMX racer is to become the number one amateur racer in your district. The racer’s home state/province maybe divided up into several Districts depending how many participants and how spread out they are over the state/province. A balance is sought. Too many people in a single district could discourage new, inexperienced riders from having a sense of accomplishment if they are doing reasonably well but not advancing his point score up the list of total points in relation to other racers. Too small a district would cheapen any sense of accomplishment due to paucity of racers, producing an artificially high ranking for the following season for the racer(s) in the points race. Points determine how well you do in the district rankings. How high you go in the rankings depends on what skill level category you are in as well as how well you do in your particular races since it has an impact on how many points you win, which adds to your total for your district ranking. The higher your skill level, the more points you will gather at any given race (providing that you have qualified for the Main).

In the Amateur class, advancement to a higher skill level depends on your success in your present skill level. For instance at the ABA local level you start out as a Novice. From Novice eight local career first places in the Mains will advance you to Intermediate Class. From Intermediate twenty five local career first place wins in the Main is required to graduate to the Expert class. From there as in most other sports, it is voluntary to go professional.

The Main will determine the winner that day and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and sometimes 5th place trophies and who gets how many points added to his total which determines his ranking in his district. The number of points a racer gets after a race is usually determined by his place in the Main. On the local level, first place Novice class will get the winner 25 points, 2nd place 20 and so on with 8th getting only 3 points. The more points a racer has the higher his ranking and thus the lower the number he gets to wear on his front number plate the following season. For instance say in ABA New York District #1 a racer had the 10th most points out of 200 racers in his district at the finish of the 2005 season. He will then be entitled to have the number “10” on his number plate for that district during the 2006 season.

The Skill level class you belong to also affects how many points you get. The winners of the Expert Classes on the local level will get 100 points while the winning Intermediates will get 50 points and the winners of the Novice classes only 25 points. Second, third et al. placers would get lower points in proportion. The 7th place Expert finishers will get only 20 points, the equivalent of second place in the Novice class.

In all classes and skill levels racers also receive the same number of points depending on how many are in their class and age group. These are called participant points. For instance if eight riders participate in 17-18 Intermediate class, all those who make the mains will get 8 points, including the last place finisher. If the class has 15 racers, all who make the main will get 15 points. So the winner of the Intermediate class will get 15 points for the fifteen racers in that class on top of the 50 points for winning for a total of 65 points.

There are separate point scoring for cruiser and girl classes and separate point tables for state and national rankings. Points for those events are gathered in a similar fashion as on the district, i.e. local, level.

National and special event points awards

Other important factors affect the point totals. Some local special event races are double or even triple point races, doubling or tripling the points each position in the Mains each racer would normally get. points are awarded, so an Expert winner could look forward to collecting 400 points for winning his class in addition to bonus points and participant points.

To compete on a National level for national titles you must compete in Nationals. Nationals have their own separate points tables that are accumulated by the racers similarly to local district points. However the points rewarded are not the same amount. For instance 240 National points are awarded to the first place Expert winner as well as his 300 district triple points, but his national points are not added to his district points or vice versa. Like in local races he or she is also awarded participant points. The amateur with the most National points at the end of the year is the overall National number one (#1) racer and gets to wear a #1 on his number plate at national events the following season. Professionals are not affected since they have their own points system and table separate from the amateurs for the number one pro title.

In the NBL there is no overall #1 amateur, only a number one title for their age group, so a racer in say 17 expert that has most points can wear a national #1 plate even if the number one rider in 12 expert actually has more points. Again, the professionals have their own points system for number one pro.

There is yet another points table for State/Provincial wide events for the State/Provincial Championship. However, instead of wide gap points between winners and those who follow and between skill levels, they are quite close i.e. for first place in Expert, Intermediate and Novice it is 20, 19, and 18 respectively. Also, it is only a one point difference between places i.e. 20 points for first and 19 points for second place in Expert. The same for the Novice and Intermediate levels. Also unlike on the National and District levelno participant points are awarded.

In the NBL, the points received for moto points in the cumulative “Olympic” system at the national and regional level are similar as on the district level.

Nationals can also affect your skill level ranking. On the local level it takes eight career wins to transfer from Novice to Intermediate; from Intermediate to Expert 25 career wins are necessary. On the national level only five career wins are required in both cases. This is because of the much higher quality of competition found on the national level.

All of the aforementioned applies with minor variations to the Girls and Cruiser Classes.

Open and trophy dash events

A fourth class of racing in BMX which are held at local and national events are called Opens. Opens are largely exhibition and are a chance to test yourself and practice against better competition without jeopardizing your point standings. You must be registered to race in a points race to sign up for the Open events. No points are awarded for Opens although trophy places are and the moto qualification rounds are similar to the point races. These are races with more flexible skill level and age requirements. In Opens there are no Novice, Intermediate and Expert divisions. All amateur skill levels are free to participate. The age groupings are generally broader, for example 13-14 open class as opposed to 13 Intermediate and 14 Intermediate being separate groupings for those ages in the points races. Girls may also participate in the male Open class within the proper age ranges. However expert boys are not allowed in these “Mixed” opens. Then an Expert Open is held in that event. The pros are excluded from racing with the amateurs if enough pros are at hand to race that a separate Pro-Open class can be created. If not, then the pros can race in the amateur Open with some restrictions. This is called a Pro-Am event. Except for the Pro-Am exception the Expert racers usually wins the open class. Even if there are Pros in the Open, it is not unusual for the an older Expert-17-18 age class for example-to win since many have the talent and speed to be a pro but have not yet taken the opportunity, partly because once you go Pro, you can go back to amateur only under very strict circumstances.

There are separate Open divisions for Cruisers where similar rules apply.

Sometimes an exhibition race is held after all the meaningful races are run with all the amateur class winners from Novice up to Expert and including the Open, girls classes and perhaps Cruiser classes race together once. This is called the Trophy Dash. Like in the Open Classes, no points are rewarded in this case, just a chance for bragging rights and to match yourself up against people that are at a higher skill level. Only one race for a single first place trophy is awarded. As in the Opens the Expert usually wins with the Intermediate winner pulling one out every once in a while. Novices usually win only when a major, catastrophic pile up occurs on the track and even then the mass smash up has to happen quite close to the finish line.

Professionals

There are professional rankings in BMX. In the ABA the two major ones are the “A” and “AA” classifications in the 20″ division. The Professionals are the only class allowed to compete for cash prizes.

The first level is pro. To become an “A” pro you have to hold at least an Expert skill level rating and be at least 15 years old to be issued a Pro Membership card by the ABA. If you are a professional BMXer with another BMX sanctioning body you will be recognized as a Pro by the ABA and barred from competing in ABA sanctioned amateur classes. Once you become a pro BMX racer, you cannot go back to amateur status except under stringent circumstances. What’s more by turning BMX Pro you very likely be disqualifying yourself from other armature sports depending on the state and federal laws that apply.

If you winnings exceed US$3000 in a season at national events the racer will be promoted to “AA” pro.

“A” pro and “AA” pros race in separate classes generally, but if there are too few of one or the other type of pro to race separately-four is the minimum-then they race together in a combined class. This occurs generally in at large multi-point local district races but usually not at Nationals.

Pro ranking points are similar to the National amateur points awards. “A” Pros get the equivalent of National Intermediate points. i.e. 120 for first, 100 points for second etc. “AA” Pro get Expert equivalent points i.e. 240 for first etc. Both like in the amateur classes get participant points if the racer makes the Main. The person with the most points in a season will be District Pro #1, the same is true to become state Pro #1. However, on the national level not only you must receive the most points, you must race in at least 10 nationals plus the Grand Nationals, the ABA’s multi-day season ending event, for the best 10 of your finishes will go toward your national rankings. For example if you participate in 13 national events, your best 10 will be considered and your worst three disregarded. You must meet this qualification on the national level to wear National numbers one though ten on your number plate the following year.

The rules are similar for Pro Cruiser and Pro Girls classes.

There is a fourth class of pro called Veteran Pro. These are professionals in the 20″ class that are at least 30 years old and generally past their racing prime but still love to compete. Most of the rules that apply to the “A” and “AA” pros apply to the “Vet” Pros except that they are required to race in only six national events plus the Grand Nationals and are classified as “A” Pros and get “A” Pro points, However, they can win unlimited prize money as a Vet pro on this “A” Pro level without the requirement of moving up to “AA” pro upon winning US$3000 in a season. Some Vet Pros are retired “AA” pros that have come back to the sport. In those cases they had to go through a reclassification process with certain criteria having to be met, including written permission from conventional “A” Pros. “Vet” Pros cannot compete for the National #1 Championship.