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What equipment do I need?
You can try BMX racing using the equipment you probably already have:
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A safe bike – street BMX or mountain bike is fine, it must have
a working rear brake and no stunt pegs. (You’ll want to put
the seat right down – this is to give you a good range of
up-and-down leg movement to absorb the jumps without banging into
it. No-one sits on the seat while racing).
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A helmet – full-face is best, but a normal cycling helmet is ok to start with.
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Gloves (full-fingered).
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Full length clothing.
The protection and clothing listed above is a minimum as per the rules
of racing - we strongly suggest wearing extra protection if you have
it, such as elbow/knee/shin pads. BMX tracks are hard-packed
dirt, and everyone falls off sometimes while they’re learning!
How do I get started?
Come along to one of our club practice sessions (see “Practice
Sessions”) or a race meeting (see “Race Calendar”).
If you come to a practice session, you’ll be able to ride the
track, try our start gate, and there will be club members available to
give advice and answer any questions.
If you come to a race meeting, you’ll be able to race in the
novice class – this will cost around £5. To do this,
you’ll just need two additional things:
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Membership of a BMX club. This is for insurance purposes.
If you haven’t joined our club at this point that’s fine,
for a nominal fee you’ll be able to get day membership with the
club that is hosting the meeting.
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A number plate. The host club should be able to lend you
one. (Many people use paper plates from the catering caravan
– there is nothing uncool about this!) Choose any plate
number you like – it just has to be different from that used by
anyone else in the same novice age class as you (the race registration
will make sure the plate number you choose is ok).
What happens at a race meeting?
There will be PA announcements throughout the meeting to tell you what’s going on, but it will all go along these lines:
Once you’ve registered to race, there will be various sessions of
track practice and gate practice. If it’s a large meeting
these track and gate practice sessions may be organised into age groups.
Soon after the race registration closes, they will print out and
display “Pre-sheets”. These show who has registered
in which class, and you will want to check your details are correct
(name, club, plate number, and race class). If you’re
racing as a novice, the class you’re in will depend on how many
other novices there are that day and what their ages are. (It
will definitely be a novice class, but the age band may need to be
wider if there are fewer novice riders).
Soon after the Pre-sheets have been checked (and any corrections made),
the “Moto Sheets” are posted. These tell you the race
numbers of your three motos, and your start lane (or “gate”
– numbered 1-8) for each. Start lanes are allocated
randomly by the race computer, but across your 3 motos you can expect
an inside, outside, and middle lane draw. You’ll want to
write down your race and gate numbers to make sure you’re ready
at the back of the start hill in time for each of your races being
called up. (The gate/call-up staff will always make sure you
start in the right race and gate – but you do need to be there on
time!)
Racing will proceed fairly soon after the moto sheets have been posted
and everyone’s had a chance to look at them – just listen
for announcements. It will take place in three rounds - so
everyone races their first moto, then the next round starts and
everyone races their second moto, and so on. The order of race
classes within a round goes mainly in ascending age order - usually
something like this:
All novice classes (youngest classes first)
Youngest expert classes (up to age 8 or so)
All cruiser classes
All other expert classes (with Elite last)
“Expert” means a non-novice class for 20 inch wheel bikes
– “Cruiser” means a non-novice class for 24 inch
wheel bikes. (For more information on the different types of BMX
race bike, see “BMX Race Bikes” in “What is BMX
Racing?”). The cruiser classes are run in the middle of the
round in order to space out the racing for those riders who compete in
both cruiser and 20 inch classes.
Once all the motos have been run, there is usually a break.
During this time, race sheets are compiled for any classes with enough
riders to run quarter- or semi-finals – otherwise race sheets for
the finals are compiled. Progression into the later rounds is
determined by points scored according to finishing positions in the
motos. If two (or more) riders are equal on points and there
aren’t enough places left in the next round for both (or all) of
them, then they will race each other in a “run-off” to
decide who goes through. Run-offs take place as soon as possible
after the motos – if any are necessary they will be announced
over the PA.
If there are any quarter- or semi-finals in any of the classes then
these are run before any of the finals in the other classes.
Sheets (similar to moto sheets) are posted for all these later rounds
to show race and gate numbers, and the order of race classes within
these rounds will be the same as for the motos above.
At regional races, multiple finals (A final, B final, C final etc) are
run as necessary for each class. So the top 8 in the class race
the A final, the next 8 race the B final, and so on. The idea is
for every rider to have a final – the only exception to this
occurs if the last-placed rider going into the final round would end up
racing their final on their own (as would happen if there were 9 riders
in the class, or 17, or 25 etc).
All this may seem confusing if it’s your first race, so if you need help with anything please ask anyone from the club.
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Right, I’m hooked. Now what do I do?
Well, you can continue to race as a novice for the rest of the season
if you want. However, when you do want to move into the expert
classes, you’ll need:
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Membership of a BMX club (if you haven’t joined one already).
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Membership of British Cycling and a racing licence – click here for details. (There
are 3 different levels of British Cycling membership at different
prices - the level you would need to race as an expert depends on your
age and whether you want to do National races, or only Regional races.
Please ask us before you come to do this and we'll be able to
advise you accordingly!)
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A race bike.
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A number plate with your racing number - this will be the last 3 digits of your racing licence number.
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A full-face helmet if you aren’t already using one – this
can be a Downhill/BMX style (these are quite light, and usually have
vents in the shell), but many riders choose full motocross helmets for
the extra protection they offer.
Again, we would also suggest further body protection now you’re
starting to really get in to racing - knee/shin pads, elbow pads, body
armour.
How much does the equipment cost, and where can I get it?
As with all race bikes and equipment, you can spend as much as you like! But here’s a rough idea of prices:
Bike
You can get a competitive entry-level BMX race bike for an adult or
child from around £220 new, and about half that amount
second-hand.
Helmet
Downhill/BMX style - £25 child, £40 adult
Motocross - £50 child, £70 adult
Shin/knee pads - £10-15
Body armour - £50 child, £110 adult
There are several BMX retailers with online stores – these include:
Groove Racing
Groove Racing specialise in BMX race bikes and equipment. As well
as their online store, they operate a large trade lorry at all East
Anglia Regional race meetings and many National races as well.
Custom Riders
Custom Riders are based in Letchworth (so not too far from Milton
Keynes), they stock race and street BMX, and skate equipment.
Alans BMX
Alans are based in Wigan. They have a large BMX range (race and street) and also do skate equipment.
You’ll always find secondhand bikes for sale at race meetings.
Also try Ebay – you can find loads of BMX equipment there,
both new and secondhand.
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