I used to race BMX when I was a kid and loved it. I’ve noticed that hey have categories for old guys like me. Yes I know it’s mostly for kids but I thought it might be fun to get a bike, have some fun on a track, and maybe enter a race or too. What’s a good bike to get if I wanted to dabble in this for fun?
Your doctor will like your contribution to his/her future retirement.
I used to race BMX when I was a kid and loved it. I’ve noticed that hey have categories for old guys like me. Yes I know it’s mostly for kids but I thought it might be fun to get a bike, have some fun on a track, and maybe enter a race or too. What’s a good bike to get if I wanted to dabble in this for fun?
Can’t help you on the bmx stuff itself, but if you have a bmx itch to scratch maybe consider cyclocross. Probably easier on an older body, low barrier to entry on cost (can run single speed) and your time spent racing to dollars spent entering is about as cheap as you can get.
Go for it. I’ve never done it but a couple of years ago I took my kids to a BMX track for them to try and was surprised at the number of adults, including 50-somethings like me, doing it.
It was a really welcoming vibe with the regulars answering my questions while I watched my kids do a run, line up behind the gate, and go again and again.
I raced BMX in the mid 90’s and have often had this thought over the last 5-10 years. I never went through with it, but who knows what the future holds. It looks like Chase is a good racing brand just by judging how many bikes I see on instagram (I still soft-follow BMX). If you’re serious, I’d recommend getting on a BMX forum/FB page and seeing what others are doing. S&M was a large brand when I was young and seem to still be very large in the sport - they might be a good place to start as well.
Thanks - no you’ve got me thinking about BMX racing again. Curse you! JK Good luck!
Whatever Connor Fields is using. That dude can punch more than 2200w out of the gate and hold it through the first turn…
I can’t manage BMX racing at pace anymore as I approach 50. Plenty of older people doing it, but after years of racing BMX and motocross, I can’t risk another shoulder injury again. I had a big crash in the state crit champs a year and a half ago that is taking a couple surgeries and still is limiting my swim. One crash wouldn’t be bad, but I have four broken clavicles, one scapula, two torn labrum, three separations. This last surgery moved my bicep tendon down and fixed part of labrum but still have a grade 3 separation.
Needless to say, I’m not ready for those falls again.
Cyclocross is rad. Gravel racing is fun. I still go to the bike park and do some jumping and like technical MTB riding.
BMX is fun, but off my radar anymore.
I also raced as a kid and gave it up by college. I think about racing sometimes and I bought a 27.5†wheel PK Ripper and Recently a 26†wheel Redline. My kids and I were messing around on the driveway and I was doing 180’s and little tricks. I asked my kid to get the rubber maid tub from the garage and I was gonna bunny hop it. I rolled up and when I tried to get up and over, the damn bike was so heavy! I did not get over the rubber maid tub……
I realized 26†bikes and larger wheels are cruiser and wheelie bikes for the old dudes. I called a friend who kindly gave me his 24†Redline which is way lighter and a real race bike. I plan to go to the track in Oldsmar, FL this spring when I have time.
Not sure what skill from back in the day will still be present. I will take it slow!
I tried in my forties and quickly reconsidered after a few days at the track. I have the fitness required and still a good jump out of the gate, but my mind is not in the right place. Can’t take the big jumps, my mind immediately goes to all the slams and broken collarbones of yesteryear.
If you’ll end up chickening out like me find a pumptrack nearby. Same fun, much less risk involved.
There are no BMX tracks where I live. But I skateboard (bowl & vert) a couple of time a week, with my son and other old timer dads like myself.
Following this group (238K strong) on FB - there are lots of grown-ups talking about picking up BMX racing again.
Have fun
I started at 40 since my son was racing and I had to be there anyway.
In the uk we have novice category for new racers, nobody jumps in that, they just pump the jumps, so fitness helps as you probably need to pedal more.
GT and haro still make nice race bikes. Check you’re getting a race bike, and the right size- mini, junior etc are kids sizes. Is there a bmx race Facebook group where you live? Usually lots of second hand bikes on those.
Get good pads, and lots of people now wear body protection and padded under shorts, though I don’t.
I am so close to pushing the button on a Mongoose Californian :). But this was the bomb where I grew up!
Whatever Connor Fields is using. That dude can punch more than 2200w out of the gate and hold it through the first turn…
https://www.instagram.com/connorfields11/
I recall an effort back in the day to get some of the leading BMX riders (Harry Leary is one that I recall) to try out track cycling to see if their prodigious sprint power on the dirt could translate into effective power on the velodrome.
Does anyone know if anything ever came of that or if it even happened at all?
I used to race BMX when I was a kid and loved it. I’ve noticed that hey have categories for old guys like me. Yes I know it’s mostly for kids but I thought it might be fun to get a bike, have some fun on a track, and maybe enter a race or too. What’s a good bike to get if I wanted to dabble in this for fun?
I, too, raced BMX as a kid in the '80s and returned to it when my son was born looking for something that took up less time and money. I loved the BMX training, (sprints, plyometrics and strength training) since it was so much different than decades of endurance training. I started doing it at 37 for fun but it quickly got serious…I got faster, the guys I was racing were faster and stronger, which was fun until it wasn’t. A bad crash and concussion in 2016 was basically the end for me. As a small business owner, the risks became too much. And I live an hour from the closest track, so training was no longer convenient.
As others have suggested, you might want to look at CX or MTB racing to fill that void. If you really are interested in BMX, you can get some insight on bikes from online stores like J&R Bicycles and Dan’s Comp. Plenty of options out there depending on size, class, and budget.
Dan’s Comp, I used to get so excited to get the magazine in the mail and pick out all the go fast parts I wanted for my bmx bike. I might have to pull my old Robinson bike out of the attic to give my kids a taste of what I used to do with my free time.
Yes, GB certainly did that. The highest Wattbike power in the GB gym was a bmx rider, and the biggest lifts were shared with the bmx squad.
Shanaze Read mixed doing both to some success being world champ in track and bmx
Jamie staff went from bmx to man 1 in team sprint, and is now back coaching USA bmx
It’s mainly man 1 team sprint where their start power is useful, and the athlete can train for both without harming either event too much. anything longer like match sprint they struggled generally or like Shanaze they lacked the track skills even though she was an amazingly skilled bmx racer
The US tries it all the time, but it’s a tough sell. Way more money to be made in BMX, so you typically only get the riders who are past their prime. I believe several of the current US Sprinters are ex-BMX on both the men’s and women’s sides, but that program is just now being rebuilt from the ground up with the focus being LA '28. Interestingly, with the proximity of the LA Velodrome, USA Cycling just began a program reaching out to kids in South Central looking for some hidden talent there.
Jim hit the nail on the head. BMX riders make more money and can support themselves. Connor raced until retirement on Chase bikes and he has had a go on the velodrome. Not fun for him relative to BMX. Even in light of retiring at a relatively young age and could crush Team Sprint, the skills for Keirin and Match Sprint aren’t there.
Alise Post Willoughby is a multi time world champion and Oly silver medalist in BMX, hit the track and was offered a spot on the US team, she’s still racing BMX. Her husband Sam is in a wheelchair as a result of a training accident and even that hasn’t deterred her yet.
If you want to race the Vet class on big wheels I believe it is Vet Pro, so you are racing guys that haven’t really left the sport.
I have a co-worker in his early 50s racing and plans to return again after shoulder surgery recovery.