I’m a mid 30’s Novice and hadn’t been on a BMX bike or track in over 20 years until August this year, where I got some practice sessions and a couple races in at my local. I got one 3rd place podium and now I’m hooked, but my season was cut short by the birth of my twins in September. Between the practice sessions and 2 races I was able to get in, I was able to figure out pretty quickly what I suck at (pretty much everything..) so I’m going to be spending a lot of time here in the garage over this winter. I’m most committed to learning how to manual and develop some sense of how to handle the rhythm sections/rollers, so I built a “manual machine” out of some scraps I had. I’m terrible at jumping too, but I figure I need to learn the manual first.
Any tips for a n00b?
by TahitianCoral89
4 Comments
Sick bike! I’m not sure how many racers are in this sub but my best advice (as a non-racer) is to get as much seat time as possible! Bike control is something you can’t teach. Also, leg strength training and HIIT cardio (since BMX races are essentially all out sprints to the finish line). Winter is the best time to train your cardio and get those legs built for power.
That’s cool! I built one last winter and got all kinds of frustrated and ended up converting it into a bike holder rack 🤣 I hope you get more use out of it than I did.
My advice is to make short goals like 10 seconds and increase those goals in manageable increments to track progress. My son and I had fun on it for all of 5 minutes. You gotta want it.
If you’re practicing manuals take that chain off. That way you don’t rely on pedal pressure to stay up and instead have to find your balance point.