Cobb County BMX - Get Started in BMX!

Get Started in BMX!

So you want to race BMX? Racing BMX is easy to get started and the ABA has made it inexpensive to begin. The first two things you need are:

A bicycle
A track location

Any of the bike shops located on our links page will be glad to help get you on the correct bike. You may also check out our Bike Wizard which will give you a good idea of what to look for. BMX tracks are located all around the country. The two tracks in Cobb County are Noonday (located in Marietta) and Wild Horse Creek Park (located in Powder Springs).

When calling your nearest ABA track, you will probably want to ask five things:

How do I get to your track?
What times are your sign-ups and practice?
What time do you begin racing?
How much will it cost to begin racing?
How big are your first place trophies?

Once you know where to go racing and you have your 20-inch or 24-inch BMX bike, there is a simple checklist to go down in order to make sure your bike is ABA safe and race ready:

Make sure all nuts and bolts are tight - especially your axle bolts and stem bolts.
All reflectors must be removed for safety purposes.
If your bike has a kickstand, it must be taken off.
Your bike must have the three required pads: A) Covering the crossbar of your handlebars - B) Covering the handlebar stem (or gooseneck) and C) Covering the top tube of your frame.
You'll also need a number plate. Most ABA tracks will supply you with a plate when you sign up. If not, a simple paper plate will do fine.

Next, there's the cheklist of what you will need to wear in order to race. When you first start out racing BMX, think cheap. You don't need a fancy uniform - jeans and a long sleeve shirt will do just fine.

Long sleeve shirt.
Long pants.
A helmet. Most ABA tracks have "loaner" helmets for beginners to use. A lot of times, a good, inexpensive helmet can be found at garage sales or in the pit area of your local BMX track. They can even be found at discount stores such as Walmart and Target.
Any tennis shoe is sufficient.

The cost of an ABA license is $45 for the year. Each race at a Cobb County track has and entry fee of $9 for racing that day. The entry fee for other special events at the track may be a little higher but the trophies are usually larger too!

Hope to see you at the track!

The History of BMX

Somewhere in southern California during the early 70's, a bunch of kids on modified 20" Schwinn Stingray bicycles went out to a vacant lot and created a brand new sport of their very own... Those kids were probably not even the first. The same scene of youthful energy and American resourcefulness was quite probably going on in Nebraska and/or New Jersey. But it was the California gathering of nameless pioneers who were recorded on film by Bruce Brown's cameras. The resulting motorcycle film, ON ANY SUNDAY, would spread the word like a wildfire.

There was no stopping it now. A new sport created by kids for kids was born. Bicycle Motocross was the name it was given. That name was quickly shortened to BMX. It grabbed the attention of thousands of kids in one short summer. Boys and girls on their modified bicycles were seen jamming through the dirt emulating their motorcycle motocross heroes.

Imitation lead to innovation and quickly the kids were performing tricks and "getting air" that made their motorcycle heroes green with envy. The next step was organized racing. By 1977, pockets of loosely organized BMX races dotted the nation from coast to coast. It was time for a national sanctioning body and from out of this need, the AMERICAN BICYCLE ASSOCIATION was created. The AMERICAN BICYCLE ASSOCIATION not only filled that need, it completely changed and continues to shape the future of the sport it serves. The first step was to create a system of qualifying participants that was not only fair, but one which enhanced the competitive nature of the very sport itself and still afforded each and every rider the chance to be a winner. This need for fairness and allowing for the fortunes of luck led the way to the transfer system, in which the winner of each moto advances to the next round - be it quarter, semi or main event.

That first step led to a long and continuing list of firsts that spell out the very success of the ABA. From supplying the first and world's largest national sanctioning body, first national tour, first Pro purse, first Cruiser class competition, first sanction to call fouls as they occur, first starting light system, first automatic gate system, first voice command, first duel announcing, first computerized membership and points system, first computerized sign-ups, first computerized system for local tracks, first interactive website to service it's members, first and most prestigious National Amateur Championship to cover all ages and the list goes on.

ABA BMX racing is a sport of youthful achievement and the American family. While the young boy or girl BMX racer develops skills at an individual pace, they are learning about winning, losing and trying again. The racer's family learns that time spent together is support of the racer and the individual achievements is quality time.

It is the duty of the ABA to establish the rules of racing that provide fair competition and fun family entertainment for all of it's 60,000 plus members. This is a job to which the AMERICAN BICYCLE ASSOCIATION and all of it's employees are 100% dedicated.