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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!
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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. |
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