Why We Raced BMX

This question was asked on the Facebook profile page of Old's Cooler

"Why did you race BITD, and how has it affected your life now?"

Doug W. - I raced, because my Family owned the only MX Track and BMX Track in Vegas. I had to be there working as a kid, and the benefit was the racing. The LOOONG term benefit from racing, is that I learned to set goals, and to visualize myself winning, and eventually becoming one of the "guys to beat", at least locally. I've taken all of this early knowledge,( goal setting, visualization, etc) and parlayed it into a business that has treated me well, and has allowed me to be free.  

Jeff I. - I started racing because my knees gave out during a growth spurt at age 12. I was a "busy" kid with lots of energy and BMX took a lot out of me. When you are 12-16, it is also a source of transportation, so we'd ride to the track, ride for ...a while, ride home, ride downtown to ride some urban. I did a few judged sports and a couple of team sports, but with BMX you're good or you're not. fastest to the line wins. There's no teammate letting you down, there's no excuses for why you didn't win...you won or you lost. The travel was fun and back then, there was a track in EVERY little town so you didn't have to go far to get away. 

What I got out of BMX? I learned that if you want to be good at something, you need to take ownership...fix your own bike so when something isn't right with it, you know what is wrong AND you know how to fix it. Take care of your things and they will take care of you. The inverse is also true. If you neglect what you have, eventually it will let you down. 

Finally, BMX taught me humility. No matter how good you ( think you) are...there is ALWAYS somebody better. They just may not be where you are right now. Treat everyone with respect, and you'll be respected... 

Dawn P. - "I raced because my 3 boys raced and I'm extremely competitive. We sure had a great 13 years on the circuit. And Vegas was an all time favorite because it's the only track I won 2 motos in a National and not because some man fell"  

Mike A. - "Kept me out of trouble, gave me something to look forward too every weekend, and the most of all. The people I have met through the years!"  

Nate R. I'll agree w mike even though I'm an east coaster, the racing community seems" to me at least" like a big family...... 

Dawn C. - I started racing in the 80s and y because I loved it and got to travel , and met so many friends from all over the united states.. I have to say it made me tougher and still do some of the things kids do today like ride dirt bikes, bmx, I try just about everything and I'm pretty good at it I think the eye coordination helps from the bmx past and not being such a wimp… I have to say it help me through a lot of things I do today. Thanks for the good time I miss it .Darling Dawn 

Russ J. - I started racing BITD because I was always on my bike. Then a kid in the neighborhood got a Raliegh, and suddenly he was able to beat me on any kind of race. So I asked my dad about it and he looked at the kids bike. He figured out that ...it was 2.5 lbs lighter than my bike and had longer cranks and a bigger gear.
I always was the fastest rider and the farthest jumper out of any of the kids I hung out with so this didn't really work that well for me all of a sudden not being the fastest. 

Dad and I went to a local bike shop where I saw my first dream bike, one of the early 80's white painted Redline ProLine bikes.... I waned that bike like nobody's business... but I ended up with a Panda L&S. But that visit to the bike shop introduced me to BMXA magazine. 

Suddenly, I was again the fastest kid in my 'hood, but I was introduced to BMX to boot. That is how I got into racing, and it has changed my life in so many ways that this would turn into a novel if I talked about them. 

Brad A. - I started racing in the mid 70's. Influenced heavily by Moto-X and Evel Knievel, this led me to racing pedal bikes. I was always big into jumping high and long distances, of course helped my abilities as a younger rider. This sport taught me about competing, money managing and enjoying my years as a teen doing what I loved so much... then I had to grow up :) LOL!! NEVER!!

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