Posted Jan. 15, 2005
Loveland indoor BMX showdown


Peter is an old riding buddy of 4X world champion Michal Prokop, and he RIPS! He won the pro-am race on a 26" trials bike.

When snow covers the ground and the mercury hangs low down, we Coloradans take our racing inside. We've been having a great time at the Loveland Indoor BMX races.

What: BMX racing, NBL style.

Where: The Ranch - Larimer County Fairgrounds and Event Center. The building we race in has a dirt arena and new, clean bleachers. The place reminds me of the times I rode a Texas longhorn by the name of Body Bag (2MB Quicktime).

When: Select weekends during the winter. The last races were Saturday and Sunday, Jan 8 and 9. The next ones will be February 5 and 6.

Who: Dedicated volunteers who deserve some major props.

Why: Bike racing is good for young and old, fast and slow. For us mountain bikers, it's great training for mountain cross and general bike bad-assness.

How: The Ranch won't allow a track to remain on the property, so volunteers show up each Friday before the race and build a track from scratch. When you register at 10 a.m. on Saturday, they'll be finishing up. The tracks have been varied and fun, and the dirt is amazing. It packs well and provides unreal traction. Someone told me what the secret ingredient is: cow manure.

How much: BMX racing is one of the last great values in competitive bike riding. Forget about paying $60 for a NORBA membership plus $40 a race. With BMX you pay $40 a year to the NBL, then you slap down $10 per race, and you can race every week in the summer. Start training your toddler now, so you can finally have a champion in the family!

Conflict of style: At the first couple races we heard a lot of grumbling about "those damn mountain bikers." One adult cruiser rider crossed the line cursing a mountain biker in his class. I asked him what the problem was, and he told me BMXers just aren't used to the way we ride. While the 20" crew tends to rail the berms, we 26-inchers can use our superior traction to turn on flat ground and cut our competitors off. That's a classic low-high pass -- and way cleaner that the stuff we pull at MTB mountain crosses -- but apparently some guys find it unsettling when we hurtle straight at them. Fair enough. I must say, it probably wouldn't be such a big deal if we didn't do so well in the races. Riders like Jon Watt, Ariel Lindsley, Bobbi Watt, Peter, Rudy Unrau and Zach Griffith prove that we mountain bikers know what's going on.

Cruiser action: The 35-39 cruiser class is stacked with ex and current state champions, pro BMX racers and even a former Winter X athlete. They're fast, and they know all the tricks. I try my low-high move a lot, but these guys are too smart to let me by easily. We do rub elbows and push each other over berms, but it's all in good fun, right? In the last main I got T-boned so hard it left tire marks on my stays and broke a bunch of spokes. Bring it on. The crazier this gets, the tamer mountain cross will seem.

Bike setup: Any MTB can be raced at the BMX, but smaller and stiffer is better. I've been running my Specialized P.1, clipped in, with a 34x17 single speed and WTB Nano Raptors pumped to 60 psi. Last time I ran a brand new 2005 SX. I thought it would be sluggish compared with the P-bike, but it wasn't. As a matter of fact, the bike felt great. More on that soon.

Schedule and directions: At Front Range BMX dot com

 
 
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