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I'm at
Smitty's BMX Track, and it's Saturday, the weekly race day. People come from
all over town to ride on this track at 2701 Highway 17A in Summerville, behind
Smitty's Citgo.
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BMX - bicycle motocross - bikes can be enjoyed by anyone from 4
year olds to 50 year olds, but it is especially popular with teenagers. So
what's so special about BMX bikes?
For one
thing, they're a lot smaller and lighter than normal bikes. You could pick one
up with two fingers. Also, there is no gearshift. Gears can be replaced by
bigger or smaller ones before a race, but there is no time to change gears in
the middle of a fast-paced race.
When Chris
Lane, the track director, offered to let me try it out, I figured it couldn't
hurt. After all, everyone on the track made it look so easy. So I borrowed a
helmet from Lane and a bike from his son, then headed for the track.
Mike Powell,
a regular at Smitty's, rode beside me and showed me the ropes. I started off at
the top of a tall, steep hill with an electric gate. I put the front wheel of
the bike against the gate and balanced, waiting as four beeps came from nearby
speakers. Then the gates folded down, and I shakily pedaled down the hill.
As I started
up the first ramp, my feet slipped off the pedals, and the bike dragged me onto
the packed clay and up the hill a couple feet as I desperately clung to the
handlebars. I struggled the rest of the way to the top, then pedaled down the
other side and up a tabletop.
A tabletop is
a ramp that goes up, flattens out for a distance, and then goes down. It turned
out this one was a lot steeper than it looked.
After the
tabletop, I rode pretty easily around a burn, which is a steep curve made of
asphalt. Then there were more ramps, another burn, more ramps, another burn,
more ramps and I was done. They went about as well as the first stretch, and
the helmet I was wearing became my new best friend. I made it over a couple of
ramps without crashing, but not many.
Determined
not to look like an idiot again, I took another lap around the track. I crashed
less and finished with only a few minor scrapes and bruises. I had a lot of
fun, especially when I made it over a ramp, which is a big adrenaline rush.
According to
Lane, if you practice hard and often, you can get fairly good at BMX pretty
quickly. I believe him. If I had kept going for a while longer, I probably
could've finished a lap without crashing.
But it would
take a good deal longer to get as good as some of the guys out there. I could
only watch in awe as I saw them flying effortlessly over ramps, some of them
doing tricks.
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There were mostly teenagers at the track, but I saw a few 6- and
7-year-olds who put me to shame with their fearless speed.
For some
people, BMX is life. They practice constantly for hours and travel out of state
for tournaments. If you want to get really good, you have to make a serious
commitment.
It can also
get expensive. You can get a beginner's BMX bike at Wal-Mart for about $80, but
if you want a spiffy, customized one, you'll have to fork over as much as
$3,000.
Smitty's is a
clean, family-oriented track where kids, teenagers and grown-ups can have fun.
Even if you don't take it seriously, BMX can be a great hobby.
If you want
to try it out, practices are usually Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30
p.m., unless the weather is bad. Races are Saturdays at 4:30 p.m. Registration
for the races is from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Call the hotline at 851-9497 for updates.
As far as
safety goes, you are required to wear a helmet, protective pads, long-sleeved
shirt and pants. Also, your bike can't have pegs or a kickstand, which can
damage other bikes' spokes.
Despite my many
hilarious crashes, I found out that BMX is tons of fun. If you've never done
BMX, it's a cool experience, and Smitty's is a great place to try it out.