BMX - old man goes to local bmx track - likes it

i was bored last night so i rode my freebie bmx bike (dumpster dive special) to get an ice cream and then went to Falcon Field in Meriden, CT to check out the track. There was a bunch of kids hanging out. They were all real nice and gave me tips on riding and such. So I took a few laps. Wow is that fun. I think I might like to try racing a cruiser. I'm waiting for my friend's kids to be old enough to race and then he and I will probably do the cruiser thing.

One question: is it possible to be competitive in my age group (I'm 43) without getting much air? I'm not really into that. Waaaay to chicken, and can't afford injuries and missing work.

Yes, it is possible to race the older cruiser classes competitively w/o getting air. At 37, I'm racing again & have been beaten by many racers staying on the ground. And really, you WANT to stay on the ground - you're faster that way.
And more importantly, it's VERY possible to have fun w/ out leaving the ground racing!
-Bill

thanks Bill. what you said, is sorta what i said to the kids there last night. using my hand to indicate a straighter line getting to point B i asked "isn't it faster if you don't go in the air?", but they all looked at me like i had horns growing out my head (could'a sworn i ground them down before i left the house). they were all show-boating their trick skillz.

I'm 34 and just got back to the track this week in the cruiser class. It's a lot of fun.
no one in my class was catching any more air than necessary, and the stands pretty much cleared for our motos anyway so there was no pressure to hot dog it.

hey RB1, get yourself a nice fast 24" bmx cruiser and show those kids how fast you are! :)

^^ hahah, if i don't kill myself on the jumps. almost did on one. went at it too fast, one foot came off the pedal mid-air. whoo!

i try to keep pressure on the bars as I get to the top of the jump to keep the bike down. i can see it's going to take lots of practice. and you think you're in shape until you try sprinting one lap round the track. holy heart attack batman.

Most of the really fast riders learn to work the bike over the jumps without catching huge air. WIth that said... sometimes there's track layouts just make clearing a double the best line.

You think that's a sprint... try it in a race when your "chasing a rabbit" ;) ... or being chased :D

I race cruiser (44) and take the no air approach but am being left in the dust on a few of the local tracks where the guys who can jump have the advantage. On some of the tracks I am in the thick of things but there are a few that are designed to be jumped. They have a couple of doubles that are really hard to keep the bike on the ground with any speed and if you try to jump and don't clear them the landing scrubs off any speed you had. I don't much care though, being in the back of the pack is ok with me, I have no aspirations of winning as the guy winning the motos is the UCI Worlds champ 3 years running.

I too qualify as a chicken as far as jumping goes but I am trying to learn, that has recently resulted in 3 broken ribs and a few stitches. Trying to keep up with your 8 year old son is dangerous business. I now own a chest protector, that will probably at least limit the stitches if I pile up again.

that seems painful andy. Did you race when you were younger?
I tend to stay on the ground as much as possible, though the air doesn't really bother me on the jumps that force the issue.
of course, I've never broken my ribs. I imagine that creates a whole new outlook.

ouch Andy! a guy here at work did a small jump in the woods on our weekly Friday mountain bike session. he's 47, and the jump was only like 1-1/2 feet high. when he landed it was like an invisible hand of god crushed him into the ground resulting in 6 fractured ribs, 4 displaced, a punctured lung and 9 days in the hospital.

so ya, if i end up racing, or even keep going to the track to practice, i'm getting a chest protector.

and like you Andy, if i race, it'll be about having fun, i won't care where i place.

thanks for all the advice guys.

It was painful and takes a long time to heal, I have been off my bike for 4 weeks and have been told to expect 6 to 8 weeks for recovery. On the plus side my jumping was improving and the main reason I wiped was that I overshot the downside.
I only started racing this year but I commute by bike about 8000 miles a year so I am comfortable on a bike. I started racing as I was taking my son out local tracks 2 or 3 times a week and was getting bored sitting in the stands. The local cruiser classes are really fast and we almost always have a full gate of guys over 40. It makes it intimidating for guys just starting out but I didn't mind so much as the first 3 or 4 races I did I was way behind the pack and out of harms way. I am now middle of the pack and there is lots of carnage but it is all in good fun and few people get seriously hurt in the motos. (I wasn't at the races when I wiped.)

ouch Andy! a guy here at work did a small jump in the woods on our weekly Friday mountain bike session. he's 47, and the jump was only like 1-1/2 feet high. when he landed it was like an invisible hand of god crushed him into the ground resulting in 6 fractured ribs, 4 displaced, a punctured lung and 9 days in the hospital.

so ya, if i end up racing, or even keep going to the track to practice, i'm getting a chest protector.

and like you Andy, if i race, it'll be about having fun, i won't care where i place.

thanks for all the advice guys.

Was it his first time on it?

Was it his first time on it?

yup it was. and we got it on video. i thought he broke his back at first. scary.

don't take this the wrong way, but I'd love to see it on youtube.

^^ i just loaded it up, it's still processing. do a youtube search for "Jim's Crash"

i love you.

HAHAH!!

did you find it? there's a lot of vids named Jim's Crash.

here it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqRXdCLeoPs

that's a great vid, we could have had more on the crash, but it was put together very well.

Yeah, I don't even see a jump. That was pretty much sheer clumsiness.

Man that is a lot of injury for what looked like a pretty small tumble.

When I wiped I overshot the downside of a medium sized tabletop so was probably coming down from about 5 feet up. Still can't blame anything but clumsiness for the launch over the bars (the doctor in the emergency room suggested that I need to keep my weight back) but at least the kids that witnessed it all agreed it was pretty spectacular.

My injury > all your injuries

Wethepeople is catching up though...

Damn rights.

i'm telling you, it didn't add up. i was standing there watching it happen, and it was like an invisible force crushed him into the ground. he was folded up into a tiny ball, went otb and slammed the ground on his back. we think maybe the back of his ribcage came down on a root. he got really messed up. it's more of a drop-off than a jump i suppose. when i do it (with more speed), i shoot out about 3'

Yay for old guys on cruisers! If your local track has a class for oldies (Masters in Australia is 30+) you should be reasonably safe there. The oldest guy at my track was about 50.

Cool topic, i am also considering buying a cruiser and joining my local club and racing with my sons. Anyone recomend a bike big and solid enough for a 38yr old 6ft3 100kg guy ? used to race in the eighties and broke quite alot of stuff then and was no where near 100 kg then:) Best bike i ever had was a HUTCH, do they still make them ?

they make them all pretty sturdy now. I bought a dk fury 24 about 4 weeks ago and already bent the spindle on the cranks. The shop ordered a different one for me to help out. Have fun!

edit: I'm 6'1" - 197 lbs. and raced it 6 times before the bend.

Nope, no more Hutch. But for a cruiser whats your price range?

wow well best of luck to you

You should try quoting stuff so it goes along with something.

Nope, no more Hutch. But for a cruiser whats your price range?

$1000 AUD which is about $800 USD

No sense doing the conversion, for Australian prices, just double the US price. By the way, I still have half a bottle of Bundy OP - one of the best things to come out of QLD.

Mmmm love the Bundy:D:D:D

Bundy and Coke. That was a great night in Port Douglas, from what I remember. And cane toads under that tyres of the 'Cruiser. I miss Cairns.

the poor old cane toad:rolleyes: ive seen many things happen to cane toads over the years from having fireworks taped to their back,seen them dipped in metho and lit and smacked with Golf sticks:eek: the list goes on and on. gotta agree they do sound good under the wheels of my cruiser:D

These are the best complete cruisers out right now. In order...

Kuwahara Pro Cruiser-$569 I really like the new Kuwaharas and you would be totally different if you got one.
Intense Pro Cruiser-$399
Redline Flight Cruuiser-$669
GT Powerseries Cruiser-$549
Redline Proline Cruiser-$409

What's the Haro cruiser cost these days?

What's the Haro cruiser cost these days?

Oh yeah, Haro. It costs $479. That's another great choice.

Dang! My Haro cruiser was $900 in Australia.

The Haro SX-24 is the most popular complete cruiser at our local tracks but most guys have built their own bikes from the frame up. Standard 250R, Staats and Yess seem to be the most popular frames for these builds. As for handling a guy your weight, plenty of the guys I race with are as big as you. I am 6 foot 6 and 105 kg and a few of the guys in my motos are probably 110.
I built my own on a budget using a Norco Speedmetal Pro Cruiser frame that I got really cheap as Norco stopped marketing BMX race bikes. Most of the completes come with a freewheel, I like a cassette hub as it is much easier to change cogs than a freewheel and the cassette hubs seem to produce less tight spots in the drivetrain, freewheels seem to move back and forth a bit.
The weak link on most of the completes seems to be the cranks. I am running some Redline 3 piece that are holding together OK but most of the riders with American bottom brackets seem to like Profile the best. One of my friends recently got a new Intense complete, it is a pretty nice bike but fits a little shorter than mine and it come geared as a 41 * 18 I think, that equates to 54.7 gear inches. That is too much spinning for me, I ride a 40 * 17.

I found that I couldn't tell the difference between my Haro SX 24 and my Felt Sector 24 with my eyes closed. Spec and geometry seemed to be the same.

Felt are not too common in Canada, I don't think there are any dealers here.

I found that I couldn't tell the difference between my Haro SX 24 and my Felt Sector 24 with my eyes closed. Spec and geometry seemed to be the same.

Felts are soo nice. One of the kids at my local track, Buck Taylor, Is on Factory Felt. He's actually on the Trial Membership thing for NBL that hangs off the handlebars. He ujst got the 2008 Felt Sector Pro X frame. It's like a bronzish color. It's awesome.

well im not as old as youse guys (13) but i think it quicker to stay on the ground or get minimal air but is also good to learn how to do the jumps that your cant really scooter/not get air over.

well thats my opinion

i still consider this resorecting.

Unfortunately Hutch is no longer in business. I am 41. (6'1" 200 lbs) I ride an Intense Pro 24" cruiser. It takes everything I give to it. Most of your Pro style 24" cruisers can handle a man your size without folding.

i still consider this resorecting.

I agree.

That is one helluva spelling for resurrecting

they make them all pretty sturdy now. I bought a dk fury 24 about 4 weeks ago and already bent the spindle on the cranks. The shop ordered a different one for me to help out. Have fun!

edit: I'm 6'1" - 197 lbs. and raced it 6 times before the bend.

After you bent your spindle did you hear a rhythmic tunk, tunk, tunk sound as you pedaled hard? (i.e. torquing the cranks) I have that sound right now and suspect a bent crank spindle.

i was bored last night so i rode my freebie bmx bike (dumpster dive special) to get an ice cream and then went to Falcon Field in Meriden, CT to check out the track. There was a bunch of kids hanging out. They were all real nice and gave me tips on riding and such. So I took a few laps. Wow is that fun. I think I might like to try racing a cruiser. I'm waiting for my friend's kids to be old enough to race and then he and I will probably do the cruiser thing.

One question: is it possible to be competitive in my age group (I'm 43) without getting much air? I'm not really into that. Waaaay to chicken, and can't afford injuries and missing work.

Sorry i'am late. First you can be really competitive at your age on any bike. I found this out tonight as i was at gate practice at my local track.Now just getting back in this game a month ago i thought i was never gonna make it around the first turn without dying.But i have changed my diet (alot less budweiser & chicken wings) and i go to gate practice once a week and try to hit a local on the weekend and man i feel and look a 100% better.keep it up and you'll see your not the only one at the track just like you. atleast that's what i 've run into.And on the air thing i've been hitting and clearing some small jumps with ease, just as soon as i check my health insurance i'am going for something bigger!