The Seven Highly Effective Habits of BMX Pros

Looking back, I have noticed that I sure got a lot of self-help books for Christmas. You know the kind - books that are supposed to change your life, make you stronger, lighter, faster, better looking, et cetera. Well, I put all my "gifts" in a big stack, bunny-hopped them until I got bored, and threw them all away.

Self-help books are no fun because, by and large, they have the same problem: there's nothing about BMX in them! Not a single photo of Todd Lyons backflipping, or of Terry Tenette giving a big thumbs-up, or even of yours truly eating a cheeseburger. What we need is a self-help book detailing "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective BMX Racers", or something like that. That would be a book of true use to all of us.

It can probably be agreed that the most effective BMX racers are those gentlemen who compete in the Pro class. But how many "habits" do they have? Seven? Eight? One hundred? Through careful observation, I have made a list of "The However Many Habits of Highly Effective Pros". Riders ready? Watch the lights:

#1. Effective Pros take care of their bodies. BMX is not a musclehead sport, (apologies to Jeff Dein) but top riders do generally follow a regular plan of exercise that tends to include cross-training of some sort. Luckily, BMX Today has a regular column catering to the physical side of the sport, and it's all good advice. In addition, you've got to ride your bike as much as possible. No amount of weight-lifting can take the place of becoming familiar with your scoot.

#2. Effective Pros take caer of their bodies. "Wait a minute", you're thinking, "that was #1, too!" This time, I mean something slightly different. BMX's leading Pros avoid drugs, alcohol, and dangerous performance enhancers like the plague. Each rider who has made it to the absolute top of the sport - Stu Thomsen, Harry Leary, Terry Tenette, John Purse, et cetera - has been an excellent example of clean living.

#3. Effective Pros don't fiddle with their bikes too often. Rather than switch frames, bars, and cranks all the time, top Pros pick one combination of equipment and become proficient with it. And when they have a couple of bad races, they don't blame it on the bike.

#4. Effective Pros maintain their bikes properly. No sensible rider would train for weeks or months on end for a particular race and then run up to the gate with loose cranks, out-of-true wheels, or handlebars pointed approximately twenty degrees away from the front wheel. Proper maintenance and adjustment usually doesn't cost you anything but time, and it's time well spent. Some Pros have team mechanics to keep their bikes up to spec, but the majority of them have simply picked up the ability to maintain their own scoots. So should you.

#5. Effective Pros don't waste their time griping about other riders. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've sat and listened to a rider complain about what somebody else did during a race to keep them from winning. Save it. Nobody ever won a race by whining about the squirrely or even malicious actions of their comp.

#6. Effective Pros study their competition. This may seem like a contradiction of #5, but it is not. Good rider learn their comp's strengths and weaknesses so they can ride better themselves and make better decisions. Example: Anybody who wants to pass me in a race (how'd you get back there, anyway?) would be well-served by knowing that I am almost unpassable in a turn---on a jump, though, it's a different story. They should wait until after the turn to pass rather than lose momentum trying to get around me on the berm. When the doubles show up, they can make what will probably (sob) be a successful move.

#7 Effective Pros study themselves. In the past decade, I've had plenty of guys who couldn't beat a dead mouse down the first straight tell me they consider themselves to be "power riders". Kids who get tired picking up a Twinkie blather to me about their "National-caliber fitness". Come on. Stop kidding yourself. How can you improve your riding when you refuse to face the truth about what parts really need improvement? Those of you who aren't sure what your strengths and weaknesses are, have no fear. The next two months will contain two different methods of measuring your abilities as a BMX racer.

#8. Effective Pros train with a goal in mind. If you are the best jumper at your local track or trails, but you never take a gate because it's boring, don't be surprised if you don't win. Strong riders who lack endurance won't improve if they sprint to the first turn and quit in every practice lap. Top pros are aware of their own weaknesses and train to eliminate them. It's no fun to work on your jumping skills if you prefer to ride jumps, or vice versa, but think of the day you have to handle a big set of doubles---or a "National wall" in the first straight. Practice doesn't make perfect, but it helps.

#9. Top Pros utilize a positive mindset. "Be positive" is the single most misunderstood piece of advice handed out in sports today. It doesn't mean you should have a "Pollyanna" attitude about everything, or that you should ignore your problems in life. Nor does it mean you should walk around bleating "Be Positive!" until your friends stop asking you to go riding after school. A positive mindset is one that frames everything in a positive manner. Having trouble clearing the doubles in the first straight? A negative mindset says, "You can't make it!" A positive mindset says, "Pull up hard and you can do it!"

You see, you brain isn't as smart subconsciously as you'd like it to be. You have to provide it with simple, positive instructions - particularly when training or when you're in the heat of a race. Examples could include, "Pedal hard!" or "Go low in the turn!" Trying to remember what NOT to do is a lot harder than remembering what to do.

How many "highly effective" habits was that? I counted nine. I've read that normal highly effective people only have seven habits, but we BMXers tend to stand out a little bit, so it's understandable if we have more habits than, say, some accountant in a basement somewhere.

Nine habits. Pretty simple, huh? And you didn't have to read an entire 400-page book to pick up all the self-help you'll ever need to make it big in BMX.

There are certainly some habits of highly effective Pros that I forgot to include above. Overall, though, the ones above are probably the most important. It would be okay with me if you throw out your original New Years' resolutions and decide to adopt the nine habits above.

I'll take a shot at being "highly effective" as well. You know, the next time I see you at a track, we might both be so highly effective that we won't be able to stand each other, I'm willing to take that risk. How about you?