Those of us with more than a year or two in BMX should be extremely familiar with what I call the "Rookie Pro Superstar" phenomenon in BMX. If you've never heard of it, however, it works like this: Top 18 Expert rider turns Pro with much fanfare and proceeds to wipe the floor with the established Pro superstars for five or six races. Depending on when this rider turns Pro, he might even clinch a #1 plate. After about half a year, though, this young star finds himself being passed, blocked, and mangled into the back of the pack. This happens all the time. Keep an eye out for it.
What's the reason for this recurring pattern? Well, it's simply that many young riders, even among the top Experts, have no grip of track strategy. Their speed and freshness helps them win for a while, but the older Pros figure their moves out and start blocking them out of turns and jumps. Before these would-be Stu Thomsens know it, they're watching the races from the back of the pack.
Let's chat about some basic track strategies to help you win consistently over better and stronger riders. It's not hard to beat a rider who is a better athlete than you---if you're willing to be a little smarter than he or she is. Got your pencil in hand? Cool.
Some day soon, preferably before the next race, go to your local track without your bike. Start at the gate and walk your way around the whole thing. We'll do it now with an imaginary track, just for fun's sake.
Okay. We're on the first straight. Things to watch for: Does the track narrow at all between the gate and first jump? If it does, then any time you are in the outside gates your first priority will be to avoid being blocked out, even if you lose a place doing so. If you are in an inside gate, your priority will be to make the riders on the outside of you hit their brakes and get behind you. Speed out of the gate is not as important as being in the right place down the first straight.
Our imaginary track has a jump with a bunch of ruts in it. Chances are that you've been avoiding these ruts in practice but can't avoid them during the race. It's not worth anything to be in first place to the first jump and lose because a rut slowed you down. Memorize the location of every rut and practice finding alternate lines.
Looking at the first turn, and at every one after that, you will want to know two things: the amount of available traction, and the location of your three lines. Here's an example of why absolute traction is important. In practice before his state championship, Rider A hits the first jump over and over again. While he's doing that, his identical twin and competitor Rider B rides the last turn at increasing speeds until he loses traction. In the main event, Rider A is in first place going into the last turn but brakes too much because the dirt looks loose. Rider B, who took the time to figure out how fast he could safely go, blasts by him and wins the race. It wasn't ability that won the race for Rider B. Heck, he was getting beaten right up to the last turn. But his knowledge of the track won the race for him.
This might sound like a fairy tale to you. If it does, ask yourself if you know, right now, how fast you can take every turn on your home track. If you can't visualize immediately how much speed is safe and how much will wreck you, you're wasting the opportunity to win.
So we know how fast we can go. Let's talk about the three lines. Most riders ride through a turn without going "up" or "down" on the berm. "Up" is towards the top of the berm; "down" is towards the inside of the corner. If the rider in front of you is doing this, you should not fail to pass him using one of the three lines.
For these examples, we'll imagine a 90-degree left turn. When I say right and left, I mean as they appear to the rider as he rides through. The High Line works like this: Enter the turn on the right side of the track with your front tire pointed towards the top of the berm. When you reach the top of the berm, turn hard and head for the left side of the exit. You will have higher speed than normal because you'll be coming from the top of the berm. You will use the High Line to pass a rider who enters the turn on the left, turns late, and exits on the right. Most riders tend to enter a turn late, so this will be your most useful line.
The Low Line is used to pass a rider who takes a High Line. Enter the turn low, which is the left side in this imaginary turn. As the High Line rider turns, you will be in front of him. He'll slow down. Turn late and exit on the outside, which in this case is the right side. Both you and the rider you passed will be coming out slow.
"But, Jim," you say, "how is it possible to pass a rider no matter which line he takes?" Well, it's possible because you can tailor what you're doing to beat him. The rider ahead of you can't see you. He could very easily defeat your pass attempt... if he had eyes on the back of his head.
What to do, then, if you're in first and there's a rider behind you who knows how to pass you? Use the Block line. Enter the turn from the outside and dive to the inside. Everyone behind you will have to slow down or run into you. Turn at the end of the corner and head out. You will have lost a lot of speed but it will smash the hopes of everyone behind you.
Take a friend to the track and practice walking through these lines without your bikes. Then get on the bikes. Take turns being the dumb guy in front and the second-place rider who zips by. Do it on every turn in the track. After a couple of weeks of this, not only will you be able to pass at will on your local track, you'll be able to walk the track at a National and instantly pick out your three lines. Any rider who can do this can afford to come out of the gate a little slower than everybody else. As a matter of fact, a strategy-conscious rider prefers to be in second place entering the last turn because he can pass and not be repassed. Victory will be his.
So we've walked our imaginary track, planned our first straight, decided where the best spots to jump from are, and learned the traction limits and three lines for every corner. Great. You now have my permission to work on your gates. Just remember that the best riders never worry too much about who is in front down the first straight. The scorers sit on the last one.http://www.bmxbasics.org
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