If you’re just getting into BMX, you may be looking to visit a skatepark in the near
future.
In this video, we’ll go over some of the things you should learn as early on as possible.
The first thing you need to know is skatepark etiquette.
Normally, riders will take a path across the park where they hit a few ramps and then rest
for a minute on the other side.
This is called a line.
When you go out on the ramps you should know what line you want to take first.
Crashes usually happen when someone is riding in an unpredictable way, or ignoring the lines
that other people are taking.
Be considerate, and observe the skatepark before you jump into the mix.
After you watch for a bit, you’ll have a much better idea of what line to take, and
who to keep an eye on.
Like that scooter kid who just finished his 4th mountain dew.
Next, you’re going to need to learn how to ride quarter pipes.
We’ll assume you’ve already been messing around on your BMX in the street, so it shouldn’t
be too hard for you to ride up and down a mellow quarter pipe just by turning around.
You’ll quickly grow comfortable with the transition and work your way higher and higher
up the quarter.
As you move on to bigger quarters, you’ll want to practice hopping slightly to turn
around.
While turning around on an embankment requires a bunnyhop, you don’t need to do this on
a quarter.
Just pull your bike towards your body slightly, and you’ll feel it leave the ramp.
Eventually, you’ll be able to get your front wheel over the top, and then your back wheel.
Now you’re airing out.
Next, you can learn to ride more efficiently by pumping.
Kind of like a swing set or a rocking horse, pumping is how you’ll gain speed on ramps
by shifting your weight around instead of pedaling.
As you go up or down a ramp, you want to shift your weight back in sync with the transition.
You’ll know you have it figured out when you can start at the bottom of a miniramp,
and work your way up higher and higher without pedaling.
You’ll find that pumping is very easy to learn.
It’s a lot more fun than pedaling, and it gives you way more style points.
Once you’ve gotten pretty comfortable with pumping and riding quarter pipes, you should
learn to drop in from the deck.
Again, starting on a small one first is probably the best way to learn.
Notice the metal piping at the top.
This is called coping.
The trick to dropping in is to ride parallel to the coping and turn into the ramp.
Because coping can sometimes be slippery, I recommend actually lifting your front wheel
over it a bit.
By dropping in parallel to the coping with your wheel turned, you avoid needing to nosedive
into the ramp to make your transition.
In fact, you’ll pretty much end up in the same position you would if you were just riding
up and down the quarter.
Now, you’re going to want to get back on to the deck so you can take a break.
By throwing your body forwards as you ride up the quarter, you can get your bike over
the coping and on to the deck.
You can put a foot out to get back on to the deck, but go a little faster and you can do
a fly out.
Fly outs are really fun, and they’re actually one of the best ways to learn tricks since
they send you straight up and straight down.
Since you’re basically going 0 mph when you land, it’s easier to pull off tricks
without executing them perfectly.
Learn fly outs on small quarters, and work your way up to the big ones.
If you have pegs, you may also want to learn how to stall on the coping.
First, get comfortable with dropping in from your pegs.
To do this, throw your body weight over the center of the ramp, and then immediately turn
your front wheel to roll back in.
If you don’t center your weight over the ramp first, you’re just going to end up
sliding down the ramp sideways.
Commit to throwing your weight over the ramp, and the rest will come naturally.
Dropping in from pegs is actually easier than dropping in from the deck.
Learn this, and then work on your stalls.
Start by riding up the quarter and carving towards the coping.
Make sure your pegs are getting above the coping, and then push your bike off to the
side.
At this point, you should be using your momentum to bring your body over the center of the
coping.
If you can’t quite get this part, it’s easy to just turn your front wheel and drop
back in.
This is probably what will end up happening the first few times, but I find that the worst
that will happen is that you slide down the ramp or need to drop back in.
Find your balance point, and you’ll be stalling in no time.
Once you learn to stall, you can grind the coping by carving and going fast.
So that’s pretty much it.
Most of the stuff in the middle of the skatepark is easy ride over when you’re a beginner.
However, planning your lines, learning to ride quarter pipes, and getting a general
feel for pumping is pretty crucial to being able to ride the rest of the park.
If your skatepark has an early morning session, I recommend getting out there and practicing
these basic techniques before it gets crowded.
Hopefully, you can get a few ramps to yourself for a while.
Get out there, keep practicing, and like always, thanks for riding with me today, I’ll see
you next time.