every time you try to explain that you
race BMX to somebody they always say oh
I used to do that as a kid I think
people underestimate the amount of power
and force that BMX riders put out in BMX
off the start line as we go from zero to
about 35 miles per hour at around 2
seconds BMX riders get up like 280 RPMs
a minute there's only one gear so you
have to learn to accelerate that quickly
we're often producing upwards of 2,500
watts coming off of an 8 meter tall
starting hill when we go from the
downhill slope of the ramp the flat
we're pulling close to 5 G's that's only
the first two seconds of the race
physics of what we're doing on our bike
like the biomechanics of all that are
huge and it's very important because we
don't have any shock absorbers if you're
on a mountain bike or a dirt bike you've
got something to help you absorb you
know those landings if you're not
perfect but we have to be so precise and
all that comes from your body position
there's absolutely nothing natural about
the positions that were put in when
we're riding a BMX bicycle so we often
have to do a lot of preventative care on
our bodies different stretching
treatments things like that we're a
sprint sport so the power-to-weight
ratio is is really important we have to
be extremely explosive and really quick
out of the start to jockey for position
the heavier you are the stronger you're
gonna have to be to get off the start we
only have two and a half seconds to get
into position or you might get shot out
the back or end up on the ground we're
not on tiny little Hills that you could
jump over on your feet anymore the jumps
are up sometimes to 40 feet the starting
Hill is three stories high when you
actually see an Olympic level BMX track
in person it's a spectacle and another
thing we have to be careful with is just
making sure not to overdo it because
we're playing with limits here with
jumping 40 feet and only having a small
window of where to land and when you're
tired and your brains not functioning as
fast it does become really dangerous yes
it's uh
survival of the fittest