Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

s in motocross

Motocross

Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...

 style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacle

Obstacle

An obstacle is an object, thing, action or situation that causes an obstruction. There are, therefore, different types of obstacles, which can be physical, economic, biopsychosocial, cultural, political, technological or even military.-Physical barriers:As physical obstacles, we can enumerate all...

s, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling

Cycling

Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

.

History

BMX started in the early 1970s when children began racing their bicycles on dirt tracks in southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

, drawing inspiration from the motocross superstars of the time. The size and availability of the Schwinn Sting-Ray and other wheelie bike

Wheelie bike

A wheelie bike, also called a muscle bike, high-riser, or banana bike, is a type of stylized children's bicycle designed in the 1960s to resemble a chopper motorcycle and characterized by ape hanger handlebars, a banana seat with sissy bar, and small wheels. Notable examples include the Schwinn...

s made them the natural bike of choice, since they were easily customized for better handling and performance. BMX racing was a phenomenon by the mid-1970s.Children were racing standard road bikes off-road, around purpose-built tracks in California. The 1972 motorcycle racing documentary On Any Sunday

On Any Sunday

On Any Sunday is a 1971 American documentary feature about motorcycle sport, directed by Bruce Brown. It was nominated for a 1972 Academy Award for Documentary Feature....

is generally credited with inspiring the movement nationally in the US; its opening scene shows kids riding their Sting-Rays off-road. By the middle of that decade the sport achieved critical mass

Critical mass

A critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties A critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The...

, and manufacturers began creating bicycles designed especially for the sport.

George E. Esser founded the National Bicycle League as a non-profit bicycle motocross sanctioning organization in 1974. before they set up the NBL, George and his wife, Mary, sanctioned motorcycle races with the AMA (American Motocross Association). Their two sons, Greg and Brian, raced motorcycles, but also enjoyed riding and racing BMX with their friends. It was their sons’ interest, and there being no BMX organizations in the East, that prompted George to start the NBL in Florida.

By 1977, the American Bicycle Association

American Bicycle Association

The American Bicycle Association is a United States-based Bicycle Motocross sports governing body in Gilbert, Arizona created by Merl Mennenga and Gene Roden in 1977. It is the largest sanctioning body in the United States concerning BMX. It has tracks in Canada and Mexico as well as in the USA...

 (ABA) was organized as a national sanctioning body for the growing sport.
In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982. Since January 1993 BMX has been integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale

Union Cycliste Internationale

Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....

.

The sport of Bicycle Motocross - Freestyle BMX

Freestyle BMX

Freestyle BMX is a synonym for BMX stunt riding, a sport branch that hails from extreme sports. It consists of six disciplines: street, park, vert, trails, dirt and flatland .-History:...

 is now one of the staple events at the annual Summer X Games Extreme Sports competition and the ETNIES backyard jam, held largely on both coasts of the United States. The popularity of the sport has increased due to its relative ease and availability of places to ride and do tricks.

In 2003, the International Olympic Committee made BMX a full medal Olympic sport for 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, and Māris Štrombergs

Maris Štrombergs

Māris Štrombergs is a Latvian professional BMX racer. In the 2008 Summer Olympics he became the first Olympic champion in BMX cycling. Earlier that year he won the 2008 UCI BMX World Championships....

 (male, for Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

) and Anne-Caroline Chausson

Anne-Caroline Chausson

Anne-Caroline Chausson is a French Olympic gold medalist in BMX, and downhill time trial and cross-country mass start, dual, and four-cross mountain bicycle racer, best known for having won thirteen Union Cycliste Internationale senior world championship rainbow jerseys, fourteen continental...

 (female, for France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

) were crowned the first Olympic champions.

Many great BMX riders go on to other cycling sports like downhill

Downhill cycling

Downhill biking is a gravity-assisted time trial mountain biking event. Riders race against the clock, usually starting at intervals of 30 seconds , on courses which typically take two to five minutes to complete. Riders come from all around the world. Riders are timed with equipment similar to...

 such as Australian Olympian Jared Graves

Jared Graves

Jared Graves is an Australian cyclist who has represented Australia in BMX, 4x and DH mountain biking.In 2006, he finished second in the mountain bike 4x world cup series...

, former "golden child" Eric Carter

Eric Carter

Eric Robert Carter is a former American professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years were from 1983 to 1998...

, and youth BMX racer Aaron Gwin

Aaron Gwin

Aaron Holmes Gwin is an American professional downhill mountain biker from Morongo Valley, California. He is recently known for breaking on to the international World Cup scene after about 8 months of riding downhill...

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