Flying over the pedals of the BMX (Part I)

This discipline arose in California during the eighties and has had mythical names from its origins such as Bob Haro, Dave Mirra and Matt Hoffman.

The world of the two wheels has been linked to X Games from the very beginning both in its motorized side and that in which the only engine are the legs of the rider. We precisely stop in that one: the BMX.

It is about a discipline that offers no end of possibilities and we will have the chance to witness four different modalities in the X Games in Barcelona. BMX origins date back to the seventies in California when a group of friends started to race over motocross circuits with their bikes. All this quickly had a big impact and around the middle of the eighties, the mythical rider Bob Haro designed a special bicycle for Freestyle so as to be able to do tricks in the skate parks. It degenerated in different modalities such as the Dirt Jump, Vert, Park or Street. We will be able to see all of them from the next May, the 16th, in Barcelona.

Since it is a never-ending side modality and relatively veteran compared to other such as the RallyCross, there is a wide range of riders. But if we want to find the top of this pack of jugglers, we would have to keep in mind two names: Bob Haro and Dave Mirra. The first one, aforementioned above, is the pioneer of Freestyle with a bike. “The inventor” felt attracted to the engine world when he was young and started to work in a supermarket to save and get enough money to buy his first motorbike. During this time, he adapted his bike to a X Moto needs in order to get used to the circuits. With a Honda 100 in his hands, the Californian didn’t leave the bicycle and kept growing with it. At the end of the seventies, he opted to take a drastic turn and changed the circuits for the skateparks. Over the years, that made Haro create a new discipline with an endless number of tricks and an adapted bicycle for the needs of the Freestyle. Thanks to the promotion he carried out during the beginning of the eighties, the riders quickly overrun all Parks and the BMX was consolidated as one of the star disciplines soon.

From that moment, big names started to emerge, for example Dave Mirra, the most award-winning sportsman in the history of the X Games with 24 medals. Despite he is now immersed in the world of the RallyCross, his great success came from the BMX and he became a legend in this discipline. Since he was very young, Mirra rode with his big brother in the streets of New York and only at the age of 5 he already defied the skate parks ramps. In1992, recently graduated, he became a professional rider but this dream was about to put an end to his career one year later. The New Yorker was run over by a drunk driver who caused him serious brain damage and the doctors told him he could not ride on his bike again. His willpower and daily work made Mirra come back to the saddle and in 1995 he achieved the first of his 24 medals in X Games. In the course of this time, 'Miracle Boy' has executed new tricks such as double backflip and he also launched to the market his own video game.

Matt Hoffman is one of the other exponents of the BMX, considered the best rider of the history in Vert during many years. He is currently the president of the BMX International Federation. In his sports career, he have to emphasize the basic jump in bike from a height of 3.500 feet and a jump from a height of 15.68 meters long that made him get into the World Record Guiness Book in 2002. Apart from all this, one of his identity signs was the ability to invent pirouettes, achieving up to 100 new tricks in his career. Among them, he stands out because of his 900º, Flip Fakie or Flair. Regarding X Games, he took the bronze medal in 2001 and silver in 2002 after doing a 900º without hands.