Simply put, BMX riding is one of the most popular extreme sports nowadays. BMX involves specially designed bicycles crafted for the sole purpose of being resistant while simultaneously giving the rider the ability to maneuver them with great ease. Of course, this doesn't mean that BMX is an easy form of cycling; in fact, it's one of the hardest extreme sports along with skateboarding and sport bike stunting.
BMX bikes usually come with 2, 20 inch wheels; that is 6 to 7 inches smaller than the size of the wheels found on the more conventional bicycles. The bike's frame is focused and implemented around achieving maximum stability and resistance rather than keeping the bike as light as possible. Additionally, BMX bikes include extra features such as special systems that allow an unlimited number of 360 degree revolutions of the steering wheel.
The sport of BMX racing includes racing on sandy or hilly tracks (this is called BMX racing) as wells as stunt riding on wooden ramps / street objects / obstacles (this is called BMX freestyle). BMX races have duration of about 25 to 40 seconds. The speeds vary from 15 mph to 35 mph depending on the conditions of the track as well as the abilities of the riders. On the freestyle part of the sport, it is notable that it has grown far more popular than the racing counterpart.
Starting from California (United States) in the late 60's, BMX was the most popular way for teenagers to imitate motocross champions. The founder of BMX is called Scot Breithaupt while the motorcycle racing documentary 'On Any Sunday' is widely accepted and credited for inspiring the whole movement nationally. Although the sport spread very quickly, it wasn't until the middle of the decade that the bike constructors started producing real BMXoriented bikes. Another very important person that needs to be mentioned here is Bob Haro; he is the person who merged BMX and skateboarding tricks together and without him the whole scheme wouldn't have advanced so far.
Although it is considered to be a men's sport, there have been times when female participation in the sport reached up to 4%! That's quite a high number if you consider that nowadays the participation has dropped to 1% in the United States.
Finally, being an extreme sport that BMX is, it's almost impossible to get involved without getting hurt. Although the damages generally tend not to get more serious than bone-breaking, riders need to always be careful and wear their protection equipment.
