Cliff Pinto airs it out at the skate park on Saturday. With the completion of the new park, the local BMX freestyle scene has experienced a renaissance. At the same time, Durango DMX has seen a steady increase in its membership, which nwo boasts several state, national and world champions./Photo by David Halterman

by Missy Votel

If the thought of BMX brings to mind the paper boy from “Better Off Dead” trying to collect his $2, then think again. The sport (which in longhand translates to “bicycle motorcross”) has grown up from its humble Southern California roots nearly 40 years ago. Today, the American Bicycle Association, the national sanctioning body for BMX racing, counts more than 60,000 members, and the sport is finally gaining worldwide recognition with its introduction in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

But one need not go to China to pick up on the upswing of the sport – both racing and freestyle.

In its nearly six years of existence, Durango BMX has seen its numbers grow, with 2007 being its best year yet. “This year, we grew the most, with an 18 percent increase in membership,” said Stephanie Thorsheim, who has been the local track operator for four years.

She said this equates to about 147 riders, with an average of 60 showing up for either of the track’s two weekly races, held Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings. The 17-acre track, located in an empty lot behind Big 5 Sporting Goods, was built in the fall of 2001 under a special agreement with the city, which owns the land. “The city was generous enough to help us build the track,” said Thorsheim.

Today, the fruits of that effort are evident. The nonprofit organization counts among its membership numerous state, national and even world titles. Among these is national champ for his age group, Christopher Blevins, 9; and recent world champ, Ashley Grubb.

“We also have quite a few youngsters who are first in state,” said Thorsheim.

The majority of Durango BMXers range in age from 4 to 45 she said, with divisions both for novice and intermediate “class” (bikes with traditional 20-inch wheels) and “cruiser” (bikes with wheels 24 inches and up.) There is even a group of BMX dads who get together and race, she said.

One of the reasons for the growth in the sport could be the low-pressure, family atmosphere, she said. “It’s very positive, it’s not one of those sports where there’s fierce team competition,” she said. “At the end of the race, everyone high-fives each other. The focus is on building self-esteem and confidence.”

And Thorsheim speaks from experience. Her own son, Zach, 12, has been racing BMX for five years and is currently second in the district. “He tried everything – volleyball, basketball, soccer – he tried them all,” she said. “The one day, he said, ‘I think I want to try BMX,’ and ever since then, it’s been wonderful. He loves it.”

In the spirit of fostering the beginners, Durango BMX offers novices their first race for free. From there, it’s a $45 annual fee to join Durango BMX and then a per-race fee of $8 for Sunday “Trophy Races” and $6 for Wednesday evening “Ribbon Races.”

She said the beauty of BMX racing on the local level is the flexibility. “It’s one of those things where you can come and go as you please,” she said.

A biker prepares to drop in on the north end of the skate park on Saturday./Photo by David Halterman

She said the beauty of BMX racing on the local level is the flexibility. “It’s one of those things where you can come and go as you please,” she said.

Across town, at the new Durango Skate Park, BMX bikes are also becoming more of a common site as riders flock there to test their skills. “The BMX scene in Durango is definitely growing,” said

Cliff Pinto, owner of Pedal the Peaks bike shop. “Since 2002 the freestyle market sort of died out, but with the skate park it’s really picked up.”

This summer, Pedal the Peaks, along with Concrete Skate Shop, J-3 Media and the City of Durango sponsored a skateboard and BMX competition series. Pinto said he envisions the series getting even bigger next year with the addition of more sponsors and prize money. “The talk is about forming a nonprofit that would oversee the events and to offer more prize money to pull in bigger names from the north of here, Albuquerque and the Four Corners,” he said. “That way, the local kids can get inspired seeing what’s going on elsewhere and what other riders are doing.”

Pinto said in addition to the camaraderie among local skate park users, freestyle BMX is a good option for kids and adults alike because of its relatively low cost compared to some other Durango sports. “The nice thing is, you can get into the sport for under $300,” he said.

However, this isn’t to say that many BMXers aren’t converts from other cycling disciplines. In fact, Pinto said many of the freestylers, including himself, also mountain bike and road ride. OK, maybe a few hedge into the realm of bike-obsessed.

Ben Peterson, 23, started BMXing three years ago, but has ridden a bike his whole life. “When I was 15, I asked my mom for a BMX bike, but she said no because I was going to get my license in a year and would never ride it again,” he said. “She was wrong. I ride my bike every day.”

Peterson, who rides a singlespeed mountain bike modified like a BMX bike with upright bars and a smaller crank, said he BMXs for a change of pace. “It’s all about the challenge,” he said.

Pinto, a downhill mountain bike racer, said he took up BMX freestyle last winter also as a way to mix things up. “I had always ridden skate parks on my mountain bike, but I decided to take a break from downhill racing and picked up BMX as something new to do.”

He said his conversion is not unusual, and that, in fact, there is quite a bit of crossover between mountain biking and BMX freestyle. “There’s a big fusion between the two as far as the downhill, freeride and slopestyle goes,” he said. “There are a lot of similarities between what guys are doing on mountain bikes in these competitions and what they’re doing on BMX.”

Thorsheim, with Durango BMX, also sees a lot of crossover between the two genres. “We see a lot of kids crossover between mountain biking and BMX,” she said, adding that the DEVO mountain bike team occasionally uses the BMX track to train. “Sometimes, they’ll come and use the track to learn technique,” she said. “It’s really neat to see.”

As for the freestylers, they would like to see more crossover as well, but between their small-wheeled brothers and sisters. “The one thing I would really like to see is getting some of the track kids at the skate park,” said Pinto. “It really is a great environment.” •