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If I bump someone in a corner and they go over the turn, does that make me a "dirty rider?"

I've heard somewhere that "bumping is racing"!!

Personally, I feel that if a person cant handle getting bumped in a turn, then they shouldn't be racing BMX.

That's not to say that getting bumped and sending you over the burm shouldn't piss you off, but if it happens, it means one of a couple of things.

1) you didn't protect your line
2) you weren't going fast enough

Both of which are in your own control. Oh, and one more option......they can always use the brake!

Of course not much of this applies to me. Mostly because I am usually so far behind that i couldn't bump someone in a turn if I wanted to.

Race to Win!

It's okay to bump someone, just make sure your not looking back at them and THEN taking their line. That is dirty riding.

I'm not asking the question from a new rider's standpoint. I've been riding/racing BMX longer than most of the racers today have years to their lives. I'm just trying to see if racing is going soft.

When I first got involved with racing at the age of 14, I rode with 5 or 6 guys that lived within riding distance. Just like most people, right? Wrong. The guys that I rode with were all at least 3 years older than I was. To top it off, half of them were top experts in my area and the other half were A pro. Am I painting a picture for you ? So here I am with my Raleigh Rampar doing my best to keep up with these guys. To be honest, I think they were doing their best to get rid of me, but when they realized I wasn't going away, they kinda made me the mascot.

We had a couple of different trails that we would ride. And every session would include old school, one-footed 'motos' without a gate. So these guys proceeded to teach me everything they could. But they taught me from the beginning to race like they did, AGGRESSIVELY.

1) Get a good snap.
2) Pedal as much as you can, even over jumps.
3) Protect your inside, even if you have to 'lean' on someone
trying to get by. It will also stop you from going over the turn if
you get bumped hard enough.
4) If you are behind, look for any opportunity to pass. If the guy in
front of you drifts a little too far out, dive in. IF HE REALIZES WHAT
YOU'RE DOING AND LEANS IN, THAT'S WHAT HE'S SUPPOSED TO
DO. By the same token, IF YOU BUMP HIM OR RIDE HIM HIGH IN THE
TURN AND HE GOES OVER, THEN HE WASN'T PROTECTING HIS LINE
WELL ENOUGH.
This is how racing expected to be. Alot of us are friends but at the same time we are competitors. As far as I am concerned, short of truly riding dirty, Ronnie Anderson style, this is acceptable.

I have said all of this to say one thing. After going out to the races at Rad indoor last week, and seeing the track (great job guys!), it brought back memories. Indoor races are notorious for people going over turns because of how tight they are. And since I will be making my return to racing at an indoor race, I just wanted to get a take on other opinions.

In closing, let me say this. I have been put over a few turns as well as put a few people over turns in my years. It is a part of racing, I know. I have never filed a protest for going over a turn. On the contrary, if you put me over a turn in a race, I'm going to find you after the race and shake your damn hand and pat you on the back. It actually gets me pumped up! Anyway, I think that's enough on this subject. All I have left to say is 28+ here I come! See you at the races. AUDI

A couple of rules that I always tried to race by were:

Be aggressive, but dont ride dirty
Know that hitting someone will slow you down
Always be prepared next moto for the revenge


so to answer your question, I do believe that if you intentionally hit someone and they do go over the berm, I feel that is dirty riding, unless, it was completely unavoidable. Dont be afraid to get in there and bump some elbows, but you never want to hit someone so hard that they go over the turn, not only does this slow you down, but more than likely someone is going to pull a high-low on you and you wont have gained anything but a a rival, and more than likey a target on your back for the next moto. I do not believe that BMX is soft, if you think it soft, you havent watched the AA pro class. I would be caught dead walking up to Berkheimer, or Abedessa and say your guys are soft. Sorry! not going to happen. This isnt football, you can be aggressive, without being dirty.

j

Here's my take on "contact" in BMX, if it's not a blatant T-Bone or stupid contact with nothing on the line, I:E race is over, its all fair. Iv'e got somewhat of a rep of not being afraid of making contact while racing. Contact was just a fact of racing back when I was racing on platform pedals & flat turns. Clips & one-line, high-speed berms have made contact a rare thing indeed....& when there is contact, people freak out. Jonas made a comment about paybacks....I dove down on Hardy at a race a year or so ago in the first turn at Tooele, I had the inside & rode up into him, I'm NOT going to hit my brakes & lose my momentum. I got a handlebar in front of his & that's all it took, his front tire hit my rear & he went down. I felt bad because he's a good friend but racing is racing. Fast forward 5 months to Rock Springs & in our main I got under Rich in the last corner in our main, made contact & Rich threw a big-league elbow & I went down in flames. Hey that's the way it goes, if you play with fire, your going to get burned. I was OK & that was a good reaction by Rich.

Here is some more takes on contact - http://www.vintagebmx.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=006678

b.

I would pretty much agree with everything that has been said so far on this topic. But I'd have to add one thing. I guess the amount of contact depends on what your riding for. For example, in my case, I'm as competitive as anyone when I'm on the track, but my #1 goal is to have fun. Do I mind a little contact? No, it's part of racing (though I haven't experienced much contact since I'm usually following ). Do I think I should be ridden like a .25 cent horse outside the grocery store over the berm? Probably not. Because when it's all said and done, I have to go to work on Monday. BMX ain't paying the bills.

The good thing is there's not much contact in the back of the pack, but one of these days I'll be up near the front, so maybe my philosophy will change

To me it is very hard to designate a dirty rider, alot of it is perception. However if you are a dirty rider you know you went into that race with the idea in your head that you were going to win at all costs. It will catch up with you one way or another...

I have witnessed the making of dirty riders many times... IE parents telling kids to do things that will directly put another rider in danger for the sake of winning a race. It is dirty, just get your kids to ride their bikes more often, not just at the track, build a well rounded rider(tracks, trails, skateparks, anyplace you can put you and your bike in a new surrounding) then they will get past the person they want to pass soo dearly.