Your First BMX Racing National: A Parent’s Guide to What to Expect
Building on my previous blog on what to expect from your first regional (here), this is a brief guide on what to expect from your first National level race in the UK.
1. IT WILL FEEL LIKE A BIG EVENT!
A national in the UK will have over 1000 expert riders and families. There are no novice riders at National events. The event will be spread over three days:
· Friday will be a practice day, usually in late afternoon or early evening. There may also be some track coaching sessions on the Friday morning offered by the host club or a number of well know national coaches. Keep an eye on social media for details.
· Saturday will be race day 1 for the weekend. There will be a warmup, but don’t expect more than 2 or 3 laps. Racing will likely start at noon on the Saturday and run until around 4-6pm.
· Sunday will start a little earlier, again with a warm up for the younger riders first. Racing will likely start at 11am for the first round of motos.
2. PLAN YOUR DAY!
Planning for a national is really important. It isn’t always easy to leave the event and come back so you want to travel with everything you need for the day. You might want to think about:
· Make sure you have enough food for yourselves and your rider for the day. There will be some food stalls on site but it might not be what your rider wants or needs.
· The car park will be a walk from the track so bring a festival trolley! In it you might want to take towels, the bike, tools, spare inner tubes, a brush to clean your wheels, seats for you and your rider. You’ll need to transport the rider’s helmet, gloves etc. You might want to bring a spare peak for the helmet. Bring a battery bank to charge your phone!
· There will be event more downtime between races than at a regional so make sure you have some spare layers to keep them warm.
3. THE STANDARD OF RIDING GOES UP (AGAIN)
There are no novice riders at a National so the standard of riding and racing will be high! There will be plenty of riders with single digit numbers on their plates, representing they finished in the top 10 in the rankings form the year before, and a few W and E plates. These riders finished in the top 8 in the World or Europe in their category the year before.
If a rider has a three-digit race number, they are either 8 or younger or did not compete in Nationals the year before. If you are new to BMX National riding these riders may well be in the same boat!
Your club will likely have a club gazebo where you can find some friendly faces. But do take a walk around the track and the paddock area and have a look at the gazebos for the national racing teams. Some of the team Gazebos are amazing (Crank BMX Coaching and RAB Racing for example) and are getting better every year.
4. RESULTS MATTER LESS THAN EXPERIENCE
We said this in the article in preparing for your first regional and its still true! Technically you are meant to take part in at least 5 regional races before you can take part in your first BMX National. Even if your rider is winning every club race and every regional race, that does not mean your rider will find it as easy on the National stage. Many riders at regionals “ride up” to the age category above, but that isn’t as prevalent at National race events. National level tracks are also more likely to be longer and with Pro straights and larger start hills. So go into your first national looking to have fun and learn a lot.
Remember you are the adult and who your rider will look to for reassurance! Focus on their effort, not their final placing. The goal from your first National weekend is to survive and have a good time!
A few things you can say to them after each race:
“Great riding—what did you enjoy about that lap?”
"What are your aims for your next lap?"
Focus on the fun and the experience, not the result.
5. PREPARE FOR THE WEATHER...EVERY KIND OF (BRITISH) WEATHER
National events are outdoor days (ignoring the indoor). And because they are over a whole weekend then you could have one dry and one very wet day, so you need to be prepared for both.
Pack:
- Layers and waterproofs.
- Sun cream (and after sun).
- Spare gloves for your rider (minimum). You might also need spare racing shoes if the forecast isn’t great.
- Kit for two days!
- A brush and/or towel for wiping mud off race tyres.
- Water bottles (plural!).
- Snacks your rider actually likes.
- A basic tool kit + pump.
- Spare inner tube.
- Your festival trolley as mentioned above.
Prepared parents are relaxed parents.
FINAL SSS THOUGHTS
Your child’s first BMX National is a huge milestone, they will remember it, and so will you. Make sure you are prepared for the day, as relaxed as possible and so best placed to enjoy the weekend and the atmosphere.
Take lots of photos but try to really watch the races, don’t just watch the racing through your phone. That can be hard but remember at Nationals there will be videos of all the motos and races you can watch back later on YouTube.
Enjoy yourselves and support your rider to do the same and let’s see where this craxy BMX journey leads!
