I was having a discussion with Jamie Hales, one of the great of Australian BMX, a couple of weeks back. And something he said just keeps bouncing around in my head. It was something along the likes of “they are really taking the MX out of BMX”.

I’m not about to start an argument about the progression of BMX racing, I’m all for progression. The point is BMX stands for Bicycle Motocross. It was more like motocross in it’s infancy in the early 70’s with some of the earliest races being run either on MX tracks or something very similar.

It’s great that the UCI have taken steps to protect the BMX identity, like keeping our uniforms more BMX race style. It all nearly went horribly wrong when Wade Bootes started to get around in a body suit, or a “Bootie suit” I think it was being called at the time.

But taller start hills, and tar corners? It’s not like motocross have put in longer straights for bigger jumps, and you don’t see motocross track with tar corners either. Starting on traditional flatter hills takes more strength and greater skill than going down larger hills as does hooking around dirt corners in a bunch at high speeds. I can see the point of reducing maintenance for clubs and making life easier for everyone, I really can. I can also see the advantage of still being able to compete when the weather isn’t playing nice. And of course there’s the marketability of being able to splatter logos over massive corners, permanently.

To me personally I love BMX, and a track is a track, everyone has to ride the same track. But it would be nice to get back to our roots from time to time. One of my all time favourite tracks has to be Warragul, in South Eastern Victoria. Until just a few years ago it still had a 6 man starting gate and was very much a taste of BMX from the early days, it was refreshing to get back there from time to time. Progression saw it upgraded to be a state of the art facility, the problem is less people wanted to ride it, actually it got so bad that the club folded and the track is now quite weathered. Let’s not see this happen again, let’s not take the MX out of BMX and while we are progressing to the new level of BMX let’s not forget our roots. Let’s not forget the reason why many of us get involved in the sport in the first place, it’s not all about the World Cup, World Champion and Olympic crowns.