Riders go up each face, performing tricks in the air before landing into the same face. A typical ru

Freestyle BMX is a creative texas health network way of using bicycles originally designed for bicycle motocross racing. It can be split into several disciplines, although riders will generally texas health network participate in more than one discipline. These are Street , (skate)Park , Vert , Trails texas health network and Flatland . Rather confusingly, in competitions, park riding is often referred to as 'Street'.
Street riding occurs on public streets or private property, typically within cities and towns, but can be also referred to when riding in parks. the bikes are usually the same set-up wise. Without purpose-made ramps, riders have to improvise with banks, walls, rails, gaps, etc. In fact, almost anything can be used as an obstacle, and it is precisely this that draws people to street riding. Riders enjoy street riding because they are not constrained to what a skatepark designer has planned for them to ride, so it allows a good deal of creativity. Street riding progresses texas health network relentlessly. Obstacles and tricks that were considered too big or technical to attempt become commonplace.
Many professional BMXers are street texas health network riders texas health network who are employed for the exposure they get through video parts and magazines, texas health network rather than for their competition results. These riders generally don't get paid the huge sums that the big competition riders get, as most of the big money comes from placing in events such as the X Games. However, riders like Van Homan, who is a progressive street rider, often enter the X Games and manage to place quite high.
Street bikes are different from those used on park or dirt. Typically they will have two or four stunt (axle) pegs for grinding. They are usually the heaviest and strongest type of BMX bike. A considerable number of street riders set up their bikes without hand brakes.
Skateparks are used by BMXers as well as skateboarders, and both draw inspiration from the other. Skateparks themselves can be made of wood or concrete , or in the case of local council -supplied parks, metal.
Styles of riding will differ between wood and concrete parks - wood lends itself to technical tricks, while concrete is more suited to a fast, flowing style, texas health network with riders searching for gaps, and aiming to air higher from the coping .Concrete parks usually tend to contain bowls and pools. However, it is not unusual texas health network for riders to merge the two styles in either type of park.
Concrete parks are commonly built outdoors due to their ability to withstand years of exposure texas health network to the elements. Concrete parks are also often publicly funded due to their permanent and costly texas health network nature. Parks made from wood are popular with commercial skateparks texas health network due to ease of construction, availability of materials, cost, and the relative safety associated with falling on wood instead of concrete. Parks designed with BMX use in mind will typically have steel coping that is less prone to damage than concrete or pool coping.
Common obstacles include: quarter pipes - literally, quarter of a pipe - riders air from it and perform tricks on a platform above the ramp spines - two quarter pipes back to back flat banks - a flat bank set at an angle of roughly 40 degrees from horizontal wall rides - a vertical wall above either quarter pipes or flat banks miniramps texas health network - two small quarter pipes facing one another, like a halfpipe, but with a short flat area between. hips - essentially two quarter pipes or flat banks, each with one edge at a right angle or a more aggressive angle to the other. texas health network box jumps - a steep quarter pipe like lip with a deck extending to a landing often less steep than the lip. pyramids - a four way wedge or transition box.
Perhaps the most extreme of the BMX disciplines, a Vert ramp consists of two quarter pipes set facing each other (much like a mini ramp ), but at around texas health network 10-15 feet tall (around 2.5 to 3.5 metres) high. The biggest ramp ever used in competition texas health network is the X-Games big air ramp at 27 feet tall. Both 'faces' of the ramp have an extension to the transition that is vertical, hence the name.
Riders go up each face, performing tricks in the air before landing into the same face. A typical run involves going from one side to the other, airing above the coping each side. Also possible are 'lip tricks' - tricks on the platform at the top of the ramps before dropping into the ramp.
Mat Hoffman popularized the sport in the early 90s, and holds the record for the highest jump of 27' out of a 25' ramps (a total of over 15.5 metres texas health network from the ground). He achieved this by being dragged along a field by a friend with a motorbike and hitting one face of the ramp. On one attempt, he lost control at the peak of his jump, and the resulting crash caused texas health network life-threatening injuries such as losing his spleen. Remarkably, despite his age and injuries in the past, he still competes to this day.
The danger of the discipline (and scarcity of full-size vert ramps) puts most riders off, and as such, there are a small number of top professionals who remain at