Three Years In and BMX is Still Teaching Me Life Lessons

The game only ends if you stop getting back up.

In the fall of 2019, I wrote a detailed account of how I came to pick up a BMX bike in my early thirties. The process inspired the unravelling of a template of sorts that might be used to bring even more dream projects into reality.

As I prepare to celebrate my third “BMX birthday” this summer, there are a few lessons that I keep learning (and relearning) through my practice which I’d like to share with you.

It’s been an especially ripe year for cementing these lessons, as the panoply of pandemic restrictions has made it harder to ride and to explore parks away from home; and the absence of local and global contests such as Fise, Vans Pro Cup and *ahem* the freaking Olympics where freestyle BMX would have debuted as a sport in 2020 have made it challenging to keep a momentum going.

For regular riders, these events offer a wild burst of inspiration and awe that we can then carry with us into our next session at the park. Seeing top riders such as Angie Marino, Hannah Roberts and Nina Buitrago accomplish crazy feats in a moving display of community and sisterly support is like rocket fuel to any rider, female or otherwise, old or young.