My first race was a bit scary, but I had some friends with me who helped walk me thru it. When we got to the track, the first thing we did was head to the small little sign-up shack. There, I met - for the first time, the track operator - Al Luminum.  Al was a over weight MX has-been. I would later find out that he once diced it out with Danny "McGoo" Chandler at the Hi-Point finals in Prarie City OHV in the 70's. Now running the BMX track, Al was like everybody's favorite uncle - and he was also a great announcer, who could give everybody a cool nickname on the spot. 

Once I was signed up and signed the membership form, we geared up on the tailgate of my buddy Noah's Datsun min-truck. That thing was cool, and got all the chicks attention. Noah knew everybody at the track, since he was like the local Pro. We went up to the top of the starting gate and it was like the parting of the red sea for him. Little kids wanted his autograph. Chicks were handing him their phone number and fellow racers were high-5;ing him as we got to the top of the massive hill. 

Magically, the gate lifted up and we slid in to the lane. I was in 4, Noah was in 3. My first time in the gate, I wasn't comfortable about balancing on the pedals, so I did the classic beginner 1-footed start - just like the dude in Lane 8 named Bill Morris. That dude could still snap the best of them doing it old school style. The cadence began and the lights flashed down the tree, when suddenly the gate slammed down like Steeyle Levine on the mat at an NAGA match. 

My first lap was a blast, even though I was taking every obstacle at half speed. I was mid-pack over the first jump, and quickly got passed by two lil' 8x grommies in the first turn. I wasn't about to let these little squids beat me - even though they'd probably been racing since they were 3 years old and this was my first time. I cranked it a little hard as I approached the tabletop jump before turn 2, and caught up with the little dudes on their Redline mini's. Since I wasn't clipped-in, I went for the foot-out, inside swoop and rode one of them high at the exit of the turn, stealinghis line and giving him two choices: put on the brakes or go over the berm. As I heard him go poof in the dust of the backside of the berm, a vengeful smile showed on my face and I was instantly in love with BMX. Next up on the track was the tricky and treacherous rhythm section that Noah had warned me about when we were cruisin' to the track. I recalled him telling me to keep my elbows bent and don't be too stiff as I rolled and pumped it thru the whoops. I thought I was doin' good, whizzing thru the waves of rollers and step-ups ...that is, until some girl passed me like I was dragging an anchor behind me. Her hair was flowing behind her like she was starring in a shampoo commercial. Her speed and perfect synchronicity thru the rhythm caught me off guard and a simple little roller jumped out in front of me and WHAM! I was flyin' over the bars like Superman; only my hands were still on the bars. Luckily, I tucked and rolled it, somer-saulting once before landing straight to my feet. I just stood there for a sec in disbelief, expecting the 20 or so people in the bleachers to give me a round of applause, or score me perfect 10's like a gymnast. 

It wasn't long before I had the track dialed in - at least for a newbie. It would take me many more months before I was jumping and clearing stuff, without casing and denting my rear Alienation rim. Soon, the call came over the loud speakers - "Motos are posted!" It was like a blue-light special at K-mart;  everybody ran to the motoboards and moshed around a bit as if they were at a Megadeth show. Once I got to the moto sheets, I found my race and my name, and scribbled down the lanes on my hand. I didn't have a pen with me, so I borrowed a Sharpie from the babe who'd passed me thru the rhythm section on that first lap. I was half tempted to ask for her cell number, too - but figured I'd better wait until I see how I do in the main. My chances would improve if I had a first place trophy in my hand. 

Back in staging, I was sizing up my competition. There was some dude with a double-digit number, so I figured me might be fast, and then there was a kid with full-on Fly gear. It was all brand new, just like his bike, with not one spec of dust on it. He looked like he'd just walked off the pages of the Fly catalog. Was he good, or just a poser wanna-be?!  I'd soon find out. One other guy in our race was pretty cool and friendly, and we rode the same kind of bike - so, I befriended him instantly. On the back of hte hill, they gave us our lanes - me in lane 3, Mr.Friendly in 5, Poser-boy in 1 and Factory stud was stuck on the outside in lane 6.  Watching the moto in fornt of us leave the gate gave me an instant rush of adrenaline, as I slid in to the lane once the gate rose up. I noticed most of the guys were balancing in the gate like pros, doing a 2-footed start. I decided I'd try it. Although a bit wobbly, I got the hang of it quickly. The cadence began and the next thing I knew, I was blasting down the starting hill nearly grip-to-grip with them all. The Ray Hudson look-alike in the Fly gear locked up his brakes before the first jump, but I went for it, catching a bit of air as I launched over it. By now, I had a slight lead, being on the inside. The 2-digit dude on the outside was settingus all up for a high-low manuever as we entered the first turn. I saw it coming, so I held a low line thru the turn and was able to keep my momentum, and hold him off from passing me. The rhythm straight was intense, and I'd never taken it so fast. By the finish, I was completely winded, but wound up with my first win. Ever. 

Prior to racing BMX, I'd done a lot of sports - from baseball to soccor and football. Even tried badmitton at one time. The majority of the time, our team would lose - mostly due to a coupla slackers who really didn't care about winning or losing. Afterall, in most of those sports, they gave out the same size trophies, or sometimes didn't even keep score. Of course, all of us kids knew the score - we were losers!  I hated losing. ...and I love winning. Which is why I was loving this new sport called BMX!  If I won, it was because of me. If I lost, I could only blame myself and would have to try harder to win next time. 

By winnig my first moto, I had transfered straight to the main event. From the sidelines, I watched Noah's race - where he skied it over every jump, throwing out some whips as if he were James Stewart at A1 for the Monster Energy Supercross series. The crowd ate it uo. Flashbulbs popped, Al the announcer was going berzerk on the mic, and the crowd cheered him on as he won by about 8 bike lengths. It was right then, that I knew what I wanted to do in BMX. ...be llike him.  Make it in BMX.

By the time the main events were called to staging, I was on the ultimate high. I was digging this BMX thing. I'd made a bunch of new friends and was feeling some confidence for the final.  I'd scoped out the collection of trophys lined up in the registration trailer and had already picked out which one I'd take home with me. 

Our main event lined up with my newfound friend and factory dude with the "22" on his plate. The full-on Fly dude hadn't made the main, but on the brigh side - he did get his uniform a little bit dirty when he crashed while dicing it out for the final transfer spot. 
The gate slammed down and I wasn't ready for it - so I was late out of the gate. I cranked hard down the hill to catch up with my rivals. By the first turn, I was right on them, and we came out of turn one nearly 3-abreast. In the back of my head, I could hear the announcer screaming with excitement as we hit the jumps, still tied up. Seeing an opening, I dove for the inside of turn two, and passed 22. Hitting the jump-infested rhythm at full speed, my arms were power-pumping like Dominque Daniels, and I was juicing the backside of every jump for the advantage. My buddy bobbled over a jump and that was all it took for me to take over the lead. My heart was pounding and I was nearly out of breath by the time I hit the final jump and laid down some style on the way to my first ever win. It was an awesome feeling. I wondered to myself, "Why did I waste all of those years playing team sports?!"

Heading home that night - Noah, with a $100 bucks in his pocket from winning the pass-the-hat Pro//Am, and me with my first ever trophy. There was only one thing I could say or feel:  BMX Racing rules!