Tucson has its own mini version of the Roger
DeCosters, Marty Tripes and Pierre Karsmakers.
So who are DeCoster, Tripes and Karsmakers? They
are three of the more well known motocross riders in the world who are being emulated by
about 70 youngsters who take their knobby-tired dirt bikes to one of three local bicycle
motocross tracks.
And what’s a motocross track (BMX) track?
Well, the one behind the Spokesmen Bike Shop is a 180-yard dirt obstacle course that is
dressed with whoopty--doos and berms.
And what are whoopty-doos and berms? WD’s
are small bumps on the track enabling bicyclists to do wheelies and berms are small rises
of dirt along the outside of turns.
The rugged course also causes a few of the
cyclists to go head over heels over the bike’s handle bars ... endo. That’s the
term for wipeout.
The bicycles are hardly the class of a 10-speed
Puegot. Instead the kids are taking 20-inch bike frames and garnishing them with
motorcycle-like handle bars and knobby tires to get proper traction in the dirt, mud and
guck
Stuart Kleinberg, 25-year old owner of the
Spokesmen Shop, revolutionized the sport in Tucson. He and about seven youngsters molded
the course together about two months ago and now every Saturday and Sunday about 70 kids
dig, water and pack the course down before they race on Sunday.
"Before I went into the business I knew I
wanted to do something different," says the mustacheod, bearded Kleinberg.
"There were enough 10-speed bike shops in town and I knew I couldn’t compete
with them so I decided to do something new."
His" something new" has blossomed into
an epidemic here. Where there was once only his course, there are now three others in
Tucson and five in Phoenix.
"Something like this for the kids needs to
be organized and well supervised," says Kleinberg. "Some of these kids were
doing this in vacant lots and that about killed me when I thought about the safety
factor."
Consequently, he tries to have at least 10 adults
around to oversee the action. Occasionally one of the kids’ parents, who happens to
be a doctor, spectates. If not, there is an ambulance service only a block away.
Two Tucson city policemen stopped by the course
Sunday to take a glimpse of the goings on.
"This is really great," said one of the
officers. "The city needs more things like this for the Kids. They seem to be having
a ball out there and I’d rather see them doing this than out on the streets. I think
my 10-year old son would like this. I’ll have to tell him about it."
The sport is relatively free of serious injury
because of the size and limited speed of the bikes. Yet, there are times when the
competitive adrenaline is flowing and the kids get a little too daring and rambunctious.
A week ago today two riders flew over a jump and
tumbled, one doing an infamous endo. Both walked with just bumps and bruises. After the
second accident Kleinberg halted activity for about 15 minutes to cool the kids down.
"That really bothers me," says
Kleinberg about the accidents. "All last week we didn’t even have one minor one.
Maybe these kids are getting just a little too enthused."
There are three divisions of competition -
nine-11, 12-13 and 14 and over and there is a novice, intermediate, junior expert and
expert class in each. The rider ratings are determined by past performances.