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BMX is at an interesting juncture. At its conception in the 1970s, Bicycle Motocross was inspired but just that, motocross. The story is now so popular, it’s almost a cliché – little "Bobby" didn’t have a dirt bike, but he had a bicycle, and the engineless mimicking of motocross became so popular, sanctioning bodies were formed, and official racing was taking place, with professionals making a solid living racing 20” bikes. As the sport grew and new audiences and kids took notice, the strict disciplines of the sport changed. As action sports waxed and waned in popularity through the early 90s, the pressure to stay at the track and train softened. There was now a growing scene of young kids trying tricks on their bikes, some were inspired by motocross, some were inspired by skateboarding. At the major contest and video level, it did become apparent that the bike control learned while racing made riding dirt jumps, street, or skateparks all the more evolutionary. You almost don’t know who to invite, because it’s never been done before, you can’t judge who’s going to do well… Skip a few years of “figuring it all out,” to the 1990s and early 2000s; variety was a rider’s best friend. BMX videos and multi-disciplinary contests were the backbone of any respectable career riding a 20” bicycle. Those who discovered the sport at a local BMX track, found themselves drifting into their local trail scene, and eventually were searching out skateparks and street spots. Anyone lucky enough to grow up in Eastern Pennsylvania and own a BMX bike saw the birth of an iconic trail scene. Not quite motocross, not quite freestyle, trail riding was as much about engineering jumps and berms as it was about boosting them. Riders would travel from woods to woods to compare trails and see what was feasible. Dave King, owner of DirtSculpt – and designer of Double Cross, Red Bull Dirt Conquers, and Texas Toast – learned everything about building his local trails by travelling. “We’d keep changing everything to see what worked," said King, "And after visiting Posh Trails [a groundbreaking trail spot], we tore down every run we had and rebuit the entire place.” an event that puts the motocross back in bicycle motocross To the untrained eye, trail riding closely resembled traditional bicycle motocross. Skateparks and street riding had a heavy influence from skateboarding, and BMX racing reached Olympic caliber, removing the need for riders to dip their toes in the other freestyle-based styles. When someone rides trails, there’s no racing, but there’s a ton of speed, there may be 30 people in the session, but no one’s riding head-to-head. Enter Double Cross, hosted by the Trail Riders of America. The doubles look like trails, but there’s a head-to-head start gate, and everyone’s racing. The pro roster in the first year brought out a slew of racers turned freestyle riders – names like Van Homan, Scotty Cranmer, Chris Doyle and Aaron Ross all came and ripped through the course. The first year excitement was summed up by Van’s impression, “You almost don’t know who to invite, because it’s never been done before, you can’t judge who’s going to do well…” After an entire day of BMX racing, the riders and crowd were still juiced, proving that even the most critical of dirt jumpers were getting excited about racing again. The final rounds saw guys who make their living flipping and spinning rubbing elbows with guys who make a living on the old school BMX track. Results: Double Cross 2014 1. Victor Beam 2. Steven Cesar 3. Chris Doyle Darryl Nau, BMX pro and party-throwing extraordinaire, was on the mic and dropping infinite BMX wisdom during every bit of the action. Nau kept it for the riders and outlined who rode at which trails, who raced together when they were kids, and highlighted all of the inspirational riders that came to make the event happen. TRA president and event organizer Mike Gentilcore achieved his goal, and the operative quote of the weekend as was heard by everyone, “Start an event that puts the motocross back in bicycle motocross.”