team closer together.”
Staff said that USA Cycling’s responsibility is to not only develop championship cyclists, but to also help mold outstanding adults.
“There is life after riding, so we have a huge responsibility in that we are part of a rider’s life for some time, and how we act and behave with them and those around us probably will have some kind of lasting effect on them,” he said. “Whether a rider is successful or not, I want them to look back on their athletic career and say that it had a positive effect on their lives.”
Riders have raised money to fund their trip through the More Than Sport website. If you would like to make a last-minute donation, please click here.
“If they come back and have a little more respect for others, then great. If they see a neighbor needing a hand and offer it, then great,” Staff said. “Experiences are what we remember in life, not what color our 10th bike was.
“I don’t think it will directly make them better BMXers, but I do think it will make us better as individuals and work better as a team, which will transfer over for sure. Also on that 10th sprint when they feel like giving up, maybe they’ll remember the look on that person’s face when we showed up to build them a new house and realize that, you know what, maybe what I have to do isn’t that hard compared to what others go through, and so they’ll try that little bit harder.”
USA Cycling BMX riders head to Rosarito, Mexico, this weekend not to ride, but rather to build a house. Fourteen BMX riders will spend Saturday and Sunday building a house in Rosarito, Mexico. A year after the U23 road program completed a similar project under coach Michael Sayers, BMX coach Jamie Staff will bring 14 athletes to the Mexican town that borders the Pacific Ocean just 27 miles south of the Chula Vista, Calif.-based U.S. Olympic Training Center. There, the world-class riders will spend Saturday and Sunday building a home with More Than Sport, a global nonprofit that pairs athletes with charitable causes such as building libraries, installing water filtration systems and, in the case of the U.S. BMX riders, house building.
“I think it will be a humbling experience,” said Staff. “We all get carried away in our own worlds, and to put ourselves in someone else's shoes for a brief moment might make us think twice before we complain on how hard we have it. That, and the building work will take teamwork, and so I’m hoping that this will bring the
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.