It feels good to have some time in a foreign country to explore, meet new people and see new things. After a few days "off" it was time to head back to the Pista BMX Carlos Ramirez for Friday's practice and Saturday's Round 7 of the UCI BMX Racing World Cup. Most of the athletes had come over to Colombia a week prior to get used to the 2500m altitude. For them it's the third weekend in Bogota and the goal was to score some good points now that Olympic qualifying has started for BMX racing since last weekend. Watching high level BMX racing you can only have respect for the athletes. That first lip of the 10m gap looks good for a dirt jump competition, but takes a different approach when hit at 60 kmh. It becomes a bit of a curb that you have to suck up to stay low. Any freestyle rider would use the transition to send it high, but that's not the goal for BMX Racing. The speed generated is so high and the racing is so close that a little elbow bump can result in being out of competition.
The support for the riders is there. With team tents, rollers, food, drinks, physios, doctors, trainers, and mental coaches at hand, the pressure gets even higher when expectations are high and points are expected. Racing down that 8 meter hill with 7 others next to you becomes a battle. With fairly packed granstands on the first straight full of loud fans, VIP's, media and coaches, making it out front is what everyone is shooting for.
The season continues in Colombia! Don't miss the world's best BMX riders fighting in a thrilling event for the honor of becoming the 2022 UCI World Cup Champion and the chance of becoming an Olympian
Top 10 UCI BMX Racing World Cup standings with 2 rounds to go.
Elite Men
1 ANDRE Sylvain FRA 2170 points
2 WOOD Cameron USA 1705
3 RENCUREL Jérémy FRA 1562
4 ARBOLEDA Diego COL 1392
5 KENNEDY Izaac AUS 1369
6 WHYTE Kye GBR 1308
7 MAYET Romain FRA 1099
8 RAMIREZ Carlos COL 1070
9 CARMONA GARCIA Mateo COL 851
10 CLERTE Eddy FRA 843
Elite women:
1 SMULDERS Laura NED 2790 points
Fly fishing. I've never done it and I don't know how it works, but when I got the chance to tag along with Pedro, Craig and Max I went for it. Something new I'm always up for it. Little did I know that the plan was to leave the hotel at 04:20am to beat traffic. But Pedro had his vehicle well prepared with fresh coffee and breakfast sandwiches which was really nice. It was dark when we made it up north so not much of the environment could be enjoyed at that point. The roads are a mess in
The reason for me being in Bogotá is the UCI BMX Racing World Cup. Working with the media has been something I've done for many years now at these races and it's great to get on the road a couple of times a year to see the best BMX racing in real life. The work isn't too complicated but on arrival on Friday the media centre did not exist, we had no wifi, tables, chairs or anything that normally makes up the media centre at these events. The media tent was used for the medical centre or team Colombia who had priority over media on Friday. Come Saturday all was good and work could be done by local (Colombian) media as well as the international press that made it to the first Olympic Qualifier weekend for BMX Racing.
What makes races in Colombia so special is the crowd. Anything is better with an enthusiastic crowd in the grandstands. It was clear that Mariana Pajon and Carlos Ramirez are the national BMX heroes but after doing several BMX clinics in Colombia Niek Kimmann has his fair share of fans as well. Unfortunately for the fans Carlos Ramirez had two bad racing days with crashes. The good thing is that two more UCI World Cup rounds will be held on the same track that has his name on it. 1-2 October it's redemption time for Carlos so everyone watch out. Niek Kimmann added some fans after winning on Saturday. Sunday didn't go as well. Mariana was consistent but missed out on a podium this weekend.
Final results UCI BMX Racing World Cup - Round 6 Bogota, Colombia. Sunday 25 September 2022
Elite Men:
1 Cameron WOOD 21 USA 32.725 500.00
2 Joris DAUDET 31 FRA 33.147 430.00
3 Izaac KENNEDY 22 AUS 33.186 370.00
4 Sylvain ANDRE 30 FRA 33.330 318.00
5 Nicolas TORRES 25 ARG 33.494 273.00
6 Jérémy RENCUREL 27 FRA 34.190 235.00
Final results UCI BMX Racing World Cup - Round 5 Bogota, Colombia 24 Sep 2022
Elite Women:
1 Bethany SHRIEVER 23 GBR 35.592 500.00 UCI Ranking points
2 Laura SMULDERS 29 NED 35.744 430.00
3 Alise WILLOUGHBY 31 USA 36.100 370.00
4 Lauren REYNOLDS 31 AUS 36.588 318.00
5 Merel SMULDERS 24 NED 36.811 273.00
6 Mariana PAJON LONDOÑO 31 COL 37.330 235.00
So after checking the BMX track it was back in the shuttle to go back to the hotel. But instead of going to the room it was time for lunch first. Being on the road you never know what happens with food. I did take a banana to the track that I confiscated from Schiphol Airport Lounge 25 and imported into Colombia without thinking twice. Now that I bring this up it reminds me of a story when Michael Steingraeber went to the USA and had two oranges in his hand luggage. After ticking the question with a NO on important meat or vegetables, he had to pay $25 per orange before making it into the USA. Luckily Colombia isn't like the USA and that banana came into handy after lunch never showed up at the track and it wasn't before 15:30hr before we got some food after the 8am breakfast. I'm not complaining here, just indicating how things work in the field. It's never a walk in the park and
It's about time to race.. Discover the track that gonna host the next 4 rounds of the World Cup.. Races are gonna be live all week end on Olympic channel.
Through the UCI I've been lucky enough to be present at the UCI BMX Racing World Cups. With previous rounds over the years happening closer to home in Belgium, England, Italy, France, Netherlands, and Sweden, we now made it over to Bogota, Colombia. The 05:10am alarm clock gave me 20 minutes to get ready to leave the house for the 10 minute walk to the nearest train station at Helmond-Brandevoort. In Eindhoven I switched trains to Utrecht where the announcement came that a defect train was on the rails in between Utrecht and Amsterdam-Centraal. Luckily enough the train to Schiphol wasn't affected by it so I made it to the airport at 07:27hr, in time for the 10:10hr departure on the straight flight to the city of Bogota.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.