If you were relocating and BMX was a top priority where would you move?

I think Phoenix is pretty strong these days. What, four world class tracks within an hour?

Chula Vista?

Reno. Tracks in Reno, Truckee, South Lake Tahoe, and Carson City. Plus Roseville is only a couple of hours away. 2 nationals per year in town, 1 in Roseville.


Doug

I know people may scoff but Bakersfield was pretty darned good. Two ABA tracks within 15 minutes and Woodward West was about an hour away. Good concrete parks within an hour. National level competition at the tracks (not as deep as So Cal but probably as good). The winter weather was conducive to BMX. There was a lot there in a very compact area. I miss it.

San Diego. Not even close.

SD or OC....

Its about the tracks, and the comp....

With the new Chula track I would concur with this. I had always heard that the previous tracks had too simple of designs to prepare for nationals but this new one is a bit tech I guess. Weather is obviously primo. Maybe a little trails weak for my taste but maybe I just don't know.

I think Reno is probably a good choice too. Place is overflowing with concrete parks and has a good indoor park. Of course I'm on the All BMX tip here.

I would think Roseville or Sac in general would be a good location as well. That Roseville scene seems pretty good for national prep.


OC is just one track though, no?

yeah, but just a few minutes north you have Whittier Narrows, and Bellflower. And between those two and the O, you never know who's gonna be on the gate with ya.

It's #1 for comp, no doubt.

I think SLC needs to be mentioned in here as well.

Charlotte NC.

8 tracks within 90 minutes. 8 nationals within 6 hours. 6 within 4.

Charlotte ABA
Gastonia NBL
Burlington ABA
Spartanburg ABA
Lexington NBL
Columbia ABA
Tanglewood NBL
Hendersonville NBL
Weaverville NBL 2 hours

I'll throw Fresno in to the mix. Tons of tracks for BMX and some of the best roadbike and mountain bike terrain in the country

1hr or less drive
Fresno FBX (also has trail park, Progression, pump tracks etc...)
Reedley
Visailia
Tulare
Atwater

2hrs
Manteca
Bakersfield Metro
Bakersfield

Here comes TonyHoffman with Fresno...

...and he's right.

(I was too slow)

+1

Fresno!
Skateparks, trails, Stumps, cool company, Orange Cove BMX track. Fresno state hotties and of course my good pal Rob Riofrio!!!

Fresno!
Skateparks, trails, Stumps, cool company, Orange Cove BMX track. Fresno state hotties and of course my good pal Rob Riofrio!!!

Although I live back in Pittsburgh, my vote is for Tampa/St. Pete as far as racing/tracks go. There is:

Tampa
Oldsmar
St. Pete
Sarasota
Orlando
Brandon (I think is new)
Dade City (may not be there anymore, not sure)
Daytona
St Cloud

All these tracks are with 1.5 to 2 hours of each other, there's more, but can't remember all of them right now.

If we are talking straight BMX racing I say we let the titles speak for themselves.

#1 Girl Pro DD: Chandler.
#1 Amatuer Cruiser. George Goodall: Chandler.
#1 Girl Amatuer Cruiser. Carlie Dyer: Chandler.

Chandler AZ

How about Raleigh? Or, just all of NC.

This scenario actually happened for me 2 years ago. I ended up moving to Tucson from Indianapolis. Great weather year around, 2 tracks in town, 7 more in state, Chula Vista only 5 hours away, Albuquerque only 7 hours away.

bakersfield

on the east coast i would move to Tampa or Charlotte.

West Coast Chula Vista or San Diego.

Ca11 has more NAG riders than any other, with all of the trails, tracks and parks NOR CAL has to offer you would be foolish to look else where.

I cant believe no one has mentioned Coeur D' Alene ID home of Cherry Hill BMX! One track, 3 more within 3hrs, closest nat 6+ hrs away. But we do have the N I Vintage BMX Hall of Fame. Where is RCain when you need him.

And a hella unique NOR CAL vibe!

Salt Lake City, Utah.

Our record speaks for itself. We have the #1 ABA program, rider count & moto count in the U.S., PERIOD.

Strong leadership, devoted volunteers, national class comp, multiple tracks including the BEST indoor facility in the Nation.

On top of that, SLC & the surrounding area is clean, beautiful, chuck full of of Mt. biking & skiing/snowboarding right outside your doorstep.

I have raced in AZ, Illinois, California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming & Colorado....Utah is a step above.

b.

Chicago

Hawaii! Handsdown. Sand Box BMX on Sand Island in Hononlulu has their first race on February 13th!

You could race Sand Box, then over to the North Shore to drop in on some bombs....

Hawaii = No Ka Oi

-Leasure

Phoenix

Good stuff everyone.

I live in Pittsburgh, PA. Ya winter does suck for BMX here. But, if we had an indoor facility (closer than Dayton, OH )I might even add it to the list.

Surprised noone mentioned Louisville, Indy, or Dayton.......maybe not sunny enough there either!?!

I live in rural OH and an 80 minutes or less from:
Heer Park -1 hr.
Norwalk - 1 hr.
Ohio Dreams - 20 min
Akron - 80 min
London - 80 min
Dayton - 2 hours
Within in 4 hours or so from South PArk, Louisville, Warsaw, Indy, Cleves, Waterford Oakes, etc.

I am not sure where I'd move just for BMX. Right now, I have no complaints.

Michigan

I would go with what B said. The best local program out there is Utah. I would move there in a minute, given the chance. Not to mention being able to snowboard.

I sooooo want to move from this hell hole they call Michigan.

St.Cloud, Florida

The center of The BMX State...Florida

2 hours from most tracks....


tampa
st.pete
sarasota
charlotte
okeeheelee 2.5hrs
palmbay
daytona
highlands
riverview
highsprings
Orlando
Tampa
Oldsmare

3hrs
capecoral
napels
miami
jacksonville

and last but not least ST.CLOUD BMX!

you can get 6 NBL national scores....and 5 ABA national scores without leaving the state!!
racing 365 days a year! (can i get a ric flair woooooo!)

Yep.You sure can....WOOOOOO!

Central Ohio...
All of the tracks above...
The winters arent too bad, but like Chris said just a handful of hours from what seems like at least half of the NBL schedule. Always worked out good for me.

I'm calling the Central Valley, CA. Bako to Roseville (throw Reno in the mix) we've got 4 nationals, many titles and some of the best tracks and riders in the country all within 4 hours of each other either way...

Hella Hella

Without a doubt Phoenix.

Estrella, Chandler, Black Mountain, Speedway. You can race 10+ months of the year and an airport to get you to any races orth hitting that aren't in SoCal.

Fresno Ca hands down! over the past ten years, there has been parks poping up all over town and it has not slowed down yet. There are 2 new parks yet to brake ground, one of them is a pool complex featuring the famed Vagabond pool and other world famous pools.

if anyone would like to look into further details about the bmx track, jumps, cement bmx park and the modular ramp parks, go to the website:

Fresno's ramp parks & bmx track

portland may be a hot bed again.
we have molala river, chehalem valley, salem, eugene, cottage grove, and in the plans hopefully vancouver washington and St. Helens, racing 7 days a week this year!?!?!?!?

You forgot Redmond & Bend 2.5 and 3hrs from P-Town. This is a bike town that is ripe for some BMX promotion. It's weird that there isn't a track in Multnomah County. I had some old bike store guy tell me it was a council member anti-BMX conspiracy. maybe we could ressurect/wake up the body of Darrel Young to come back and save BMX in our town. I have heard rumors of a track out at Portland Meadows(maybe got switched to the Vancouver project) and a new pump track slated for the park that will be replacing Colewood Golf Course after the Airport expansion.

So what are you looking for, quality or quantity? 4 riders in your class or 14?

b.

Actually, I was looking for something other than the obvious.
SoCal, NorCal, Phoenix, even FLA.....we'd all like to live in those Meca's, sure they are way Rad but I was hoping to get people all geeked on their local scene and suprise the masses.

We've been to Indy, LouiKY, Dayton, and VA all pretty impressive. And all we need here in Pittsburgh, PA is a Indoor scene and I'd never consider leaving.

Of those above mentioned "Meca's", if we're considering things like housing and cost of living, jobs AND BMX....we probably should move to Phoenix.

Depends how dependent upon water you are....

Like Bruce said, it's all about the S to the L to the C-izzle!

+1 Especially with the new track design and layout at Chandler

Ok...Stumpdawg (G.O.A.T)

Fresno CA

This thread has me thinking. It might be a good idea to move to FL. How much is 3-4 bedroom house in Tampa or St.Cloud?

I would either pick Raleigh, NC or Austin, TX if I was to move & bmx was a factor. There seems to be cool scenes in both cities. As a bonus, I have family & friends in Raleigh. Phoenix is a good bmx town, but I would'nt want to live there. My crazy ex has family there.

Conroe Texas or Chula...

however, i WILL be relocating this summer to Huntley, IL. sandwiched between Rockford and Elgin.

BMX and Freestyle was invented in the Los Angeles area and Orange County to a lesser degree. That said, you have more BMX and Freestyle history there than anywhere in the world. NorCal is 2nd place then maybe Phoenix or Florida; Tampa or South Florida. BMX was big in Miami back in the 70s and 80s however with the influx of immigrants from Latin America, other sports take predence over BMX. I had to choose on area, I'd vote any seaside city from Santa Monica to San Deigo.

Huntington Beach comes to mind.

I've travel anywhere NorCal and Nevada (Reno & Carson City) under 3 hours. except roseville is the best local track and alway 40-45 motocounts than other local track in NorCal.

You guys just keep talking and try to figure it out while we continue to run 50-moto single pointers, keep growing our local scene maintaining the current #1 local program in the country and hold one the best national stops of the year in the ABA Great Salt Lake National which will be the North American UCI Championships this year.

And if BMX racing aint your thing we have some of the best skateparks and trails in the US, just ask Fuzzy Hall, Mike Aitken, Matt Beringer, Rob Wise, Cam Wood and Josh Hult all SLC local shredders.

Oh... and we have the best mountainbiking and snow in the WORLD!

Do I need to say anymore.... didnt think so.
Steve