Story from Valencia County News-Bulletin archives, August 11, 2001

E-mail a friend    Printer-friendly format

Date: August 11, 2001
Byline: T.S. Last
Headline: The sky's the limit for BMX-pert
   Skyler Schmidt becomes first homegrown 'expert' at Badlands BMX track Charles Lindbergh was the first man to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an airplane. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. And Skyler Schmidt is the first of Valencia County's Badlands BMX racers to achieve expert status.

   Skyler's feat will not make the history books, but it is nonetheless a notable accomplishment for Badlands BMX Park, the bicycle moto-cross track, located at NM 314 and Morris Road in Los Lunas, which opened last summer.

   There are other expert riders that show up at Badlands to race on Tuesday nights and Saturday afternoons. "But Skyler's the first rider who signed up at BMX and turned expert. That's a big deal," said Perfecto Garcia, the track operator.

   "And see that kid over there in the green," he continued, pointing to 10-year-old Joe Poisson. "He'll be the next one. Both him and Skyler had 19 wins Tuesday night ˜ either one was going to turn expert."

   It takes six wins as a novice to advance to the intermediate level, and 20 wins as an intermediate to turn expert.

   "It took me a year and three weeks to do that," said Skyler, the 11-year-old son of Rick and Jill Schmidt of Los Chavez. "It took a lot of try ˜ a real lot of try. But now that I'm an expert it's pretty nice."

   So what does it mean to him to be classified as an expert?

   "It means I'm not going to win as much," Skyler said. Now the competition will be tougher for him. He'll have to race more against other expert riders.

   "What's nice about BMX's advancement procedure is everybody gets a chance to win," Garcia said. "Some guys have a little more strength, a little more skill, and they'll start advancing. And that gives the other kids a chance to pick up some wins.

   "It's all for fun, but it feels good to win every once in a while."

   Skyler said he first got interested in BMX racing after seeing some riders in a Fourth of July parade last year. Badlands is located just down the road from his home. He and his father, Rick, came out to Badlands one day to try it out. By the next Tuesday he was racing.

   "He got out his old bike that he got at Wal-Mart," Rick Schmidt said. "He rode that bike and turned intermediate. Then we got him a 20-inch BMX bike on his birthday. He started this season on that bike and then he picked up a sponsorship and got this bike."

   Skyler now rides a GT Power Series Expert model that came from his sponsor's store ˜ Albuquerque Bicycle Center. Now he practices or races four to six days per week.

   Skyler said he'd like to turn professional sometime down the road. "Really down the road ˜ really, really, really down the road," he said. "Not right now. Maybe in five years, at least. I want to get better and win more."

   Skyler was willing to share some of his expertise. "You have to have strategy or you're not going to win," he said. "A lot of it depends on the track ˜ if it's smooth or rough. Like, we went to Deming and it was a slow track so you needed to have more acceleration than speed."

   Once on the track, there are certain tactics that can be utilized. "There's certain spots on the track you look for," he said. "Like a lot of times when you go through a berm you might want to choose the middle, or the inside. Or maybe when you go over a hill you might want to get the inside, so nobody can cut under you."

   Rick Schmidt is proud of his son and endorses BMX racing as a good way to keep children occupied. "This is cool. It's good for the kids," he said. "I wish we could get more involvement. I think it's a real positive thing for them."

   Rick said his wife, Jill, is a special education teacher at Belen Middle School, and she was able to get a few of her students to sign-up at Badlands.

   "We've seen changes in those kids since they started coming out here. It gives them an activity; it gives them something positive to do," he said.

   BMX racing is a relatively inexpensive sport ˜ all that's needed is a bike and helmet, and Badlands offers loaners for those interested in getting started. Riders must also wear shoes, long-sleeved shirts and long pants to help avoid abrasions in the event of a mishap.

   To race at Badlands, riders must be registered with the American Bicycle Association at a fee of $45 which keeps them eligible to race for a year. Entry fees are $7 on Saturdays, when riders register between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. On Tuesdays, the fee is $4, and riders register between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

   For more information on BMX racing at Badlands, contact Perfecto Garcia at 864-8240.