A BMX Race - officially recognised as a contest between not less than two nor more than eight BMX riders who will compete on the same track, and are all given the same opportunity;

• To leave the starng gate at a common signal,

• To traverse the enre track from start to finish,

• To have the order of their finish recorded by official scorers. 

Age Classification

The sport of BMX is classified by age groups and there are two ways in which the sport determines age. For the younger riders it is ‘age on day’ and for the older riders it is by their ‘UCI age’. Following is a explanaon of each of these classifications to assist in knowing what they are & how they change;

• Age on day - This classification is as it states, the riders age on the day is the age class he or she rides in, e.g. if the are 6yrs old, they ride in 6yr boys or girls class

 • UCI age - This classification is based on the age that rider turns in the calendar year they are racing in. So if the rider turns 16 in a year, for example 2021, the rider will race in the 16yr age class in any race between January the 1st to December 31st of 2021.

Another way to determine the age class is to minus the year of birth from the current year. For example if the rider was born in 2005, subtract from 2021 = 16, therefor the rider will race in the 16 year age group.

Striders and Sprockets riders all run to ‘age on day’, then riders 8yrs and above rider as their ‘UCI age’.

The change can be confusing, but the key point is that the ‘UCI age’ classification overrides the ‘age on day’, especially for 7yr old riders. So 7yr riders may have a short or long time in that ‘age on day’ class depending on an early year birth date or late year birth date. For example a February 7yr birthday will run as a 7yr old all year, before changing to UCI 8yr on the 1st Jan the next year. Where a November 7yr birthday will run as a 7yr old for the last two months, then change to UCI 8yr on the 1st Jan the following year.

All youth age groups are single year groups, e.g. 9yr or 10yr up to 16yrs.

All Adult age groups are generally in 5 year blocks, e.g. 35-39yrs or 40-44yrs.

The sole age group with a bigger span is 17-24yrs.

Challenge Class - This is general race class for all amateur riders, who are able to race at all events nationally & internationally except for Championship Class events.

BMXNZ - BMX New Zealand Inc. (BMXNZ) is the governing body of the sport and is headed by the BMXNZ Board who are voted in by the 32 member clubs. BMXNZ is affiliated to and a member organisation of the National Cycling Body, Cycling New Zealand. There are various volunteer roles outside of the Board that assist it and the sport to run. There is one employed role of an Execuvtie Officer that delivers the strategy & working decisions of the Board.

Challenge Class - This is general race class for all amateur riders, who are able to race at all events nationally & internationally except for Championship Class events.

Championship Class - This class is defined as the elite of the sport. This is divided into Junior (17-18yrs) and Elite (19yr+)

Clips/Clipless - Pedals that have built in mechanisms that lock to shoes that have cleats. These NOT permitted to be used by any riders who are aged 12 years & under in age.

Commissaire - A registered BMXNZ official that can manage a race event/meeting

Deadman Final - This is a final where the result of this single race is accepted as the overall final results of the race meet & is not influenced by any other factor at the race meeting.

DNF - An acronym for Did Not Finish, where a rider did not complete a race. Also where any rider who received assistance during a race from an official or medical staff, are marked as a DNF.

DNS - An acronym for Did Not Start, where a rider did not start a moto or race.

Event/Meeting - The complete collection of races necessary to determine overall winners for every class or combined class of competiton in which there are registered participants.

Final - the last round of racing for each class in a event/meeting when there are more riders registered than 8 riders allowed on a full gate.

High Low - The manoeuvre taken in a corner to outwit another racer. It is the process of entering the corner in a high/outside position & diving low under the rider in front to gain a position or higher exit speed. This can be reversed as a Low-High manoeuvre entering a corner low & fast, pushing up to exit high, with the same aim of getting in front of a competing rider.

Huck/Hucking - The act to throw oneself & bike haphazardly over a feature or jump. Generally in desperation to make the landing, not done with skill or accuracy.

Infield - The entire track area enclosed by a perimeter fence or property boundary

Major Meetings - This Title covers the three major meetings that are managed by BMXNZ & the sports volunteers. Nationals (NATs), North Island Titles (NITs) & South Island Titles (SITs) are run each year & provide recognised national rankings for all riders who complete the event.

Manual - The action of riding on the back wheel of a bike & moving forward without pedalling. Generally used to navigate through or create speed in a rhythm section.

Moto - a single race from the gate to the Finishline. These take place as initial rounds of racing for qualification to the Finals. Riders are eliminated from competiton only after the completion of all rounds of qualifying moto’s.

NQM - Or in full National Qualifying Meeting. A designation applied to certain race meetings throughout the BMXNZ Year. Any rider wishing to compete at the BMXNZ Nationals will need to complete four (4) NQM meetngs in the BMXNZ qualification period, to meet the qualification criteria.

Points Over - This is where the number of riders does not meet the minimum needed to create a deadman final. Generally this is eight or less riders, but depends on the rules of the race meeting. So the results of each moto is combined to a total, which is considered the end result.

Pump or Pumping - The action of pushing & pulling your bike over & through a rhythm section or a feature, to gain speed by using the transitions of the feature without pedalling. The skill of pumping is key to BMX racing & something must be learnt as soon as possible on starting BMX racing.

Quarterfinal - if the number of riders allow, a Quarter-final is a race one step removed from a Semi-final & two from a Final.

Random Gate - The accepted Standard staring procedure on electronic start gates. The random portion is between the last voice warning “watch the gate” & the start of the start sequence.

Round - a complete series of motos in which all riders in Event/Meeting are given the opportunity to race once in each class in which they are registered.

Semi-final - if the number of riders allow, a Semi-final is a race one step removed from a final.

Snap - The motion of launching from the BMX start gate, once the start procedure is activated.

Sprockets - Riders aged up to and including 7yrs old on pedal bikes are classified as Kiwi Sprocket Rockets. They participate in a modified form of BMX and take part in a skills based programme as per the Kiwi Sprocket Rocket guide book. When a rider is eligible to ride UCI 8 years, they will apply for a Challenge or Club licence as at 1 January.

Staging - The area where riders are managed into moto groups for starting order & lead to the gate to start their moto/race.