From usacyling.org:

USA Cycling and the United States Olympic Committee cut the ribbon on a new BMX training facility at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. on Monday, January 21. The USOC and the national governing body celebrated the opening of only the third permanent Supercross BMX track in the world. Even more importantly, the track, designed around the Beijing course, will serve as an ideal training ground for the U.S. National Team and Olympic hopefuls.

The event kicked off at noon pacific time and included a Q&A session with athletes, officials and coaches, as well as a ribbon cutting ceremony and a demonstration of the newest Olympic sport by those expected to contend for medals in Beijing. The project is a joint venture by USA Cycling and the USOC to provide and maintain a world-class training facility for American BMX athletes.

“The opening of the USA Cycling BMX training facility in Chula Vista highlights the importance of the close partnership between the USOC and USA Cycling in the continued development of the sport of BMX,” said Steve Johnson, CEO of USA Cycling. “This facility not only represents the current state-of-the-art in BMX training centers, but will continue to evolve over time to keep pace with the rapid evolution of international BMX racing.”

This is all good, but frankly, I have to say that it is well past due.

The U.S. has a very strong argument for being the birthplace of BMX, but in recent years, we have seen the international field begin to dominate races.

There was some criticism that USA Cycling was not doing enough to have a grassroots effort behind BMX, but there have been strong, if divisive leagues holding races on any given weekend for years now. One could argue that the BMX leagues were doing more to develop racers than USAC could even begin to dream about.

I raced BMX throughout my teens. Even on a slow weekend, you would see both girls and boys as young as 6 and men and women into their thirties going all out and racing. If you ask me, USAC has been missing a strong source of, at least, track racers, and certainly mountain bikers and road cyclists for many, many years now.

The fitness of those at the top ranks of the sport easily rivals those in the more ‘established’ cycle sports. I was no BMX champion, but even as my involvement in the sport was winding down, I enjoyed going out on my single speed mountain bike and smoking roadies. For me, switching to road bikes, and then mountain bikes seemed like a natural progression, but many BMXers go from the track to the couch, playing Playstation.

So… hurrah for USA Cycling for getting on the BMX bandwagon. Let’s hope that they milk it for all it can be worth.