First of all, let me say that I did not participate in the Tar Heel National's Friday race. But my brother from Oklahoma did and we learned some important lessons that I figured should be shared. 

Getting him out of the house and onto a plane was a major chore. Yes, 5 months ago he decided we were going to race in Las Vegas in July... and that meant that he had to learn how to fly with his bike. You guys know that I have no problem hopping on a plane with my bike - or a car or a train or a subway for that matter. But he hasn't flown in about 12 years, let alone with a bike. So there were all the headaches of him getting the bike taken apart, put into a military duffel bag, and then checking into the airport to fly across country. Plus he had to change planes in Dallas, which meant the duffel bag changed planes. And the folks at American Airlines could care less how much your luggage costs, so they threw the bag around and ripped some big holes in it. I feel for him to some degree, but this is also the airline and aiport that once upon a time didn't send my small (carry-on size) suitcase full of Christmas presents because they had so many actual a carry-ons that they needed the space under the plane. So instead of delivering my paid-for checked bag, they left it in Dallas and ruined Christmas for all the good boys and girls. 

So anyway, he did manage to make it to Charlotte, find the rental car place, get an SUV, and find the track. Unfortunately is rained too much for practice and the local race, so he just assembled his bike, rode it around the parking lot and went to the hotel. Being just a mile down the road means you get more sleep and it make thigns a lot easier to manage. 

Well on Friday he text me that he made it to the track and that practice went well and he felt good about things. I was stuck at work in midtown Manhattan and wouldn't be able to leave until later that evening. It sucks when it's a beautiful day out and you could be racing your bike and having fun... and instead you have to work. Being a responsible adult sucks sometimes. 

His moto sheet finally got posted and he was in with a decent group of guys. He ended up racing, blew everyone out of the gate, and finished first. He went back to the car, told me how happy he was to finish first in the first moto, and you could tell he was stoked. Now, being one to always make sure that all the t-s are crossed and the i's are dotted, I looked it up online. Not that I didn't believe him, but always good to preserver these moments for history. Well, when I pulled up the moto sheet, he wasn't scored. Two other guys were qualified and advancing to the main and he wasn't. I told him that he didn't get scored and he needed to check and see what happened. I asked if he got disqualified and questioned me on why he would get disqualified.

Now, for those of you not familiar with the sport, there are two main things that you can't do in BMX racing and performing these actions will result in a DQ... and that's not a tasty ice cream treat. The first is called the 30-foot rule. Many tracks, including Hornet's Nest BMX in Charlotte, will paint a white line 30 feet down the track from the starting gate. If you didn't know, the starting gate is about 24 feet wide and has 8 lanes in it for 8 riders to start the race at the same time. When the gate drops, you are supposed to take off in a straight manner and race down the drack. Well, just to make things even and competitive, each rider has a 3 foot lane (24/8=3 feet). And for the first 30 feet of the race, you are supposed to stay in that lane and not impede any other rider. Getting out of your lane will result in a 30-foot violation and a DQ, meaning you get last place. At the end of the track you come out of the final turn and the lead rider in a pack needs to pick their line. If a rider is faster and coming behind the, they have the right to go around the lead rider un-impeded. So if the lead riders moves over to block, that is a DQ.

So, the arm-chair racer in me questions if he got disqualified and the typical response that anyone would give is "what would I have done to get disqualified?" So I said he needed to go check. So sure enough, he goes back to the race to check, but doesn't go to his second moto to re-qualify. Instead he finds out that he did indeed get a 30-foot DQ. And by not racing in the second moto, he didn't make the main.

It's a hard lesson and a hard way to learn it. First of all, DQ's happen all the time. At a large national, probably at least every round will have at least one. Does that mean the riders are bad riders or dirty, no. Does it mean it was intentional? Of course not. There are just little things that one needs to pay attention to so they can avoid these pitfalls. Usually it's no big deal, just get back on the bike and race the next moto. Do you need to pay attention to the announcing at the end? Absolutely. They'll usually repeat it a few times if somebody gets disqualified. Can you protest? Technically, yes. You can protest within 10 motos of your DQ and see if there is anything they can do to change it. Do they have video to go back and clearly see that they called it correctly, yes. Most importantly, race cleanly, know the rules... and above all, if you have a chance to redeem yourself by racing the second moto, TAKE IT!