Episode 13 of The BMX Commentator Podcast sees an in depth chat with New Zealand's former Junior Women World Champion Jessie Smith.

Like many succesful BMX racers Jessie Smith started racing BMX at an early age, working her way up the ranks and taking multiple Challenge titles in her formative years.

Her transition into the Elite ranks went as smoothly as anyone could have dreamed of as Jessie took the 2019 Junior Women World Championship title at a raid sodden Zolder in Belgium.

It seemed that a step up into the Women Elite ranks was no more than a formality, especially as Jessie could count the Smulders sisters and the Sakakibaras as regular trining partners and close friends.

Yet behind the scenes, Jessie was struggling with demons that no one knew about.... a crippling fear of the behemoth 8m start hill and hitting jumps at breakneck speed consumed her, resulting in a crash at the Tokyo Olympic test event that put her in a Japanese hospital for a week.

After much soul searching, Jessie decided to prioritise her mental health and future happiness by stepping away from BMX racing at the Elite level.

This is her story, told by Jessie herself. A story that unravels the side of BMX racing that no-one talks about... fear, anxiety, and crushing pressure from NGB's that seemingly have no one to answer to.

And even after all of this, Jessie describes her ongoing love for BMX racing and when asked if she would 'willingly step back into the arena...?'

Well... you need to listen to find out the answer.

Episode 12 of the BMX Commentator Podcast sees a chat with fellow podcaster Scott Beaumont of The 96 Podcast.

Scott spins so many plates his next sponsor will be Ringling's Circus... racing at the pro level, running the UK 4x series, and still finding time to smash out a killer 96 Podcast on the regular, Scott talks us through how the hell he fits it all in.

We also dive deep on content vs production quality with 2 viewpoints on it whilst simultaneously finding out who is the biggest microphone nerd in BMX.

4X racing is starting to grow again, and Scott tells us why he thinks that is and teases his desire to reveal the real story of how 4X racing was cut at the World Cup level.

Add in a foolproof method for starting a podcast if you've ever had the desire to try it, and there's plenty for everyone in this episode of The BMX Commentator Podcast.

Resources

Scott's Podcast on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/28CtGdcuIFvRFQx7AxzngX?si=a4b694f4999f43ed

The Think Media video that got Rich started with the BMX Commentator Podcast in under a week for less than £100 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3juTJ6GqB5s&t=402s

Rich's dream/next mic buy - https://amzn.eu/d/02ve0rOS

British 4x series - https://www.british4x.com/

Episode 11 of The BMX Commentator Podcast is a deep dive into sports biomechanics aroudn BMX with Masters BMX racer and PHD boffin Adam Brazil.

Adam tells us what the correct pronunciation of the field of study actually is (my attempt was terrible) and then takes us through ho it cab be applied to BMX racing.

We also touch on his dream gig, that requires a bit of funding from BC (hint!!) why Quillan Isidore will never be nearly naked riding down an 8m hill, and what the weekend warrior can do to eke a bit more out of his limited training time.

Note: Adam and I had to jump a few hurdles to get this recorded. so its a little higgledy piggeldy and required some creative editing. For a split second I considered scrapping the entire episode and doing it again, but that would go against all the reasons I started this podcast in the first place.

Bringing raw conversation with all its ups and downs makes the podcast and it's guests what it was meant to be, and changing that would be detrimental to what the podcast is.

So you get what you get. I won't be winning any awards for production standards any time soon, but I don't really give a stuff anyway!

Epoisode 10 of The BMX Commentator Podcast sees Dr Jason Richardson @realdrjrich walk us through some of the most common mental mistakes BMX racers make, and drops the science as to how you swerve the mental potholes that dominate many riders minds on race day.

We cover everything from trash talking to when the ideal time is to up your intensity on race day (Hint: It's not a good idea)

We talk about controlling pre race anxiety, grounding, breathwork, and building a process before the gate drops.

We even cover what Greg Romero said Jason just before his main at the ABA Grands in the early 90's, when the no 1 Am title was on the line.

Grab a pen and pad for this one, you made need to make some notes as Jason Richardson guides you on how to be stronger mentally for your BMX racing career.

To contact Jason, hit him up on Instagram @realdrjrich or at his website https://www.drjasonrichardson.com/AthleteMentalSkills

Episode 9 of the BMX Commentator Podcast sees an in depth conversation with strength and conditioning coach Connor Hedges.

Connor isn't just any old S&C coach either, as he pursues his masters degree whilst being involved with not one, but two top level sporting organisations.

Currently working with both British Cycling and Manchester City Football Club, Connor outlines the differences between the two sports, why a bog standard personal trainer might not be able to help you with BMX, and how to get your young BMXer stronger without even setting foot inside a gym.

For the older lads, Connor outlines what you should be doing in the gym to maximise your BMX related 'gainz' ;-) and more crucially, the order you should do the work in... Hint - heavy squats shouldn't be the first thing you do...

There's plenty to take from this for both BMX parents and older riders. I've also tee'd Connor up for a part two Q&A style podcast if the demand is there.

You'll need more than one listen to this as Connor drops knowledge bomb after knowledge bomb. Might even be worth making some notes too...

Episode 8 of the podcast is a chat with Australia's fastest heating and cooling engineer, Bodi Turner.

After a severe leg break at the UCI BMX World Cup in New Zealand, Bodi has been on a mission to try and get recovered to continue his Elite BMX career. Get the low down on his crash, his recovery and how long he plans to race BMX for (hint - he's not planning on going anywhere yet)

Also, Bodi dives into how he manages to train like a pro whilst working a 'more than full time' job and the dangers of buying lunch at a petrol station.

There's also a look into how he became a member of the Tangent Cartel, and what a young rider should do if he's truly serious about becoming a BMX athlete.

This episode of the BMX Commentator Podcast is a chat with BMX Development Coach Adam Carey. Adam led the Thai National BMX Program for a number of years after racing Elite whilst studying for a PHD in Sports and Exercise Physiology. He also coaches some of the Australian riders that took W plates in Rock Hill at the recent World Championships.

The basis of our chat was about junior development, but we also touched on social anxiety at races, neurodivergence and process orientation. Plus an inside take on what happens in corners during a Masters moto at Worlds...

So it was a pretty diverse 45 minutes or so.

The door has been left open for a part two to this podcast in the form of a Q&A, so if the thought of that tickles your pickle let me know and we'll get something set up.

Episode 6 of The BMX Commentator Podcast saw a first in person conversation rather than the usual online chat. A quick trip up the A49 to Chorley and a sit down in the living room of @theseatpostman John Lee, former Torker and Raleigh factory rider in the 1980's.

Nowadays John has a thriving business specialising in removal of stuck seatposts from high end frames (yes, that's a real money making business) John's an engineer at heart and LOVES making stuff better, or better still...making new stuff.

John covers his foray into making two speed set ups for an S&M Steel Panther, the reason why he thinks they should be on a BMX bike, what your gearing should look like and why your chainring isn't actually round.

Yes, you read that correctly...your chainring isn't round. It's something else entirely.

He also gives his take on the Mateo Colsonet French multi-speed set up and how it works. There's a few theories knocking around, and John's is probably the best I've heard.

Lastly, John gives his one pearl of wisdom of how you can make your bike more efficient. You'll smack yourself in the head when you hear it...it's that simple. Yet I've never heard a factory dad talk about it in the same way they talk about carbon bike jewellery, it's nowhere near as sexy!

All this comes with a side helping of Japanese chain encyclopedia and drag co-efficiency measurement.

Dig in and enjoy!!

Please note I didn't have access to my usual audio set up and the quality isn't as good as it normally is. The podcast is a work in progress, and improvements will be incoming in as we go along.

We take something of a detour from BMX in Episode 5 of The BMX Commentator Podcast, having a chat with David Davidson who is the founder of mountainbikeacademy.com

David overcame injuries from his younger years and with the help of his brother in law started coaching riders in becoming better by using their bodies better, and using them how they were designed to be used.

This is not your standard 'BMX bro' training, you won't be posting IG stories of you squatting a Nissan Micra, it's about making your body work for you rather than against you.

It's a conversation that'll be of particular interest to the 30+ crowd, the cruiser bruisers, and the Grand Vets.

Open your mind to a different approach, and you may get some different results.

Dave's YouTube channel is @mountainbikeacademy and his website is www.mountainbikeacademy.com

Check it out if you're even remotely curious.

Episode 4 of the podcast sees us chatting with Chase Bicycles Vet Pro rider and YouTuber Barry Nobles.