It’s a ride that’s lasted almost 30 years for mother and daughter BMX riders Nancy and Toni James, and the next stop is the world championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Almost 27 years ago, Nancy and her husband, Gerrard, took their oldest child, Daniel, to the Waitākere BMX Club. Daniel, who is ADHD autistic, was four years old at the time. He loved his bike, so they took him along to give BMX a go. After a couple of months with him at the track, Nancy thought she could do that, too.
“It didn’t take me long to decide I wanted to ride, because that’s the sort of person I am,” says Nancy.
Daniel raced BMX until his late teens, before he concentrated on motocross and quad bike riding. He still rides the BMX track every now and then, but it’s his younger sister, Toni, who has continued to excel in the sport.
“When I started it was just there because my brother was there. I did enjoy it and I loved hanging out with my friends, but I wasn’t too concerned on how I did or anything, I just liked being there and having a chat with my friends around the track. The time between races was always the most fun for me,” says Toni.
“When I was 11, I made the Mighty 11s team [a competition for New Zealand and Australian 11-year-old BMX riders] and to be able to make that team was pretty awesome. I realised how cool it was for more people to cheer for you. It’s pretty awesome how you can get the whole family riding and racing and everyone can have their own little goals and things they want to achieve. You can be really satisfied with everything you want to achieve in the sport.”
Away from the track, Toni is the mechanic for the My Ride store in Westgate, where her partner Ryan Baker is the manager. Ryan competes in speedway, driving midgets and TQs (three-quarter midgets) at Western Springs. They fly out to the United States this Friday and will be away for a month, taking a well-deserved holiday once the world championships have finished.
Nancy and Gerrard have been doing property maintenance together for 34 years, looking after gardens, landscaping, hedges and trees. But their other great longstanding partnership is BMX.
With Nancy, Toni and Daniel all riding, Gerrard became involved in officiating the sport and was vice-president of the club for 11 years. Waitākere BMX Club is part of the Northern Region BMX Association, which is a combined body of BMX clubs including Whangārei, North Harbour, Waitākere, East City, Mountain Raiders, Manukau Taniwha and Sunset Coast. Their role is to promote and develop the sport of BMX racing within the region. Nancy and Gerrard have been part of that Northern Region council as well. There are 32 BMX clubs nationwide, overseen by BMX New Zealand.
Nancy and Toni have now competed in more than 20 national championships together, with Toni winning her first national title in 2018. The most recent, held in Havelock North in March, saw Toni named the BMXNZ Sportswoman of the Year for the second time; the 29-year-old had previously been awarded the accolade in 2017.
“I actually didn’t hear my name called out. A bunch of people just looked at me and told me I had to go up. It was pretty cool. I think heaps of it comes down to my club. They support me a lot and nominated me for it. I also do quite a bit of coaching and there were a few parents of kids that I coach that I guess appreciated what I do and put forward my name for that award,” says Toni.
Quite a bit of coaching is an understatement. Toni is coaching between 40 and 50 kids each week, boys and girls from five to 21 years old, in three different ability groups, from new to competing at national events.
Toni and Nancy have also encouraged older women to take part in BMX, through their ‘Cougar Camp’ initiative.
“Toni and I started the ‘Cougar Camp’ for ladies over 30, where we could teach the ladies to ride and everything else. Through those camps, we had 150 ladies. Some stayed and some didn’t. This year at nationals it was good because we actually had three classes of ladies; 25-39, 40-44 and 45+,” says Nancy.
After 27 years competing, Nancy has had a few injuries, but her appetite to keep riding is as strong as ever.
“I’ve had a few [injuries], not too many for the number of years I’ve ridden. I’ve had a dislocated shoulder, and last year I fractured my back, but it was only small and I was back on my bike in six weeks. It’s part of the sport – you’re going to crash and you wear your safety gear. You teach the kids they’re going to crash but you’ve got to learn to get up and suck it up. A few bumps and bruises and cuts and you’ll survive,” says Nancy.
BMX competition racing is aligned to age groups, often relating to the number of riders participating. Then, the two different sized bikes in BMX racing are the 20-inch and the bigger 24-inch wheeled bike, known as the ‘Cruiser’. Often riders refer to their two bikes as their ‘20’ and their ‘Cruiser’. The amateur class is known as the Challenge class, and then there’s the elite riders, who compete for world ranking points, titles and are eligible for the Olympics.
In 2013, the BMX world championships took place in Auckland. Nancy and Toni both competed in the Challenge class, but where Toni has managed to compete in multiple world events since then, this will be Nancy’s first return to the event, at the age of 55, riding her cruiser in the 40+ age group.
“For me it’s an age thing. I really wanted to get another one done, especially in America. We had planned to do it in 2020 and then we went into lockdown so that was the end of that one. So, when it came around this time, I said I was going – it’s a bucket list thing for me. I’m realistic, the age group is 40+ and it’s a big difference,” says Nancy.
To qualify for the Challenge class, riders have to make the top eight in their age group at nationals, either last year, or this year. Last year Nancy finished sixth and will join three other New Zealanders in her age group. In total, 20 men and women will represent New Zealand on their cruisers and 47 more on their 20-inch bikes across all age-groups in the Challenge class. Another 12 riders will compete in the elite class.
Toni will ride the 30-39 age group on her cruiser (she is eligible for this group as she turns 30 later in 2024), and also has the opportunity to ride in the Masters category for the first time (she is the only New Zealander competing in that field). The Masters category is for riders aged 30 or over and who are the top amateur riders, or who are former elite competitors. They race for the world champion’s rainbow jersey, just like the elite riders do across all cycling disciplines and 2024 will be only the third year they are running the Masters for women, having started in France in 2022.
Toni’s previous best results at the world championships were third in the 17-29 Cruiser class in 2018 in Azerbaijan and second in 2022 in France in the 25+ class, on her 20 inch. She can’t wait for her mum Nancy to join her again.
“It’s pretty crazy that she’s coming. She’s been up at silly hours of the morning watching me in previous years so that’s going to be awesome to have both my parents there really. It’ll be cool to watch her enjoy the experience and meet new people as well. I think she’ll love it,” says Toni.
Looking beyond this month, Toni’s enjoyment of what she does on her bike, and how she helps others will continue as it has for many years.
“I just want to be able to continue to help people enjoy what I enjoy about the sport. If you put too much on results it’s not going to be as much fun; it’s riding bikes at the end of the day so it’s got to be fun and I hope that other people can enjoy that too,” says Toni.
The 2024 UCI BMX Racing World Championships take place between May 12-18, with the Challenge age group racing running on the early days.
