My Journey With Cleveland’s Hidden Sport

The transition to the slow, cold winter is a feeling many Clevelanders dread – but for Cleveland BMX and mountain biking, the season is just starting to warm up.

Written by Alexander Giampietro

On a quiet fall afternoon in 2020, a young man lingered at the counter of Eddie’s Bike Shop, eyeing a BMX bike he swore would be a birthday gift to himself. He didn’t know it then, but that impulse – just a kid wanting a new bike – was about to steer him straight into a growing underground scene reshaping Cleveland’s streets in ways many people never notice. 

Within months, the simple purchase would pull him into a community that rides for connection as much as adrenaline.I, Alex Giampietro, was this young man, and I started BMX biking during my freshman year of high school. I’ve made friends, memories and learned a lot about Cleveland through the sport. 

BMX, otherwise known as bicycle motocross, is a niche form of biking utilizing full-body movement and specialized terrain. 

This allows for tricks, jumps and grinds, all common in other trick sports like skateboarding. As well as the occasional albeit rare flip or backflip from experienced bikers.

Rays’ BMX and Mountain Biking Park

Once I bought the bike, it hit me – I had no idea what I actually planned to do with it. Was I supposed to ride at skate parks? Join a local club? That’s when I started asking classmates of mine and found out about Ray’s BMX and Mountain Biking Park in Parma, OH. The park is a fully indoor biking park with tracks for both BMX and mountain bikes of all kinds. Little did I know at the time that this very place would open up a whole new side to Cleveland culture, where street and sport would come together. My first trip there was met with a warm welcome from the regulars – I wasn’t expecting the place to be as packed as it was for an abandoned factory. That’s when I realized it wasn’t just Cleveland residents who came here, people from out of state attended the park as well. 

I was a novice and couldn’t pull off any of the tricks I saw the pros do on TV, but no one there seemed to care. Most of the time, other riders set up their bikes to watch me try a ramp and offered tips – sometimes for safety, sometimes to help make a trick look a little more stylish

They were excited to see me get into the sport and support me even if I fell flat on my face straight into some plywood or slammed into a concrete wall by mistiming a jump. I felt like I was accepted by a whole new side of Cleveland and a community that would propel me forward in honing my skills as a biker. 

But, as the months went on, I started taking on more and more injuries, and as someone with bad knees, damage to my legs is the last thing I need. And by the 1-year mark, I saw myself in a brace, no longer able to ride in the capacity I used to. I was embarrassed, annoyed and frustrated all at the same time.This injury led to not being able to bike for months. I even contemplated abandoning the sport altogether due to the risk of possibly reinjuring or permanently damaging my knees.

After I fully recovered and was cleared to ride by my doctor, I didn’t want to show any weakness to a community that had invested so much in my growth. Instead, I felt like I’d gone backwards – my skills, my connections and even my enjoyment of the sport had all slipped away.

My return to the track

I recall there was even a moment where I drove all the way out there from my home, just to sit in the parking lot and break down as I stared at the doors to Ray’s. In that moment, a friend of mine, Xavier, knocked on my car window and asked me what I was doing. I told him about the state of my legs and that I might not be able to practice biking anymore due to the strain it puts on my knees. 

My words were sharp and insecure. I felt embarrassed by the emotions I was showing, and I took a good thing and used it as a symbol of weakness for myself. 

Xavier then looked at my bike in the back of my trunk and told me, ”Your bikes in the trunk, right? Get the hell out of your car and meet me inside.” He didn’t give me a chance to reply and walked off to his car to unload his bike. I was looking at my hands and thought to myself, ”What could it hurt? It’s only a brace, it's not like my legs are broken. Maybe Xavier is right”.

So, I unloaded my bike and gear, softly limping my way inside the building, and when I entered, so many people were glad to see me. My favorite spot for my gear had even been saved by my friend, with my favorite flavor of monster waiting there for me. “See? Everyone’s happy to see you, you got one of your best friends on a bench and a caffeine bomb in a can waiting for you, just like old times,” Xavier said.

This shining moment taught me that community exists even for niche sports like BMX. There was a seat at the table for me despite my absence and lack of confidence. So, I took up my handles like it was my first day again, riding across the plywood tracks, feeling the cool breeze in the air of the abandoned factory, and I smiled. Despite all of the problems with my knees – every time I landed, I braced for pain that never seemed to appear. Seeing the pros ride alongside me, seeing them hit crazy stunts as I pulled off my heighted jumps again, it was like the pain in my knees was long behind me. 

After my first chaotic, adrenaline-pumping ride in a long time, listening to everyone’s stories reminded me why this sport is so special.

It wasn’t just the rides that mattered to everyone; this community was here to support each other and lift each other up. The pros stuck around to give advice, share their stories about how they got to where they are now and to lift up those looking for motivation. I always thought that Cleveland was just like any other city, and through the BMX community, I learned that there are so many facets to Cleveland culture that can be missed on a first glance.

Beyond Ray’s, there are dozens of parks scattered across the city in the metroparks, local neighborhoods, all places someone could miss on first glance. For mountain bikes and BMX, Cleveland is now what I and many others, consider the best spot to indulge in this truly one-of-a-kind sport.

Even the pros choose Cleveland, thanks to the inclusion of Ray’s, they always have a track and trick park year-round to hone their craft in the sport.

Whether you’re a novice looking for a hobby, or a long-term pro seeking their next adrenaline-pumping ride, Cleveland is the place to be for so many people to get their BMX fix and a home for those of us who don’t quite fit the bill of any other sport.