Sophomore competes around country; Continues riding after struggles occur
June 6, 2023
Sophomore Kylee Niederberger spends many of her afternoons and weekends at the track training for BMX. She has been riding for the past eleven years.
Niederberger first got into racing because her dad had done BMX in the past, so she tried it and loved it. She first started racing at a track in New York, then began practicing closer to home. She now rides all around the country and in Canada.
Niederberger is competing at a high level since she has ridden for many years. She competes against guys and girls. At a local level, she competes against boys. When she heads to state, regional, national, and international levels, she is put up against girls.
Throughout the many years racing and competing, Niederberger has faced many struggles. She states “one of them is motivation; racing on the level that I do, it involves training every day. Some days or weeks I go into spells where I lack motivation to train.” Spending so much time racing, she has a hard time continuing to ride, but she continues because she loves it and it’s worth the feeling when she rides.
Another struggle Niederberger faces is injuries; she constantly gets injured because BMX is a dangerous sport. She says that “since I am in a high-risk sport, there are many injuries, and when I do get injured, it is hard to get back to where I was before I got hurt.” Even after she has faced many injuries, she keeps continuing to ride because of her love and passion for riding and racing. She states that one of her favorite things about BMX is the way “it can clear your head and only let you focus on riding, instead of thinking about everything else.”
On top of BMX riding and competing, Niederberger also trains for Kinetic Ninja Warrior. She used to compete, but now focuses on her passion for BMX. She continues to do training sessions and is a tumbling coach there.
Focusing on BMX, Niederberger has a race coming up June 9-11 in Woodbridge, Virginia. She has competed in many places, most recently in South Carolina, and continues to travel for races around the country.