BMX can turn on the style in Beijing

Further medal hopes on two wheels in Beijing rests with Shanaze Reade, the reigning BMX women's world champion.

Despite such pedigree, many find it hard to believe that BMX, a spin-off of the 1970s Californian craze of motocross, has achieved Olympic status.

The Standard decided to test the sport's credentials at one of London's few BMX facilities; a circuit barely the size of a football pitch, overlooked by a housing estate near the Old Kent Road in Peckham.

My last encounter with 'extreme' sports was a regrettable episode with a skateboard and, almost 20 years later, I was underwhelmed at the prospect of BMX. Like many others, I associated it with slack-jawed youths performing stunts on improvised ramps and 'half pipes' in city centres.

This is the 'freestyle' version of the sport, tipped for inclusion at the London Games in 2012. However, BMX racing, which will feature in Beijing, is a different prospect altogether.

Fortunately, the dry, bright conditions were favourable to the novice, although they race on the track in all weathers.

On the start line I felt my every move was being watched by the 40 young BMXers - among them many regional champions - taking a break after warm-up laps. I was taken through a crash course on how to get round the 200metre circuit featuring numerous humps, jumps and banked corners.

Michael 'CK' Pusey, the Peckham club's owner and scout for 2012 talent, took me through the basics: pedal hard up to the humps and resume pedalling as you come off them to maintain speed. I was also advised to keep up the momentum by staying low on the bike, though I noticed no one actually sat in the saddle.

Having pulled on the Peckham club colours, I perched on the pedals and peeked through the safety helmet to watch the 'traffic lights'. A tannoy told me, "Riders ready. Mind the gate," before the lights turned from amber to green and the gate dropped.

The 10m to first hump often decides the winner but the rest of the field were told to hang back. I ignored the warning to keep the pedals horizontal over the humps so they crunched into the earth, nearly throwing me at the first hurdle. After several circuits I began to get the hang of it, although I was taking about a minute to get round a course where the record is 31 seconds.

The Peckham club's top half-dozen riders aiming for 2012 are in their late teens and have a training regime including 20-mile road races, weights and hours of 'spinning' sessions with bikes on blocks.

"You have to be very fit," said CK. "It's like boxing training. There's a combination of fitness, balance and co-ordination. The most important thing is the start gate. You have to get to the 10m hump first. If you don't, then you're battling to get through."

After five laps I pulled over. My heart was pounding and my upper arms and lower back ached. I was both exhilarated and relieved not to have crashed.

I concluded that BMX racing ticks all the boxes. It requires fitness, speed, skill and resilience under pressure.

To get involved requires no multi-million pound velodrome or miles of open roads and the bike and kit can be purchased for £200. Much of this explained the turn-out this Saturday morning. Just the generation Olympic chiefs are trying to lure.