Middleburg teen speeds to the top among BMX racers nationally

DON BURK/The Times-Union

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By SARA CONRAD
The Times-Union

Kendra Stoddard of Middleburg had her first thrilling experience watching BMX bikers race when her mother took her along to hang out at the tracks a few years ago. She remembers the speed with which the bikers zipped around the track and was excited when two years ago, one of her best guy friends taught her how to ride.

A week later, her father bought her a bike. Now Stoddard (nicknamed Pop Tart), at 14, is already ranked nationally as a BMX racer. This gal is going places, and fast.

“I thought it was the coolest sport. … I was kind of scared to try it,” she said. But luckily, her friends were encouraging, because Stoddard has racked up quite a bit of recognition since she began racing. She is currently tied for first place in the National Bicycle League South East Regional Series and ranked fourth in the national NBL standings.

In the 2008-09 season, she finished second in the SSA Florida State Summer Series Championship and third in the NBL National Races. She entered 15 national races and won six of them.

Stoddard, who rides several times a week with her friends, says her favorite move is “manualing,” which is like doing a wheelie on a bicycle. “You feel like you’re on cloud nine; it’s amazing. Sometimes I’m afraid of falling off,” she said. But she says the thrill is all part of the fun.

She also enjoys jumping and “winning,” which she has quite a bit of experience at.

She is most proud of finishing fourth in the nation in her first year of riding. She said this gives her confidence to someday be first in the nation. In fact, her ultimate goal is to be named the No. 1 BMX rider in the world.

“It would be awesome to get that and beat everyone in my class,” she said. But right now, she has more modest goals, such as racing in the American Bicycle Association Junior Development program. But eventually she wants to compete in the UCI World Championship in England in 2012 and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

These might be lofty goals, but Stoddard looks up to professional racers Amanda Gavin and Dominique Daniels, who have become big names on the BMX circuit. Stoddard thinks she could do the same, especially given all her success in the short time she has raced.

But competition is in Stoddard’s nature. Before taking up racing, she bowled in Jacksonville area leagues and still competes on the Wilkinson Junior High track team in Middleburg.