BMX rider organizes Flatland BMX finals event

Bicycle stunts aren’t just for kids.

Bryan Huffman practices his after work in a private warehouse in Kernersville, where you can find him balancing on the pegs — the ends of the wheel axles — while a single wheel of the bike rolls across the floor, among other acrobatic maneuvers.

Huffman hones his precision and control for competitions called flatland BMX, which unlike other BMX bike events take place on flat surfaces without ramps, jumps or rails.

“Flatland BMX is a discipline of BMX riding where you do tricks on flat ground,” he said. “You do different maneuvers using pegs and different techniques where you move the bike around you, underneath you, or you go around the bike.”

On July 25-26,

Huffman is organizing HuffJam as part of the finals for the American BMX Flatland League 2025 Series, which will be July 25-26 at the Ramkat, 170 W Ninth St. in Winston-Salem.. The event will bring BMX riders of all experience levels from around the world to compete for points and prizes.

On July 25, there will be a pre-jam from 5-9 p.m. followed by the HuffJam event on July 26 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free.

Huffman said that he is hosting the event to give back to the BMX community.

“It’s really important to me to not only host a fun event but to also host an event that everyone looks forward to going to. I put a lot of effort into making sure the event runs well, the trophies are all custom-made, and there’s plenty of sponsors so if someone enters, they have a good chance of winning some good prizes. I want to make sure that if someone is traveling all the way from California, Canada, or wherever it may be that they have a chance of winning something,” Huffman said.

Huffman said he began organizing BMX events in 2019 and has watched the local BMX scene grow.

“There’s been a lot of people who used to ride and for whatever reason quit, and now they’re riding again because of this event. They’ll come out, watch it, and want to get back into it,” Huffman said.

Though there aren’t many local BMX riders, Huffman said riders from all over North Carolina make an effort to ride together.

“There’s lots of riders but we’re kind of all scattered all around. A small group of us get together and ride, and on a bi-monthly basis we try to have a bigger jam where everyone gets together and ride,” Huffman said.

With North Carolina residents leading in four out of the five classes at the event, Huffman said, North Carolina riders are becoming a bigger presence at the American BMX Flatland League contests.

“I push those guys a lot, I encourage them to go to events, and to practice a lot, especially this year. A big group of us have been going to all the big contests. We had about six people from here who went to the contests in Houston and Las Vegas, and I feel proud to be part of that,” Huffman said.