Danica - The Avalanche Legacy

We’re standing in the infield at Hesperia BMX, admiring Danica’s matching red Ssquared bikes, and I notice her front gear looks a tad larger than most.

SECRETS

We’re standing in the infield at Hesperia BMX, admiring Danica’s matching red Ssquared bikes, and I notice her front gear looks a tad larger than most. What gearing do you have her running?, we ask her dad Richie. He smiles. “It’s a secret.” Later on, Danica is taking a breather in between photos, guzzling some liquid from a water bottle. What are you drinking? Richie won’t say. “It’s a secret.” We ask Danica, what’s your weekly training schedule? She laughs - “It’s a secret.”

The “Anderson Secrets” are nothing new in BMX. It dates back to an ancient Complete Racer article in BMX Action, circa 1980. In it, they asked what lube Richie ran on his signature Patterson bike, and Danica’s late grandfather, “Papa-A,” told the magazine “It’s our own Secret Sauce.” Some things will always remain a mystery.

GETTING SCHOOLED

First thing first for Danica is school. She goes to a STEM school called Fulton & Alsbury Academy, and just wrapped up sixth grade. In fact, the day of this interview was her last day of school. She’s a straight-A, 4.0 student, and her parents stress how important her education will be for her when BMX is over. Danica is just beginning to think about what cycling college she’d like to go to. “Now that I’m in seventh grade, I might start thinking more about it. Most pros who I look up to - just Justin Richmond or Felicia Stancil, go to Marian. So, I might consider going there. But it is kind of far away.”

SETTING RECORDS STRAIGHT