BMX: Murrieta Girl, 7, Claims National Title

You can't catch Maya Rindahl.

The 7-year-old recently returned from Oklahoma, where she earned the title of 2013 USA BMX National Champion for her age group.

It’s been a good year for Maya, who starting competitively racing a year a half ago. In 2013, she also won State Champion, Western Divisional Champion, Redline Cup Champion and President's Cup Champion.

“She loves it!” said her mother. “We are extremely blessed that she has had such a successful year.”

The daughter of Mike and Amanda Rindahl and big sister to Max, 5, Maya is in second grade at Cole Canyon Elementary. 

“We travel all over the country for these races and when they announce the riders...they often announce their hometown...so we love to represent Murrieta, nationwide!” Amanda said.

Here is her mother’s account of how Maya got her start in racing:

“Like so many of the children in Murrieta, Maya simply loved to ride her bike. Just ride. Street, grass, dirt...wherever. With so many accommodating trails, she often begged to go on some of the dirt 'jumps' that were built among the trails, by the older kids.

“One day, we took her to a local track, on a bike that (unbeknownst to us) was ALL wrong for the endeavor. She rode her first lap with no fear...ate it HARD...cried and camped out a bit with some Gatorade and Goldfish...and then asked for another shot on the track.

“We've been trying to keep up with her, ever since. She was naturally talented, and it wasn't long before her record attracted the attention of local bike shops and a few other teams on the scene."

Maya is presently sponsored by a Factory BMX team called the Factory Extreme Team.

In addition to holding the national title in her age group, she is currently ranked ninth among all girls nationally, according to USABMX.com.

Click on this YouTube video to watch Maya win her age group in the national race held in Tulsa, Okla. (Skip to 10:33:25 in the video.)