WEST FORT HOOD, Texas -- After a 20-year break, an Army civilian worker here is back winning bicycle motocross (BMX) races.

Forty-eight-year-old Clarence White ran his first race at 14, but when his bike was stolen, he didn't go back to racing until he was 35.

"I actually thought I was ready to turn pro, get my driver's license and drive myself to the track," he said. "But then my bicycle got ripped off, so I just didn't go back."

As the story goes, White let his brother borrow his bike, but when his brother returned home, the bike did not.

"I cut a lot of grass to get that bike," said the U.S. Army Operational Test Command test officer for the Army's chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense systems.

"Back then, that bike cost over a thousand dollars, and it took me years to build it up to that point, so when one day it was gone -- uh -- I don't know I just -- I just didn't go back."

As the clock turned, White had three kids of his own who were active in sports.

"I'm watching my kids, and I'm like, 'I want to do something instead of just watch,'" he said. "So I thought, 'What sport can we all do?'"

BMX became the answer.

"I showed my kids some old pictures, and they seemed pretty excited about it," he said.

White bought the same bike he had as a kid and gave it to his son. The kids started racing, and White began showing them riding techniques.

"They were picking it up sort of half-way, and I thought the best way to do it is show them," he explained. "So, I got a bike myself and I started showing them how to do it, and the next thing you know, I'm loving it."

The children, now ages 13, 19 and 22, have moved on to other things, or moved out for college.

At 5 feet, 9 inches and weighing 180 pounds, White fits the BMX racing scene.

He regularly wins races in the Pflugerville, Texas area under the sanctioning body USA BMX.

On Feb. 25, he won in Texas' Regional/Gold Cup qualifier in Corpus Christi, taking a first place on his cruiser and third in his class.

The next day, he competed in the first Texas State Qualifier in Corpus Christi and won 1st on his cruiser and 4th in his class.

White will race again on March 18 in the Texas State Qualifier in San Antonio.

He will also compete in the USA BMX Lone Star Nationals in Pflugerville Apr. 21, which will be an opportunity to qualify for the 2017 UCI BMX World Championships at Rock Hill, South Carolina.

To see White in action, go to https://youtu.be/bXmG77EGSfc -- he is the racer wearing blue and winning.

As the Army's only independent operational tester, OTC tests and assesses Army, joint, and multi-service war fighting systems in realistic operational environments, using typical Soldiers to determine whether the systems are effective, suitable, and survivable. OTC is required by public law to test major systems before they are fielded to its ultimate customer -- the American Service Member.