The BMX track in Grand Forks City Park is once again alive with the sound of bikes tearing around the track as Grand Forks BC BMX opened another racing season on Wednesday night.
About two dozen riders ranging from toddlers to older teens kicked up dust and zoomed around the course in various age and skill heats in the first official race night for the club.
The races followed the usual schedule of younger “half trackers” racing on the lower half of the course, followed by older racers on the starting ramp doing the full course.
While it was a quiet start to the season, the club’s newly elected president Tyler Bidnyk said it’s understandable, considering this time of year there’s a lot of youth sports starting up.
“This time of year, all the sports are opening up,” he said. “I know there’s a bunch of families swimming at the pool that are going to do a U-turn, peel down here and toss the kids on bike and hopefully do a couple laps. But it’s still a great time to start racing because it’s still cool, we aren’t under heat domes.”
He added it’s been challenging getting back into the rhythm of racing again, adding he was a racer for 20 years in various clubs. He volunteered for the club and was voted president for this year.
The whole governance board is relatively new this year, he explained, so they are still settling into their roles and another racing season.
It’s still shaping up to be a good-looking season, starting with repairs to the local track. Bidnyk said the club had to repair some parts of the borders due to wear and tear. They didn’t have a lot of experience rebuilding tracks, so they reached out and Rocky Olsen from ADR Contracting came out with an excavator to carve them out. Some volunteers shaved parts down by hand, then Olsen packed them down with rollers.
“Now they are nice and smooth and fishbowl-shaped, just like they are supposed to be,” he said. “Now the whole track is looking good.”
A smooth, curved corner helps BMX racers maintain speed while banking through the track.
Outside of regular practices on Monday and races on Wednesdays, there is one major event planned for the club and racing circuit. Grand Forks BMX will be hosting provincial championships July 26 to 28 and the Race for Life. Riders from as far as the coast and Alberta will be coming to race. On the Friday, the big races will happen and will stay overnight in the campground. Then on the Saturday, there will be a morning race before events move to Salmo, which is co-hosting a provincial championship race with the local BMX club there.
Then on the Sunday morning, the Race for Life will happen in Grand Forks.
“It’s a big weekend and hopefully we can get a lot of volunteers to make the track look beautiful and help us out,” he said.
Registrations for the club and to volunteer are always open. All racers have to register by 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays to race. See www.grandforksbmx.ca to find out more.
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