The Squamish BMX Racing Club (SBRC) is calling on parents, kids and adult volunteers to attend its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Sunday (Jan. 27) in preparation for the race track's second season at Brennan Park.
After a successful summer, SBRC needs the community's continued support to keep on hitting jumps and chalking up the laps this spring, said club president Jim Douglas. "Our season is completely dependent on people coming out to this AGM and indicating an interest in helping us put together a calendar of events. Without that we won't be able to do very much," he said.
During maintenance starting this spring, SBRC plans to make improvements and modifications to the track, which was designed by Alex Eddington. It includes jumps and is standard length for world cup qualifiers. Douglas estimates costs for improvement and maintenance over the next two years to reach about $10,000 - paid for with help from grants, fundraisers and its title sponsor Simon Hudson Homes.
He said the club intends to offer a weekly or bi-weekly series of informal races for the community where racers don't compete for points. Provincial and national events are also expected to run along with charity races.
Riders have traditionally preferred taking to the trails more than tracks in Squamish. But with the emergence of BMX as an Olympic medal event this summer in Beijing, Douglas said the sport is gaining popularity. Plus, cycling skills are transferable so riders don't have to pick one over the other.In fact Douglas, a long-time competitive mountain biker and coordinator of the Squamish Off-Road Cycling Association's (SORCA) youth programs, said many mountain bikers started as young BMXers.
"It's a great way to learn and tone basic cycling skills....I've talked to a lot of people that I race with mountain biking and they've found out that I'm doing this BMX thing and say 'that's so cool, I started in BMX,' and a lot of it explains where their skills came from for mountain biking," said Douglas.
Young BMXers need adults to help organize and run bike races, but that doesn't mean the older crowd's fun is sidetracked. The sport is open to all ages and skill levels from the pros down to the tottering tykes. And parents are always encouraged to take part in the programs, which are affiliated with the American Bicycle Association - one of the biggest BMX affiliates in North America.
The ABA programs are specifically geared toward kids and families, said Douglas."In my experience it's one of the most family-oriented things I've ever seen because you'll see the families show up and they're all in gear all ready to go," he said. "So they help their little kids off as young as four or five years old get their little event going and then they'll grab their own bike and line up before going to their kid's next heat. It really gets the family involved."
The SBRC AGM is at 1 p.m. on Sunday (Jan. 27) at the Adventure Centre. There is no fee for being a club member but participants must be ABA members for insurance purposes to take part in sanctioned events.
For more information visit www.squamishbmx.com and www.ababmx.com.
