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Provincial BMX racers fly over Cochrane

Rarely is a dirt path the scene of such a spectacle, but it sure was this weekend as the Alberta BMX racing provincials roared into town. The Cochrane BMX Association track, perched against Highway 22 on top of the Ag Society hill, was abuzz with thousands of racers and spectators alike last weekend.

“It’s unbelievable, the numbers exceeded our expectations,” said Brad Christensen, president of the Cochrane BMX Association who hosted the provincial championship event. “We were hoping they were going to be big, but you can never plan for what came out. It was a pretty wild event, the buzz around the track was awesome with so much good feedback.”

Boasting just over 550 riders each day, the weekend set an Alberta BMX record for attendance at a provincial event. Athletes ranging in age from the 5-and-under category to 40-plus battled it out eight at a time trying to be the first to race through the track’s extreme terrain. They’re separated into novice, intermediate and expert divisions.

“It’s a lot of people and a lot of hours in the background that makes this event go off as smoothly as it does,” said Christensen of the organisationally complex spectacle. “You have two thousand people at that track over the weekend, logistically it’s a challenge fitting them in a tight spot. The amount of tents we have, every track in Alberta is typically limited on space. But you know what? We did well this weekend.”

Awarded the race in October, Christensen said “Once we were given the green light that we were going to be hosting the two provincials, we immediately started planning.” The high build quality of the track is leaving the Christensen and the club with nation-wide aspirations, and he says the long-term goal is to host a national championship event.

Built in 1999, the BMX track has gone through a handful of revamps throughout the years, but Christensen says the configuration has been relatively the same since 2012. “We feel it’s a pretty fast track. We get good feedback, and our membership shows.”

The Cochrane BMX Association’s membership has grown in each of the past five years to the 150 it sits at now, the majority of which are 12 and under. “We have a ton of kids in our group. It’s tough to keep kids when they get to that teenager stage, but we do have a couple pros still riding and a lot of dads coming out,” he said.

One of that youth contingent is Christensen’s son, Luke. The eleven-year-old became a member of the provincial development team in May, and is one of two Cochrane athletes representing Alberta along with 14-year-old Katie Scott.

“It was my first expert provincials, and it was just a good experience,” said the younger Christensen. “I just liked racing the other experts on our home track.”

The youngest an athlete can be is four, and even the littlest rippers are pedaling on the same full track with the same extreme features as the pro riders. Said the older Christensen of what his son experiences on the track, “It’s a fast, action-packed high-risk course, you could crash around every corner.”

He added, “Whether you set a goal to make the main, or whether these kids crashed, it’s just incredible the perseverance these kids showed through the weekend. It’s not an easy weekend to get through, there’s a lot of emotions. This is an emotional sport.”

His son, in fact, did crash on Saturday. The younger Christensen described the ordeal: “I was coming out of the gate on the first triple. There were two people pedaling in front of me, one fell and his bike went up in the air. When I went down, his bike hit me and I just kind of flew down the triple.”

Although he finished last after the crash, Luke placed third in his other two qualifying races that day, enough to qualify for the final round (known in the sport as a “main”). He ended up placing seventh, following it up with a sixth on Sunday.

With hundreds of racers like Luke blasting off the start ramp in one-minute intervals, it makes for a thrilling spectator event. The provincials featured viewer-friendly components like food trucks, demo tents and added washrooms. It’s an element that’s important for Brad Christensen and the club.

“With the Olympics now having BMX, it is starting to gain popularity over the last few years,” he said. “So we do want people to come out and see the track.”

His son wants to see more newcomers make the trip up the hill too.

“It’s just excitement riding my bike, I just like it,” said Luke. “And if you like riding your bike then you should try it too.”