By Sheldon Spackman

Red Deer BMX hosting largest event in provincials history

Jul 21, 2018 | 4:42 PM

It’s being hailed as the largest BMX event ever held in Alberta.

Alberta BMX Provincials 3 & 4 is taking place at Great West Adventure Park in Red Deer, with 567riders from across the province and even some from Saskatchewan all taking part.

The event began Friday with riders getting in some practice time on the track and races taking place Saturday and Sunday, including Dash for Cash races for those 12 and under.

BMX Coach and event spokesperson Ken Cools says there are riders of all ages competing but the bulk of them are 6-13 years-old.

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“BMX is kind of making a resurgence,” says Cools. “All the guys that did BMX in the 80’s, they’re fathers now or mothers and they bring their kids out and so the older classes are growing exponentially every year because parents no longer want to sit there and watch these kids ride, they want to go ride themselves.”

Now an Olympic sport, Cools says BMX is growing in popularity because it’s not only fun but an individual sport within a team environment.

“Everybody here supports each other, most kids belong to some team or their local club, so there’s that sense of belonging,” he explains. “But it’s an individual sport, you get up on the gate, you can’t blame anybody else but yourself and it’s a gratification. It’s something that is incredibly technical, so the skillset needed to do this is extremely high but then the athletic side is huge as well so the learning curve is steep and it’s the gratification from that which is rewarding as well.”

Howevere, he says BMX is no more dangerous than any other sport.

“For the general public that keeps their wheels on the ground, it’s a fairly safe sport,” says Cools. “But for those dare devils that want to go bigger and higher and jump the gaps, that’s where the danger comes in but this is the perfect sport for those adrenaline junkies.”  

As for the event itself, Cools gives high praise to Red Deer BMX and Great West Adventure Park in hosting Provincials.

“The Red Deer club is a fantastic group, they’ve been here for a real long time,” states Cools. “They have a fantastic group of volunteers that work within itself and to me, Red Deer has always been my favourite track in the world. You’ve got the river here, you’re in a park, you kind of drive down and you escape reality into this park.”

“If you look around, it’s nothing but families,” adds Cools. “This is the one sport where the entire family can be involved. This pulls everybody together, so this is something that people need to experience.”

Visit albertabmx.com for results and more information.