Victoria, BC Canada -- 06/04/2009
Photo - Colwood Mayor Dave Saunders (centre) is challenging
local contractors to help Ron Noullette and Paul Nielsen, with the
Greater Victoria BMX Association, finish the club’s new BMX track.
The ailing 2007 world championship track is being remade for
younger kids and teens.
Mounds of dirt have been moved and the old track is plowed smooth,
paving the way for a new BMX playground at West Shore Parks and
Recreation.
It’s been a year of angst and acrimony, but Greater Victoria BMX
Association’s new home is taking shape on the site of the larger
2007 world championship track.
“It’s a new track, a new club and a new attitude,” said Ron
Noullette, GVBA track director. “We needed a bigger track.
Victoria BMX is growing.”
“This is for the kids and it’s about the kids,” added Paul Nielsen,
acting president of the GVBA. “With a new track we hope to get
new members. But everyone is really excited about what is
happening here.”
Last week more than 60 truckloads of dirt were hauled from the
original site on the west side of the velodrome to the UCI track.
Volunteer construction contractors unplugged existing drains,
brought in loads of rocks and built new water channels to solve
flooding problems, Noullette said.
“There were massive drainage problems,” he said. “(The track
builders) did a fabulous job at the time ... but it was plugged solid.”
The next step is the magic touch from Billy Allen, the top BMX track
guru in North America for the American Bicycle Association (ABA),
the sanctioning body. He is expected to start forming the track this
week.
Creating rhythm sections, jumps and turns in
proportional harmony is harder than it looks, Nielsen said.
“Getting the flow, rhythm and distances is a real science.
Just getting the corners to work with the straight-aways is
a feat in itself,” he said. “This will be a fast, technical,
flowing track.”
It will also be a much larger track at about 1,100 feet versus 900
feet for the original, bringing it to the standard of most tracks in
the U.S. and Canada. The new track will have softer lines for
younger kids, but some pro sections will be retained for riders
looking to compete nationally, Noullette said.
The GVBA has about 60 riders, the vast majority younger than
12 years old. “The will be a multi-age track,” Noullette said.
“The little guys don’t have to worry about getting hurt.”
Getting to the point of moving dirt had its share of drama.
Recent upheaval within the GVBA resulted in a new executive and
the exit of long-time members. Roger Barclay, for one, left after
15 years overseeing the track.
“It’s been a big part of my life,” Barclay said.
“I’ve been terribly disappointed in what’s gone on.”
Prior to that, the GVBA butted heads with the WSPR board and staff
to keep its 23-year-old track in place. That wasn’t in the cards, but
eventually the GVBA was handed the eroding UCI championship track
after its competitor society, West Shore BMX, was shown to be largely
defunct.
Colwood Mayor Dave Saunders said the 2007 world championship
track served its purpose and noted that WSPR mandated it would
host only one track on the property.
“Getting this track open is huge to us as a community,”
said Saunders, who also sits on the WSPR board.
Noullette said the track rebuild is worth about $5,000 so far in
volunteer labour and equipment donations from Copley Bros.
Construction, Griffiths Trucking, Raw Excavating and others.
Saunders also is donating his backhoe and is asking the West
Shore development and construction community to lend a hand.
The GVBA still needs to move a trailer and install electrical services
and high pressure hose lines among other infrastructure at the track.
Volunteers are welcome and needed and can call Noullette
at 250-727-5728.
