Some of the country’s best BMX racers are coming to Colwood this weekend to compete in the BMX Canada Nationals at West Shore Parks and Recreation.
Hosted by the Greater Victoria BMX Association, the weekend full of races serves as qualifying and ranking events for riders hoping to earn a spot at the Grand Nationals later in the year. For the local club, it’s an exciting return for an event last hosted in 2016.
“We have riders from all over Canada and some from the U.S. coming up for this … we are expecting between 400 to 600 riders all together, so it should be a pretty large event and we are pretty excited for it,” said association president Kyle Besler. “It’s a nice return to this, especially in what seems to be a post-COVID climate.”
While many of the riders will be coming from out of town, there are also plenty of local riders competing, many of whom are or have been nationally and internationally ranked. Besler said Cid Martinez and the three Brosius siblings, in particular, are local riders to watch for.
The event is also exciting for the association for the impacts it will have on both themselves and the local BMX community.
“It’s a way we can generate some revenue for the club and put it back into the track,” said Besler. “It’s also just nice to see for the sport. BMX racing is not something that’s in the mainstream, so a lot of people don’t really know it exists. Then they come out and see an event like this and they are blown away. We have these riders speeding around the track, literally inches away from each other, clearing jumps getting 10, 12 feet of air on a dirt track.”
That level of action makes for a great spectator sport, and Besler said the best part is the event is completely free to watch. The only thing that costs money for spectators is the snack shack operated by the association as part of its fundraising efforts.
Practices start in the morning of July 1 and 2, with races starting around 3 p.m. on Friday and running throughout the day Saturday. Sunday (July 3) will have races running from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
READ MORE: National races to return this season to Colwood BMX track
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