This big show in town this weekend (Aug. 8-9) is up the hill at Cochrane BMX Association track.
The local bicycle-motocross (BMX) racing club is hosting the Alberta BMX Association’s provincial races 5-6. It’s the second-straight year the club is hosting the event featuring 400 riders aged 4-55 coming from around the province. They’re racing in age-group categories ranging from novice to expert over the two-day event.
Last year’s event was a show-stopper, with thousands of racers, organizers, officials and parents wheeling into Cochrane to participate.
“We’re an up-and-coming club,” said Cochrane BMX president Brad Christensen. “To be able to host these is huge.
“Our membership grew over 40 per cent from last year due, in part, to hosting provincials. Having the spotlight in our town is a big thing for our club.”
In the up-and-coming department, Cochrane BMX is focussed on developing the sport at the grassroots level – grooming young, novice racers for higher intermediate and expert-level age groups. Cochrane’s Taia Graham has scored points in four provincial races this season, putting her sixth overall in the province in eight-year-old girl’s novice standings heading into her home meet. Cochrane BMX’s Sienna Foster sits third in nine-year-old novice female standings while Jaxson Ross and Caleb Carey duke it out for bragging rights in seven-year-old novice male standings. Many more Cochranites are in the mix, with at least 26 local racers competing at provincial races 5-6 on their home track.
“The track’s looking good,” Christensen said of his club’s preparations for provincial racing. “It’s been a busy long weekend working at the track. It’s been good tough. We’re getting close. We’re pretty excited. These are fun to host.
“To get two (provincial meets) in a row is pretty good. We’re pretty good with that.”
Racing starts 11 a.m. Saturday (Aug. 8) with practice sessions going earlier in the morning. Sunday, Aug. 9, racing begins 10 a.m. with practice starting before racing.
For up to date provincial standings visit: albertabmx.com
