You’ll have to excuse some of our local BMX riders if they’ve had their head in the clouds this week — flying high they are, after a great showing at the Sea to Sky Nationals.
Seven riders from the Erik Goetzinger BMX Club in Qualicum Beach made the trip to Sqaumish June 10 to 12 where they took to the track along with over 400 other riders from all over North America and as far away as Washington, California, Nevada and Texas.
“Great results,” said EGBC president Trisha Grecht. “They had a wonderful weekend. Every one of our riders qualified for their mains — the kids held their own and did very, very well.”
Indeed.
Aiden Grecht had an awesome weekend with double wins on Saturday; taking first in the eight and under Cruiser and a second in 7 Expert Boys Class. Her brother, Alex, was sixth out of a field of 16 riders in the 9 Expert Boys.
Sister Alison earned second in 11-12 Cruiser and third in 11 Girls. Autumn Spencer earned fifth in 7 Girls; Rod Spencer was eighth in 36-40 Cruise.
Austin Paddock placed fifth in 7 Intermediate Boys, and Blayre Paddock was fifth in 11 Girls.
The next National race goes July 8-10 in Victoria, but in the meantime, “come on out every Tuesday night for BMX racing,” invites Trisha, “sign up 6-6:30 pm and the first race is free. You don’t need anything special, “just helmet, long sleeve shirt, pants and a bike.”
Worth noting, is that the Qualicum Beach club is growing like gangbusters this year to the point where their weekly ride nights are the best attended of any track on the Island.
“It’s great,” said Trish, “We’re having on average 84 riders coming out to race, which is fantastic — we’re used to having 45 (riders out), so this is a record breaking year at Erik Goetzinger, lots of five-year-olds, lots of seven-year-olds, it’s just awesome.”
As is so common in the sport bikes, BMXing is a family affair.
The Grechts have been part of EGBC since 2007. This is Trish’s first year as president, and her husband Robert is the track operator.
For more info on the local club go to www.erikgoetzinger.net.