CORNWALL, Ontario – The city’s first BMX track, located in Guindon Park, is set to open on June 11.
“June 11th is our scheduled opening date,” said Dan Drouin, the Track Operator and one of the Managers of BMX Cornwall. “That’s weather permitting, and assuming everything gets finished off in time.”
After five years of trying to bring a BMX track to Cornwall, the Cornwall BMX Club can almost see the finish line. According to Drouin, the track is almost rideable, aside from a few areas that need to be cleaned up.
“This is a very weather dependent sport,” said Drouin. “The surface we’re riding on is mostly like a clay. So once it gets wet, it’s really hard to work with.”
The track is a part of the Canada and USA BMX Sanction, so membership is universal across North America. Drouin is hoping that the track and scheduled races will draw attention from both sides of the border because of its accessible location.
The building of the track started last summer, but there were setbacks due to the weather. Fortunately, there are tracks in Ottawa and Kingston where BMX athletes can compete. Drouin believes that BMX is growing in popularity in Ontario with tracks cropping up and expanding, and BMX Canada seeing an increase in membership.
“It’s kind of a niche sport right now, but it’s something that’s kind of growing into the mainstream, especially since it became an Olympic sport in 2008,” said Drouin.
According to Drouin, the sport tends to entice entire families to participate. Drouin, his daughter Sophie and his son Sam all partake in racing. Drouin thinks that the sport is affordable and provides an encouraging atmosphere.
Once the track is complete, it will be open to the public during daylight hours in the summer. The track is allowed to be used by anyone with a bike that is in good working order and a helmet. Sanctioned races will occur once a week.
The Cornwall BMX Club is looking for sponsors and volunteers to help make races possible. The club currently posts on their Facebook page when they are planning to do track maintenance. Drouin encourage anyone to drop by or contact dan@cornwallbmx.ca or help@cornwallbmx.ca.
