New I-94 BMX track in Fergus Falls hosts national registration week
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Races begin after a hydraulic gate drops. Motos or heats of BMX racers then launch themselves down a dirt track.
It’s about 1,000 feet in all with winding sharp turns peppered with bunny hills and approaches perfect for hitting jumps. The bikes range from little no-frills striders with no pedals all the way up to thousand-dollar marvels.
I-94 BMX track operator Nic Beck welcomes new riders.
“You can come out and use our bikes, use their helmets, no cost,” he said. “And come out and see what the sport is all about.”
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He said unlike a lot of other sports age isn’t a factor.
“We have riders that are two, three years old. We do have a rider that I believe he’s in his 60s,” Beck said. “Any ages, you can come out and ride. Dads ride, kids ride, anybody.”
The very young riders on strider bikes look top-heavy wearing their huge helmets. They are reminiscent of Dark Helmet from the movie “Spaceballs.” They do pretty well going down the hills, but with no pedals they sometimes need a parental push to make it up the other side.
Tate Hoff needs no such help. At 10-years-old he’s already an expert having won 64 trophies in his short career. Hoff said his biggest achievement so far was winning a 4-foot-tall trophy. That is almost as tall as he is.
“I just really like riding my bike because I can basically jump everything on the track,” he beamed. “And it’s just really fun.”
For anyone thinking about picking up the sport Hoff had this advice.
“You can ride any bike at first. It’s just try to get good at balancing and doing all that stuff,” he encouraged.
Recent high school graduate Trey Dillon is a local legend. He started racing at 4-years-old and got good. Real good.
“I was 14 or 15. I qualified to race for team USA, and the world championships of BMX,” he recounted. “So, we flew to Belgium, and there was a weeklong event of all BMX racing the world championships.”
Dillon said he learned a lot as a BMX rider. Today he was at the track teaching the next generation how to ride.
“I’m just trying to give back. The BMX tracks taught me so many things,” he said. “And I just want to give back to all the little kids. I hope that they find as much joy in BMX as I did.”
He said the days registration event was a big one.
“It's like the first race of the season so it should be really exciting,” he said before urging others. “I would just say honestly, just come out and try it. You got nothing to lose just everything to gain."
As a former BMX rider Edward Kucera is now introducing his 7-year-old son to the sport.
“It’s amazing. Just to see all these kids having something to do. Stuff that’s a little different than organized sports too,” he said. “You know, it’s good to work on your individuality in a sport as well.”
Although Fergus Falls is a small community, organizers say the sport is extremely popular here. They’re looking forward to a busy summer with multiple events every week.