Spalding BMX Track

Stew · Spalding BMX Track

I had a meeting today with the SHDC and the news is that there is no money to rebuild the track and our best bet is to plan ahead for when Spalding's sports village get's built sometime in the future. In the meantime, they will maintain it to stop it deteriating further but with only 2 speed jumps, 1 tabletop and 3 berms, no way is it anywhere near a modern BMX track. I still intend to become a Go-Ride coach and to then specialise in BMX racing coaching skills but I need a track that has sets of doubles,step-up jumps and rythm sections to effectively teach the skills required. I believe that Spalding Cycling club would benefit immensely if we had BMX along side our already popular road,timetrial,grasstrack and cyclocross activities.

If we want a BMX track in Spalding then we need to air our views sooner rather than later.I also fully support a closed road circuit if one were to be built in Spalding but not without a BMX track. I am 110% committed towards a regional level BMX track and believe that it is a very important area of cycling - especially for the youth of today to get involved with. There are some members of this club who have their backgrounds in BMX.I started BMX racing in 1981.

The BMX track in Spalding has served us well but is now starting to show signs of it's age. There are problems with drainage,the surface erosion where stones are visible,litter,broken glass bottles and vandalism. It is also hard to police due to the fact that it is in a corner of the sports complex and it is not always easy to see what is going on there. The police to my knowledge have already been called out there twice in the last two weeks.

I welcome poeples views on this subject.

Kind regards

STEW

Walsh

Stew
on Wednesday night at Phantoms club night, there was a guy there asking for advice etc. He was from Market Deeping and had been awarded £70,000 to build a BMX track in Market Deeping. Plans have been drawn up and he wants to make sure it is ok before the builders start work very soon!
I knew the council wouldn't be prepared to spend any money on our existing track! I bet you are so frustrated, I know I would be! Not coming from Lincolnshire, i get annoyed and frustrated that we always seem the poor relation when it comes to sports facilities compared to the rest of the country!

Stew · Spalding BMX Track

Yeh, I know all about the deal going down at Market Deeping and was asked if I wanted to get involved. Looks like it'll be a good track and I can't wait to shred the berms on the Kuwahara! I have a very good relationship with the guys from Terry Wright Cycles who are fully supportive of the new track.

There are avenues that can be explored and are being explored as we speak and I think we are in a pretty strong position what with the sports facilities being under review right now.

We need to tell the right people what we want and by talking with our fellow club members, family,friends,business associates,etc who knows what might happen?

Let's keep Spalding Cycling Club at the forefront of the SHDC's mind.

Regards

STEW

Stew · Spalding BMX Track

The latest email from the SHDC regarding our BMX track down at the Castle Sports Complex confirms that they will periodically spray the surface to control the weeds and money WILL be put into the 2009/2010 budget to allow for the track to be resurfaced when required.

I would like to stress that if anybody is available monday 14th July 2008 and would like to attend the sports forum at the council offices in Priory road at 6pm then they should do so as it is important that the SHDC sees that we have strong support for improving facilities for our club. I will be there at around 6pm-ish.

Also, did anybody see the BBC news yesterday when they reported on Shaneze Reade? It was an excellent insight into BMX racing and how Great Britain has an excellent chance to win a gold medal at this years Olympics when the sport of BMX racing will be making its debut. The news article also showed off one of Manchesters' newest BMX tracks.

Some of you may know that there are BMX tracks springing up all over the place (Market Deeping,Kings Lynn, Braintree, Manchester,Crewe,Hayes...the list goes on!) and it is absolutely vital that Spalding is not forgotten as we have a proud history of BMX in this town.Spalding used to host national race meetings and we had many famous BMX'ers compete on our track. BMX is a fantastic way to get the young involved in cycling and to develop their skills further.

Lets make sure that the SHDC know that cycling facilities should be at the forefront of their minds.

Regards

STEW