BMX RAD NATIONALS, TRACK CALLED 'PREMIER'
When the Great Salt Lake Nationals at RAD Canyon BMX was over, more than six thousand bike tires had tested the newly paved corners. It was a new level of traction for the mass of racers---1,102 of them---who turned out to compete in three days of racing on the 11-year-old track.
U. S. Olympic team alternate Arielle Martin swept the podium in the weekend's pro races, wining Saturday and Sunday. Danny Caluag won for the men Saturday, Barry Nobles took it on Sunday. Friday's pre-race event had hundreds of junior racers, some who were only four years old, with a lot of young girls who are showing that America has huge upcoming young BMX talent.
RAD Canyon is a non-profit corporation that exists to promote BMX races in the Wasatch Front area of Utah. After watching the race, an official of the ABA (American Bike Association) told RAD president and track manager Ron Melton, "The turns flow better than any other track, the track is smooth with good grip, it's a premier track."
SOUTH JORDAN, UT--Riders zoom out of the gate in the non-stop series of motos at RAD Canyon BMX track during a typical Tuesday evening practice. Nationally ranked racers practice alongside five-year-olds on a track that is being called the "premier' BMX track in America.
"It was exciting racing, with a minimal amount of wrecks. People that race real hard have a tendency to wash out in the turns, but with the asphalt in the turns now, they can turn on a dime. they can also keep up their speed, so it was a fast race, with lots of good competition," Melton said.
On her blog, Arielle Martin wrote, "The folks at RAD Canyon did an awesome job with the freshly paved corners, they are hands down some of the best I have ridden and that increased the speed on an already fast track so people were loving it!" Martin has also decided to go for the ABA title this year.
After spending most of the year at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California, training on a duplicate of the Beijing Olympic BMX Supercross track, Martin adds, "I wasn't sure what to expect of myself coming into this weekend after training specifically for the Olympics these last 8 months. The styles of tracks are very different and I definitely struggled with the ABA gate cadence." But she still won handily. (BMX Supercross will make its Olympic debut August 21)
As for the paved corners, every spring RAD Canyon hires a national caliber track builder to update the facility. Melton, a former BMX racer himself, explains, "Every year you find out riders like a certain style of jump or other feature best, so you modify your track. He (the builder) reworks ours and always changes some things. BMX tracks have problems with dirt turns, they get rutted and people slide out and wreck. So people started paving the turns, and found that riders could maintain their traction and keep up more speed. So this spring, we paved ours, and the riders really liked it. We hit a home run with our turns."
RAD Canyon is located in South Jordan, a suburb about 14 miles from downtown Salt Lake City. The program is growing a generation of world class BMX'ers with its year round program. In spring and summer, there is on-track training every Tuesday night, two hours for only three dollars. On Thursdays, there are races for local riders, with trophies and prizes for winners. Training and racing is open to any rider with an ABA license. Nor does it stop when Utah is covered in snow.
"We hooked up with the Salt Lake County indoor equestrian park, and on weekends, we go inside and build a track for racing, then tear it down when the races are over," Melton says.
The indoor track is much more mild than the outdoor facility, because there is less dirt to work with during the winter months, and also because the track must be able to accomodate the growing crowd of five-year-olds who compete at RAD Canyon. Utah also has more female BMX riders than any other state because, Melton says, "Girls in Utah like to stay active."
At RAD Canyon, they get the chance to do just that.