Samuel Playle feels good when he's racing his BMX bike, pedaling as fast as he can.
The eight-year-old has been BMX racing the last couple of years, even placing second and third in Minnesota races last year.
“It’s really just for fun,” he says while at the BMX track on Pioneer Drive.
“I like to BMX because it gives you a good workout. That’s why lots of people do it.”
The exercise is one reason Samuel’s mother, Kim Ducharme, enthusiastically approves of her son’s favourite activity.
“Who wants to see kids inside watching TV? Not me,” she says. “My son is really interested and he is very seduced by television and video games but he also loves his bike.”
“I would rather see him out here racing and getting exercise and having fun and feeling good about friendly competition, encouraging other people to do well,” says Ducharme, adding the atmosphere is like that of a hockey team.
“You get together with like-minded kids and everybody’s having fun.”
Ducharme, along with three other parents, are trying to foster more participation in the sport by running Thunder Bay BMX.
The club aims to teach kids how to race on BMX bikes and also try to revive the sport in the city.
It’s an inexpensive and fun way for people of all ages to get outside and get some exercise, Ducharme.
Anyone over the age of six is welcome to join the club and Ducharme says if someone younger than six wants to race, they can as long as they can recruit some more parents to help run the club.
The bikes for the younger children are different and they require more supervision, so a larger executive is needed before they can expand the focus of the club.
Membership in the club includes registration with BMX Canada, which is associated with the American Bicycle Association’s BMX division – USA BMX. The affiliation with the ABA allows the cyclists to earn points in each race they participate in here in Thunder Bay so they can be ranked with other cyclists in North America.
They can also participate in races in other cities. Ducharme says they often have members race in Minnesota.
Local races and practices are held at the track on Pioneer Drive. Last year city council heard complaints from the then-executive about vandalism at the track.
Ducharme says it’s an ongoing problem, but not uncommon given it’s a popular hangout spot for youth.
“The track isn’t well lit up; it’s off the beaten track. There really isn’t a lot of supervision on the track,” she says. “We want kids to come here and enjoy the track, but we want to instill a little bit more responsibility.”
The track has a gate donated by some local citizens. It was smashed to the point where it was unusable.
“The damage has been disheartening,” Ducharme says.
“It was their time, their money, their resources.”
The club asked the city for help repairing it and they did, which Ducharme said the club was grateful for.
She said everybody needs to be respectful and learn to share the space.
“It would be really great if we could get better lighting and more supervision from a security standpoint but with budgets, I don’t know where the money would come from,” she says.
The next practice for Thunder Bay BMX is on May 27 at 4 p.m.
The season’s race schedule will be posted on the club’s Facebook page that evening.
For more information email tbaybmx@live.ca.
On Twitter: @JodiL_reporter
