Georges Kreuzkamp has been pedaling around Newton for most of his life and, at age 63, shows no signs of slowing down as an avid BMX racer in that corner of 性视界传媒.
鈥淚 still love it,鈥� said the White Rock resident, whose 鈥渉ome鈥� track is .
This spring and summer, the facility celebrates 40 years of races that continue to attract riders and families from around the region, with practice time Monday evenings and races on Thursday.
The origins of the track date back to 1984, and dedicated families have kept Action rolling ever since.
鈥淚t鈥檚 such a family-oriented thing, right?鈥� said Jason McCormick, club president. 鈥淭his is the best place for kids to start their cycling career because if they start in this, they can go anywhere. Through the years we鈥檝e had a number of kids who鈥檝e become professionals.鈥�
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In the mid-1980s, the Action BMX track first launched under the power lines at 126 Street and 80 Avenue, then later moved to the current site at 12500 75 Ave., on the bend. A 性视界传媒 Leader story indicates the first public use of the track was in the summer of 1985, when volunteers finished building it.
Back in 2005, McCormick discovered Action while watching friends race. His boys got into the sport, and daughter too, then it became a family affair with McCormick and his wife also getting involved.
鈥淚 do the announcing, and still love that,鈥� said McCormick, who lives in Ladner. 鈥淚 enjoy watching these kids and giving colour commentary and give the parents some entertainment. Some of them still get my jokes but maybe they鈥檙e too dated for the kids, I don鈥檛 know.鈥�
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More action at Newton's Action BMX track, the origins of which date back to 1984.
鈥� Tom Zillich (@TomZillich)
In this story, check out photos of the track in 1995 by my old journalism-school buddy Chung Chow:
Kreuzkamp has been racing at Action for around 25 years, starting in the late 1990s. Today he owns and operates Bert鈥檚 Automotive in Whalley, and travels to races across North America, most recently the world championships in South Carolina.
鈥淢y son was seven and I was 38 at the time,鈥� Kreuzkamp said of his early Action days, 鈥渁nd we were going out biking all the time. I had a Kuwahara from the early 鈥�80s that I got off my brother in law for $30. So I had this bike that I used to take it with me when I got involved in car racing, and that was my pit bike just to get around because of the car track. It鈥檚 a long ways to get to the concession to go to whatever corner.鈥�
Kreuzkamp still races cars, too.
鈥淭he family dynamic of the sport is great, there鈥檚 a lot of mentorship that happens there,鈥� he said of BMX-ing. 鈥淵ou have people that come in with their kids and they really don鈥檛 know anything about the sport, other than that you鈥檙e riding a bicycle. They don鈥檛 know the little nuances of crank length, the size of the bikes, things like that. People don鈥檛 always realize that all these things make a difference as to how well their son or daughter is going to progress in the sport. So people need advice on the right gearing and the training. I鈥檝e been through that with my own kids, so I like to make sure that people are putting their money in the right directions, not wasting their money on something that doesn鈥檛 really fit the kid, you know, stuff like that. I still love it.鈥�
Now a father who watches his kids race at Action, Kirk Piche remembers riding at the track in the late 1980s.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure I was at the inaugural race at this track, this location, in the early 1990s,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e come out from Richmond. This is our local track. They have tracks in Maple Ridge, some other places. This is close enough for us.鈥�
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There鈥檚 a new computer system at the track this year. The corners have been paved and improved over the decades, new LED lighting installed.
鈥淲e actually have two tracks here, an amateur side and professional side,鈥� McCormick explained. 鈥淭his is the only track in Canada where you have a corner-gap jump. We were motivated when we saw that in the Olympics, so we wanted to replicate that. So we hired this American to come up and he redid our track for us and he did a fantastic job, he was amazing.鈥�
It鈥檚 a really big berm jump.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 do that one, no,鈥� Kreuzkamp said with a laugh. 鈥淧eople look at it and go, 鈥榃hat is this, for motorcycles?鈥� But guys actually jump that on their bicycles. The last time I jumped the pro section at Action was in 2010, so it鈥檚 been a few years. I would have been 49 at the time. I鈥檒l leave that for the younger guys.鈥�
Accidents are part of BMX racing, and McCormick has his own story to tell.
鈥淚鈥檓 done racing,鈥� he explained. 鈥淎lmost 10 years ago I had a really bad accident while training for the world championships. I came around this corner 鈥� it was a different track back then, and I went to pre-manual the first roller, so that鈥檚 lifting your tire up before the obstacle. When I went to push it down, I hit the second roller and all my weight shifted forward and I lost my balance going over the third roller. Back at the time we had a table top, so I slammed sideways right into that at about 35 kilometers an hour.鈥�
He shattered a collarbone, broke ribs and pelvis and tore his groin.
鈥淭hey surgically repaired my collarbone,鈥� McCormick added, 鈥渟o I have a nice titanium plate and six screws in there. But, you know, 13 or 14 years later, I still don鈥檛 have any feeling here to here, in my upper chest, because they had to cut the nerves to go in there to fix it. My pelvis still hurts.鈥�
Still, he loves being at the track, which looks much different than in the 1980s.
鈥淲e never had limestone in the old days, and it was a clay track, which could get muddy,鈥� McCormick explained. 鈥淚f it rained, it was done, because your bike would sink and you鈥檇 get all the big ruts. And paving the corners was great, because without that you鈥檙e going thud-thud-thud, just awful. It鈥檚 fantastic now, and a lot easier to maintain.鈥�
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This summer plans are to have a 40th-anniversary race at Action, eventually.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really difficult because you have to try to put it in between all these other events that are already out there on the calendar, away from the Canadian championships, away from the world championships,鈥� McCormick said.
鈥淲e have to find the right spot, which is a challenge. This year we鈥檒l probably have to go into September for that race. I know we can get some of the guys who used to come and bring all of their old bikes, for an old-school BMX show. That鈥檇 be good.鈥�
