Davis does dirt / Eager volunteers help prepare Farmington's Legacy Center for two weekends of BMX racing
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lpark@standard.net
FARMINGTON -- Ethan Alvey stomped around the top of the berm while his father and another man raked the soil smooth below.
The 10-year-old Layton boy and his father volunteered their time Friday to help prepare the Legacy Center for the 170 to 280 BMX racers expected at the arena this weekend for the beginning of the indoor season.
Ethan's father, Dr. Justin Alvey, has participated in BMX racing for 30 years. Alvey is a pediatrician with Wee Care Pediatrics.
Ethan and his twin sister, Brighton, got involved four years ago about the same time their 16-year-old brother, Nick, started racing.
"I like the jumps," said Ethan, a state champion in his age bracket.
Alvey said that as a pediatrician and a father, "it is scarier to watch them race and crash than for me to race."
His children have had their share of bruises, bumps and scrapes from going 30 mph and not making a turn, but they wouldn't miss a weekend of races, he said.
The mounds of soil in the arena were built by Davis County Events Center employees earlier this week as they dug up the dirt floor, said Ron Melton, track director for RAD Canyon BMX. Generally, the arena is used for horse competitions. The county does not allow outside dirt to be brought into the arena.
RAD Canyon BMX members volunteered their time Friday to put the finishing touches on the track, after the front-end loader, the skid steer and compactor built the mounds into a race track.
RAD Canyon BMX is a nonprofit organization that promotes BMX racing along the Wasatch Front, Melton said. It also is part of the American Bicycle Association.
Melton said many times parents will bring their children to watch a race event, and by the next day, the child is racing. And within a few months, the parents are racing. The organization provides clinics for all age groups and skill levels.
That is what happened to Jackie Muterspaugh, of Draper. He brought his sons to a race track in South Jordan two years ago to watch. Soon they were racing and within a few months he was, too.
Asked how good their father was, Dillian and Austin, ages 9 and 6, respectively, each gave him a thumbs-up.
All it takes to race is the annual membership fee of $45, a fee for each race, long-sleeved shirt, long pants, a helmet and a bike, Melton said.
He said the youngest of racers will have a chance to show their stuff on the race track.
"You haven't lived until you watched a Big Wheel race," he said.
There is no fee to race, and the participants are 5 and younger. Many are pushed around the shortened track by older siblings or parents, he said.
BMX racing events
* All RAD Canyon BMX events will be held at the Davis County Legacy Center, 151 S. 1100 West, Farmington.
* Races are from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. today and Oct. 18, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday and Oct. 19. Admission for spectators is free.
* Cost to race is $10, $20 or $30 for members, depending on the race. The annual fee to become a member is $45.
* Clinics will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday and Wednesday. Cost for nonmembers, one time only, is $10. Clinic registration time is 5:30 p.m. Subsequent clinics require membership.
* For more information, call 699-9575 or go to www.radcanyonbmx.com.
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