Wagarville family thrives at BMX racing

by Jeff Green

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Brodie and Blake Young are high energy boys who have taken to the challenging sport of BMX racing, which is like motocross on a bicycle, in a big way. And they have the results to show for it.

The boys race each week during the spring and summer at a BMX club in Kingston , and on weekends they travel to races all across the province and in Quebec .

Brodie, 11, has just finished his second year of racing, and at the provincial championships, held this year in Kingston , he finished second in the intermediate class for 11-year-olds.

Blake, 7, has only raced for one year, but he finished first for 7-year-olds in the novice class at the provincial championships.

The races take place on special bikes, which weigh as little as 7 pounds, that are cycled through a steep, bumpy track.

“It’s all in the legs,” says Brodie, and in the lung capacity as well, since there is tremendous exertion required in the short, two-minute races. Racers can race in up to three motos before the fastest racer run in the finals, so there is a stamina component to the sport as well. And it takes a lot of balance and determination to make it through a race day without falling at least once.