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ROTTERDAM
BMX racing becomes a hot favorite
Volunteers stoke flames of newest Olympic sport
BY J. JUDE HAZARD Gazette Reporter

    BMX, the off-road bicycle racing sport that jumped onto the world stage with its premiere at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is alive and well in the Capital Region thanks to a local volunteer group.
    TriCity BMX hosts about 25 races every Friday night from May through October at its 150 Burdeck St. track. The group also has practices every Tuesday from May through September for its racers, ranging in age from 3 to 60.
    BMX, short for bicycle motocross, started in the late 1960s. The races are not timed, with the winner being the first person to cross the finish line. Racers are separated into age and skill levels.
    Cyclists wear helmets and ride on dirt tracks that include hills, jumps, straightaways and banked turns.
    “I just fell in love with it right away,” said Ryan Nilsen, 23, of Amsterdam. “It’s just a rush. It’s really a lot of fun.” Nilsen volunteers with the group and helps maintain the track. The track property is owned by the town of Rotterdam and is leased to TriCity BMX every year for $1. TriCity volunteers built and maintain the track. “I think it’s a great family sport,” said Ryan’s mom, Claudia Nilsen. “BMX is a non-team sport. The kids can go as far as they want to go.” Her daughter, 18-year-old Rachel Adams, also races with the group.
    Claudia Nilsen is the director of TriCity BMX. On Friday, she was busy with various tasks such as working the concession stand and setting up a television with video of a recent interview the group had on a local TV station.
    She said participation in 2008 is down about 20 percent from last year, to an average of 100 riders per night.
    However, she said about 20 new riders have joined in the last few weeks and she attributed the surge to the buildup of interest from Olympic coverage of the sport.
    Earlier this week in Beijing, Maris Strombergs of Latvia won the gold medal in men’s BMX cycling, with Americans Mike Day and Donny Robinson capturing the silver and bronze medals respectively. Anne-Caroline Chausson of France captured the gold in women’s BMX cycling, with Laetitia Le Corguille of France winning the silver and American Jill Kintner the bronze.
    Claudia Nilsen said she is seeing fewer people traveling from outside the Capital Region to come to the races. “I think the price of gas is really killing everyone,” she said. “There’s not money for extras, and BMX is not a cheap sport.”
    She said that bikes can range in price from $50 to custom designs that cost thousands of dollars.
    Each racer pays a $55 annual fee to the National Bicycle League, a group that oversees local tracks across the country.
    TriCity BMX gets about $2 for each member it recruits and raises the rest of its money from concession sales and corporate sponsors, Claudia Nilsen said.
    Kyle O’Brien, 17, of Schenectady, said he enjoys the adrenaline rush of going fast over a hill while racing.
    “This is a [summer and fall] kind of sport,” he said in between practice runs. “I’m pretty much here to help out the rookies, the little guys.”
    O’Brien is headed to the State University of New York at Oswego later this month. He said his main advice to the younger riders is to look forward at the track ahead of them even when other riders are nearby in close quarters.
    “Wherever you’re looking, that’s the way you’re going,” he added.