Driving rain fails to dampen spirits

Pilbara BMX racers last month braved driving rain in Newman to compete in the first North West Super Series event in the town in more than a decade.

The day was a celebration of the thousands of volunteer hours that Newman mums and dads — with support from local businesses and a vital BHP Billiton grant — had put into rebuilding the track after it laid dormant for about 11 years.

While the Newman weather didn’t come to the party as relentless rain turned parts of the track into a boggy mess, East Pilbara BMX member Glenn Tracey said fellow Pilbara riders from Hedland, Karratha and Tom Price were still full of praise.

“They are all happy with it — they want to come back when it is dry for a run, ” he said.

“They reckon it is smooth and looks like a real good, quick track.”

With about 150 riders from across the Pilbara taking part, Tracey said the event helped showcase to Newman parents why the sport of BMX was so fun and family friendly.

He said the East Pilbara club had already grown to 82 riders since its recent reboot.

But while the smiles on Newman kids’ faces was great to see, Tracey joked it might be a while before he and the other volunteers were ready to repeat all the hard work it took to get the track running.

“(We’ve spent) thousands (of hours working on the track) … after work, weekends, whenever we’ve got spare time, we come down and do something or we are making a phone call or someone is organising something weekly, ” he said.