Brady Anderson has raced at just about every BMX track there is in Western Canada in 15 years as a rider.
Just last weekend he was in Abbotsford at a national series points meet, where he posted third- and fourth-place results in the ultra-competitive 17-20-year-old men's expert class.
Anderson, 20, knows from being around his provincial peers that his home track in Prince George has a reputation as one of the "easy tracks" to ride. That used to be the case, but those days are done.
After two months of rebuilding and reshaping the features to make a monster out of the track that Anderson and the rest of riders in the Supertrak BMX Club call home, BMXers in Prince George no longer have to leave the city to find one of the most challenging rides they'll ever encounter. It's caught up to the trend in BMX toward bigger jumps and steeper pitches.
"Our track is awesome - now everything is built quite bigger and more challenging," said Anderson. "Times have changed and tracks have changed. Everything used to be for speed and (the most challenging features) were small and fast. Now, it's slowed down a bit and everything's really technical and it's all about skill.
"I think with everything going on at the track it's drawn out a few people to the club and in turn it will bring people from down south up here."
The track is no longer than it was before the improvements but because the hills are so much bigger it takes Anderson five seconds longer to complete the course. At race speed, it now takes him about 35 seconds.
The $147,000 renovation will get its first real test this weekend when Supertrak hosts a provincial meet, which will attract out-of-town riders. A wider start gate, smoother corners and hills that give experienced riders more chances to gain altitude and fly to their destination highlight the improvements the club has made just in time for this weekend's races.
"Our riders love it," said Supertrak club president Corrie Anderson. "The corners were flattened and completely rebuilt fresh, the straights were built fresh and there are some bigger jumps put in. It's all bigger obstacles, very technical."
The track was leveled in May and a builder was hired to move mountains of dirt to reconfigure the hills, bumps and berms. The idea was to make local races more difficult to keep the experts happy while still keeping the track accessible to new riders. The club also wants to put Prince George back on the map for national series events. Supertrak last staged a national series event in 2012.
"We're hoping to attract more members to the sport and make our riders way more competitive," said Corrie Anderson. "Lots of Supertrak riders are traveling to the provincial and national finals and we want them to hold their own at those races so they're way more competitive and way more skilled.
"We're hoping to have a national (race) next year."
Two weekends ago Supertrak hosted a rider development clinic, Camp Cools, hosted by Cycling Canada high performance BMX head coach Ken Cools of Chilliwack. Cools taught the riders for two days and also hosted a coaching clinic for parents.
"He travels all around doing these coaching clinics and he absolutely loved our track and said it was one of the nicest ones he'd been to this summer," said Corrie Anderson.
The new aluminum start gate area under construction on the west side of the track (next to the old start gate) won't be ready for this weekend's races. The club is still awaiting the arrival of a $30,000 eight-lane gate mechanism on order from a French manufacturer. The installer from France will be in Prince George on July 17.
"It's twice as wide and it's a little bit higher and it's been built by engineered plans so it's good and stable," said Corrie Anderson. "There's just more room for staging when riders are getting ready for their lanes and we're putting a roof on this one. Once this start hill is done, it's going to be there forever."
The club has also installed a chain-link fence between the track and the spectator viewing area to improve safety. The improvements are the result of a $42,660 city council grant to cover the costs of gravel, trucking, concrete and labour. The club also obtained a $30,000 grant from Northern Development Initiative Trust as well as other local sponsorships and volunteer labour.
"The amount of sponsorship and donations we have gotten is beyond belief," said Corrie Anderson.
On Aug. 17 the club will host its annual Race for Life to benefit the B.C. Children's Hospital. Riders raise money and the club will donate its race fees and concession profits to the cause. The 200-member club is planning an open house that same day to demonstrate the sport and show the public what it's done to raise the profile of BMX in the city.
Racing starts tonight at 6:30. A double-points meet is on Saturday starting at 10:30 a.m. and the provincial qualifier is set for Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
The club has switched to its summer schedule with club races Tuesday and Thursday evenings with registration at 6 and racing at 6:30. Practices session are on Mondays from 6-8 p.m.
