Medicine Hat BMX riders brave the elements to take to the track

Jassman has been part of the Medicine Hat BMX club for 28 years, and said that while they’re still recouping back to pre-COVID numbers, the club is looking to put the city back on the map.

“I have dads that actually, they brought themselves up and actually start riding with their family. He had his little boy start and by the end of the season, he was interested in riding, so now this year, he’s riding with his son,” Jassman said.

“So yes, you’re never too old to even try it out, we have people here who will show you everything you need to know about BMX,” she said.

Rider Lance Tessier has been part of the club since he was a youth. Now, hundreds of races and years later, he’s volunteering with the club, including helping his 5 year old son take up the sport.

“Well, like I said, my son’s five and determined to get out there and have fun. So it’s pretty awesome seeing all these young kids that start right around the age that I started, right around 9 and 10 to come out here and do it for 18 years like I have,” Tessier said.

“It’s pretty cool to see them grow up throughout the years and have a good time,” he said.

The Medicine Hat BMX club doesn’t strictly cater to casual riders however.

Chelsea Kingston represented Canada earlier this month in South Carolina for the 2024 BMX Racing World Championships.

While her tenth place finish under strange circumstances left a lot to be desired, she’s looking forward to next years championships and is happy to be a role model for young girls getting into the sport.

“I love being that for the little girls too because I still race, like locally, I’ll race the boys and all of a sudden all the girls will have their little group, but I’ll still race against the boys,” Kingston said.

“I love to see that when I can beat them and it just kind of gives them a little boost that girls can do anything that the boys can do and we can do it just a little bit better,” she said.

Jassman says that the club is growing in popularity due in part to the volunteer hours and relatively low cost of entry into the sport.

Measuring the track at over 300 meters, Jassman said the city support has been crucial to their success, helping the club build a new start ramp a few years ago.

Now, she’s hoping Hatters come out to the track, try it out and help grow the sport, something that could lead to a national or provincial championship bid.

“If we have the community to participate with us and help us grow this track, it only helps the community in return in that our large events,” Jassman said.

“We try to have large events once a year if we are successful with bidding, and if we do that, we have 500 hundred, 550 riders, plus their families, that can amount into a huge amount of riders that’ll be here for the weekend,” she said.

“So if it’s a community like ours, and we keep developing like the way we are, we’ll be an important notch for Alberta.”

The BMX club will offer lessons to new riders again at the beginning of July, but Jassman invites new riders to attend Tuesday or Thursday night track nights, either as a spectator or a future racer.

by Adrian St.Onge

Medicine Hat BMX riders brave the elements to take to the track

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