Around that time is when Motocross died in the Sault as well.
What a great story. It’s interesting how BMX roared locally for three years and fizzled. At the time the cycling club was into road racing and touring. We unfortunately lost that track but we NOW have two great pump tracks in town that are perfect for BMX. There’s also a kids MTB racing team that to a large degree owe their skill to BMX. Come check it out.
The main reason that we weren't able to continue was due to the extremely high insurance costs.☹️ It was unfortunate because we had a good thing going on. The same happened with the Moto Cross racing here.
@arthur house insurance and lawyers killed so many good things including the landslide ski hill. New Zealand doesn’t have that problem because you can’t sue for personal injuries. Instead the state looks after you and the justice system goes after criminals. That’s why they have trampolines in playgrounds and have awesome mtb trails.
Awesome memories, it was so much fun. Back then it seemed like the young boys and girls enjoyed be outdoors with many friends. 😊
Anyone remember old-school BMX @ Strathclair? I do :)
A little story to follow the pictured Sault Star clipping from 1987 (or 1988, can't quite remember how the seasons worked):
My rival and I eventually arrived in Ajax & Newmarket later that year to do battle at the provincials. IIRC, when all was said and done, Brad ended up first overall and I second (I've got the number plate to prove it!) in our age & class.
We weren't the only SSM'ers that kicked butt down there either! Check the trophy shot: that was all of us at either of those southern Ontario tracks. It was a motorhome full of us, with at least two chaperone fathers, one of which being my own pictured in yellow holding up our 'club banner', and on the track, in the 'dad class' 💪.
Not pictured, nor mentioned in the article, was the considerable amount of effort from all our parents on practice and race nights at Strathclair (entrance off Old Garden River Road). One of those parents was my dearest mother, as was the Mrs. MacIntosh mentioned in the article.
Unfortunately, either the next season or the one after, BMX stopped in SSM. Can't recall why. Too bad... we were pretty good! But I'm super grateful for the 3-4 years we had; they taught me how to push myself.