A lot has been happening behind the scenes as usual but if feels like we have finally gone public in stating that the park is open, come in and ride.
Shaw cable was on hand to profile the North Saanich Freeride Park and those behind it.
First some insight full words from a few of Victoria's very own Olympic athletes!
Silver medalist and 3 time world champion mountain biker, Alison Sydor!
"Having myself been involved in the establishment of a number of initiatives to help get young people on mountain bikes in this province, Ive seen how the sport is not only fun and healthy for kids, but has also the power to change the lives of many young people who’s high energy levels when left unchallenged and unchanelled had become problematic."
"For it’s relative cost over a recreation facility such as a pool or an ice rink, a facility such as the North Sannich freeride park offers great bang for the buck in terms of giving the kids and other residents a place to get out for a healthy activity in a park that will be up to date and in touch with the demands of the mountain bike free ride and bmx enthusiasts."
One more...
Catharine Pendrel, Canadian World Cup Champion and 4th in the 08 Beijing Olympics.
"I am writing to you as a BC Olympian and in support of the North Saanich Bike Park (NSBP). I believe this park is an amazing opportunity to help kids, as well as adults, get active and learn new skills. Like myself, many kids are not drawn to school sports, but sport can still be a powerful influence in their lives. The NSBP provides an alternative to school sports in an environment that can be easily coached and supervised.
As athletes and leaders it is our responsibility to provide forums for kids to become involved in sport, and support to those willing to create sport opportunities for others. I believe the North Saanich Bike Park is an excellent resource that will benefit the lives of North Saanich residents as well as surrounding communities. "
So I will post the full interview once I get it but for now please be happy with a few few mini clips of the day.
First up is Mark Mathews, original founder of the park more than 5 years ago:
Then the parks poster boy Drew Mitchell, Canada's current National Champion and part of the reason we are building a park of this sort, where can a athlete train to help represent it's own nation? A park like this is needed where athletes can train and the kids can aspire to train to be just like them in the same location!
They Interviewed Kyle Michell as well but I never caught his interview on film as I started to laugh at the awkwardness of a camera right in your face but he did a good job explaining the park design concepts.
Kyle builds parks professionally around the world for the UCI. If you watched the Beijing Olympics this summer the BMX track was his handy work and we have him working on this track until completion
Once the crew did the interviews they wanted a test run of the track so KYLE, Mark, Drew and little Kyle did some laps.
The cool thing about this park is that after 5 years of work we are finally starting to fund raise! Sounds backwards but with the help of so many local business's and loyal people we have achieved this much with out a cent requested. Now the goal is to raise just enough money to keep Kyle here as last year we lost him a lot with conflicting work schedules as he flew around building tracks.
By late spring we plan to have in our own backyard a world class training track for everyone, child and pro and us out of shape types!!
Alyson Sydor
Here are some random shots of the day!
So again thanks for every ones help, we have achieved more than most parks could dream of on elbow grease and community support, lets get this park open by late Spring and throw a competition!
