The winds of change are blowing through the Campbell River Motocross track.
The organization revealed a few renovations taking place at the outdoor track, which is located on Hwy. 28, just outside Campbell River.
Campbell River Motocross vice-president Doug Ling said the organization tries to update the track every year.
“We constantly do changes whenever we have equipment,” he said. “Every year we try and change some stuff to change it up for the riders to make it fun to ride; something new.”
This year, the changes are a bit more extensive. One of the course’s defining features, a bridge which saw riders go over then under was removed for safety concerns. It was first built in 2004.
“It was just getting too rotten and unsafe,” said Ling, “So we had to take that down and we just had to change a couple sections to make it all work without going over and under.”
Work started before Christmas and the bridge has been removed and replaced with a new section.
A new jump has also been added to the course.
Campbell River Motocross uses member dues to fund the changes. Caliber Bridge and Design donated the machinery for the most recent round of work and the organization funds the fuel. Ling, who is also a rider, said he does most of the work on the heavy machines.
“We try and do the changes a few months before the season starts so we can tweak things and make sure things are working right,” he said. “Sometimes you build something and it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to.”
The racing season is expected to get underway at the end of March. The Vancouver Island Motocross Association (VIMX) Island Championship Series, which had its schedule finalized last week, will see Campbell River hosting events on April 11-12 (Round 2) and Sept. 12-13 (Round 8).
“It should be a good year up there,” said Ling. “We’re hoping for a good year.”
The series kicks off March 21-22 at the Westshore MX track.
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