The national junior men’s professional BMX champion from St. Albert wants to cross the finish line this weekend as the top provincial rider.
“I’m going for it,” said Calvin McRae, the hometown favourite at the 2011 Grand Provincials and Alberta Championships. “The first day is the provincial finals and it’s for the provincial plate. On Sunday, it’s the provincial cup and that’s for the Alberta plate. I want that too.”
More than 400 riders are expected to test out the state-of-the-art BMX track at Riel Park, which boasts of a supercross-style start hill.
The competition, hosted by St. Albert BMX, features a $1,000 daily pro purse and dash for cash.
Race times for today and Sunday are 11 a.m. Age divisions are nine and under, cruiser, 10 to 12, 13-plus and junior/elite.
Visit www.stalbertbmx.com for more information.
“It will be a pretty big race,” McRae said of the season finale in the provincial BMX circuit. “You will see lot of good racing. A lot of good kids in Alberta are coming here. It will be close action, especially in the corners. There will be kids falling.”
McRae, 16, has raced in the fast lane throughout his six-year BMX career. The multiple winner at the provincial and western levels is also the former national champion in the 15-year-old experts class.
“It’s something that I’m good at. I just have the passion for it. I love riding,” said the Grade 11 Bellerose Composite High School student. “It’s such an adrenaline rush. When the gate drops and you see the light, you just go.”
At nationals recently in Quebec, the speed demon bolted in the lead and never looked back in beating seven other riders in the elite junior men’s final.
“I had the best gate of my life pretty much,” McRae said of his blazing start on lane one while peddling his 19-pound Intense Podium bike. “I was right out in front of the pack, trying to go inside the first corner. I was feeling good and just pulled out the win.”
It was the highlight of his life.
“It was one of the greatest feelings I’ve had. I was so excited and so pumped,” said McRae, who pocketed $200 for his efforts. “That was pretty much my whole competition for this year so it was really big to me.”
To beat out several eastern Canadian riders was another thrill for one of the few westerners to make the final.
“The last couple of years, the nationals have been in B.C. and Alberta, so I didn’t really see any eastern competition. Most of those guys don’t really come out this way so going out there and seeing those guys race and beating them too felt good.”
McRae trained year round in his quest to win nationals in his junior pro debut.
“It was either gym training or sprint training [on the bike] or just coming out and riding on the local track,” he said. “My track speed is a lot better than it was before.”
Next year, McRae hopes to make Team Canada and race at worlds in London, Eng.
“That’s my goal.”
