Chris Pearson has a message for parents of kids who ride motorcycles and are reluctant to let them join a motocross organization.
If you want your kid to learn how to ride safely, it's best to let them race.
Pearson, the Kelowna-based district manager for Canadian Kawasaki Motors, says there's no substitute for the controlled environment of a motocross race to reduce the risk of an unplanned hospital visit.
"In my opinion, motocross is the safest out of all aspects of dirt-bike riding," said Pearson, in Prince George two weeks ago for the motorcycle/ATV show at CN Centre.
"As a parent of a kid who just wants to ride, I would like a place where it's wide-open and I can see everything, and I don't want to see a stick that's near my kid when he drives by. If he's just learning, I don't want big rocks in his way. If he's riding and he falls over, I hope there's somebody there who can pick him up. All those aspects are covered at a motocross track."
For Prince George riders, Blackwater Motorcycle Park near West Lake provincial park is the place to play.
Although Blackwater is fairly remote, about a half-hour drive away from the city, the layout of the track and the condition of the trails make it one of the province's best and safest motocross facilities. Designed in the late 1990s by IMA founding president Bernie Hildebrand, with extensive input from longtime national-level rider Dale Voldeng, Blackwater is built into a bowl, with 90 per cent of the trails visible to spectators.
"It is one of the top-three tracks in B.C.," said Pearson, "and I'd bet it would rank in the top-10 in Canada."
See The Citizen for more.
