BMX Racing Back On Track in Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s BMX sanctioning body, the Association of Extreme Cycling (ACX), has finally concluded a three-year effort to reconstruct the abandoned BMX facility in the “Parque de la Paz” (Peace Park) in Costa Rica’s capital city of San Jose. Since founding the association in 2007, Sebastian Chavez Murray, President of the ACX has spent countless hours networking with government officials, and spreading the word on BMX Racing. The first, and most critical need was to rebuild and update the old BMX track to reflect current standards of BMX racing. In its original condition (see photos, below), the track was more like a mountain bike course than a wide and smooth BMX track.

This effort also included multiple, self-funded, trips to ABA and NBL National races in the US by Chavez Murray. During these trips, besides riding and racing some of the best tracks in the world, he made contacts and received input from industry luminaries John Sawyer (Operator of the Oldsmar BMX track in Florida), Billy Allen (lead track deigner/builder for the ABA) and BJ Wagner of Creative Construction Services who has built many of the NBL tracks, including the re-make of this year’s NBL Grands track in Louisville, KY.

Ideally, funds would have been available to pay one of their new-found American friends to travel to Costa Rica to supervise the build. However, ACX had to undertake the project with no outside funding, strictly using the muscle and passion of volunteer labor.

The limited budget did not allow for the ideal dirt so they opted to use the dirt that was already at the site. Volunteers meticulously screened as much of it as possible to remove rocks and other debris. Once the “bed” was laid down, a layer of pulverized rock (just like all those great grey Euro tracks!) was laid down and compacted to create the final racing surface.

All this was done during the Costa Rican rainy season, so it was impossible to get any kind of machinery on the muddy track– not even a trak-driven bobcat. All the shaping was done by hand, and hundreds of wheelbarrow trips brought the pulverized rock, to cover every corner of every jump and berm on the track. It was A LOT of work but as you can see in the pics we finally made it happen… NEXT STEP: getting an automatic gate!

The ACX plans to host its first race in December, and present a full-year series for 2011, involving other Central American countries such as Nicaragua and Guatemala. Pro visits and clinics are also in the planning stage. The association also plans on teaching free BMX clinics once a week, using local experts, and has started a program for at-risk youth which will allow them to practice and race for free, and receive coaching. The goal of the mentoring program is for these kids to stay in school, earn good grades and set a good example for youngsters who may look up to them.

The ACX gratefully welcomes donations of bikes, parts, BMX safety gear (jerseys, helmets, pants, etc), or financial donations. If you would like to become involved, please contact Sebastian at sebastianchavezrl@hotmail.com

“Before” Photos

“After” Photos

Some of the Parque de la Paz Locals

* This is the little guy skying it up in the lead photo.

A little about Costa Rica
Next time you are looking to travel to a beautiful tropical paradise, consider Costa Rica…and bring your BMX bike, there IS a place to ride… It could be a good option for training during the winter months in the U.S as Costa Rica is on the opposite seasonal schedule, and has nothing but sun from December through March. The track is in the capital city of San Jose only one hour from surfer-friendly Jaco beach. Costa Rica also is known for its wide variety of adventure tourism including: whitewater rafting, bungee jumping, canopy tours, jungle hikes, mountain biking, parasailing, more than 10 volcanoes (half of them active)…all in a country smaller than the state of Florida. Of course, it doesn’t all have to be adrenaline-charged action…There are plenty of places to enjoy some rare away-from-it-all peace and quiet–maybe even some yoga, surrounded by our amazing natural treasures.

Thanks to Sebastian Chavez Murray for contributing to the story and for providing the photos.