Around 30 or so BMX riders from Cochrane headed to Stony Plain over the weekend (July 8 and 9) for Provincial Races 3 and 4.

Brad Christensen, Cochrane BMX President, says there was lots of new faces which was great to see. "It was awesome, some families who have never toured the Provincial Series before so it was really exciting to see them out there and seeing the kids compete in their first races outside of Cochrane and experiencing all that. It is really good to see."

With temps soaring into the 30 degree mark, it was definitely not easy for the riders. "It was a cooker. Making sure the riders were staying in the shade in between races and drinking lots of water to stay hydrated; it is definitely an important part of the racing aspect."

While Christensen was still dissecting the weekend results, he did see a number of Cochrane riders rank high. "The kids did awesome. I know a couple kids got some golds, lots of silver and bronze. They did well conducting themselves on and off the track. It was a really positive weekend."

The riders are just shy of halfway through the season and this is when things get interesting. "There is a lot of BMX left here in July, August, and half of September. It will get more interesting because the kids are just starting to get more comfortable every day on their bikes."

Some Cochrane riders are headed to World's coming up in a couple weeks time, Christensen, says there is a definite buzz around the track. "We are starting to see emails from the managers on Team Canada stating now is the time to be a little more cautious of what they are doing over the next two weeks. Keep training and working hard on their bike, but don't be anything that would risk injury. So it's an important time over the next 10 days." 

Next up for the racers are Provincial Races 5 and 6 in Airdrie, August long weekend.

Results for both days are below:

July 8

July 9