Coeur d'Alene, ID

BMX Racing At its Best! Several years ago I took my boys to watch some BMX racing off of Seltice way. The track was ok and it sured looked like a lot of fun. I had passed the track often while riding my road bike along the Centennial Trail from my home in Hayden, through Coeur d’alene and off to Post Falls or Spokane. The boys were a bit too young to race, but not so much anymore.

That track I don’t think is there anymore. But, that isn’t a problem if you are in Coeur d’alene. Cherry Hill now has a BMX track and has for at least two years. You can read more about Cherry Hill here.

This spring and summer have been pretty much a let down as the temperatures didn’t get out of the 50’s till a few days ago, but that didn’t stop us last Tuesday. I had remembered seeing signs around town that BMX racing was at Cherry Hill on Tuesdays, so while planning out our weekly activities (with four kids and a full time job, you sort of have to plan out time to get away and have fun, otherwise we find ourselves watching a bit too much TV), I decided to put some BMX riding on the list. The boys were real excited and we were not going to let the weather get in our way.

We loaded all the kids and their bikes in our suburban and headed out to Cherry Hill on 15th street. If you look north from I95 on 15th, you’ll see the track behind the firehouse on the right, you can’t miss it. We had found a break in the rain and less than sunny weather and were gone. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the wind and cold weather was back.

On our way up to the track, we saw that racing was indeed on Tuesdays! Yeah!!! The boys were so excited. We stopped at the registration table to get the lowdown on what was going on. My wife and I are very big on making sure the kids remain active all summer. We spend so much time inside during these long winters, we want to them to take advantage of the good weather as much as possible.

The very helpful woman who greeted us told us that racing is Tuesday at 6:45 and Saturday mornings, I forgot to get the time, but I think you can find out more at www.cherryhillbmx.com . She said that my 8 year old and my 11 year old could definitely race and it was $45 for the season and $8 a night. They didn’t need any special bikes, but they did ask that they wear full face helmets and remove pegs, kickstands, reflectors and anything else that could fall off or hurt someone. The boys were stoked to ride, but alas, they forgot their helmets, so they had to just watch.

We were there at about 5:30, and unfortunately the weather started turning and we decided to take my wife and the babies home. My oldest boys and I headed back to weather the, um, weather, and watch some racing.

We were not let down. The track has great seating at the top that allows you to watch the entire race. They are bleachers. There are no coverings, so if it’s raining, bring your own. But you get to watch when they start all the way to the finish. It was great.

There wasn’t a lot of waiting around either. Once the racers hit the finish line, the next racers went. It was awesome to watch the little guys race, and hey, there were even a few old timers hitting the track. We didn’t stay too long as the weather continued to get bad, but we went back a few days later when the sun was shining.

We were so glad we did. My sons brought their bikes and their helmets. We showed up with their cousins, picnic things, chairs and our wee ones. What a great afternoon! The boys rode their bikes for hours. We got there at around 4pm so we had the track till about 6 when a bunch of people showed up. There are several areas for you to set up a nice picnic or just plant yourself down under a shade tree and read a book while the little ones ride until they can’t move anymore!

Some things to bring with you:

• First aid kit - the boys weren’t the only ones needing this. I thought I was 16 again and had a nice wreck
• Wrenches and tools - the track will wiggle everything loose on those bikes, so be prepared to do some fixing
• Pump - everytime you go out with bikes, bring a pump and all that tire fixing stuff
• Sunscreen - I’m pretty pale, so I need it bad

If we had brought more to eat, we would have been there much longer. There is a park, as BookwormCDA described, so all the kids had fun. I highly recommend this park to anyone, but hey guys, if you think you can keep up with your kids on track, just remember, we don’t bounce up and recover like they do. It’s four days later and I’m still limping