Manteca puts BMX course
On The Fast Track
By Rhashad Pittman
Record Staff Writer
Published Sunday, October 17, 2004
MANTECA -- Bicycle shop owner Jon Anderson has a garage full of trophies. Some of them stand waist high.
Between him and his 13-year-old daughter, Crissy, they have collected hundreds of trophies by competing in BMX races across the country.
These days, the 41-year-old owner of Anderson' s Mower & Bike hopes to bring the competition home to Manteca.
In the past few weeks, Anderson has been planting seeds with city officials about bringing a BMX dirt track to town. And apparently, the soil is fertile.
"It looks good. It looks doable," Mayor Willie Weatherford said. "It's just a matter of where and how much."
City officials are looking into the benefits and drawbacks of having a track built, Weatherford said. Over the next couple of weeks, city staffers will call other cities with city-owned tracks to find out how much land is needed and how big of a liability it would be to own one, the mayor said.
"We're hoping to find out -- like the skate park -- that if it's built right and it's run right, liability is not an issue," said Weatherford, who said planning is still in the early stages.
Sitting at his kitchen table last week with his wife and daughter, Anderson described BMX racing as a family sport that should be in Manteca. The sport involves racing bicycles by age and gender groups around a hilly dirt track. Some single lap races can be as short as 45 seconds. ::: Advertisement :::
"We need something here for kids," said Anderson, who added there's no reason residents should have to go out of town for the sport.
Anderson started racing when he was a teenager but took a 17-year hiatus from the sport. About eight years ago, he got back on his bike. Today, he and Crissy often go to Stockton on the weekends to race.
"We love the sport," said Anderson's wife, Cathy, wearing a white T-shirt that reads "BMX mom" on the front. "We've seen how our daughter's excelled."
Crissy, who won first place in September in a regional competition in Santa Clara, is a member of Anderson's racing team, which has about 30 members, mostly Manteca residents.
Anderson said he knows of 40 to 50 racers of all ages who live in the city. He said if Manteca had a track built, it could be a haven for local racers and attract more riders from out of town during competitions.
"I think it would be a good thing," his daughter said.
Tom Lueck has operated the track at the San Joaquin Fairgrounds in Stockton for about 20 years. He holds local BMX races every week and has held seven national competitions, which have attracted as many as 15,000 racers, family members and spectators, he said.
"We've filled every hotel in Stockton with them," Lueck said. "It's one of the fastest-growing sports in the country."
Lueck said he is looking at other nearby sites to move to after his lease runs out at the end of this year. If Manteca does build a track, it would benefit his track more than compete with it, because new racers in Manteca would want to try other tracks.
Lueck estimates it would cost at least $200,000 to build a competitive track from scratch. He said he has invested about $80,000 over the years at his track. He added he doesn't make a big profit in the BMX business, often only breaking even some years.
"I don't think there's any track that's in it for the money. It's more of a family event," he said.
Loan officer Chris Hall said he along with his daughters, ages 7 and 9, compete in races twice a week in Stockton, Modesto, Santa Clara or Atwater. Hall said having a track in Manteca is a great idea.
The 36-year-old said racing has taught his daughters not to get too down when they lose and to continue pushing the pedal until they win.
"When they call me at work and ask me if they can go racing tonight, that let's me know they're having a good time doing it," he said.
