Cherry Orchard indoor track opens for racing
Just weeks after the successful launch of Ratoath BMX track in Co Meath, Dubliners now have a facility of their own following the opening of the Cherry Orchard indoor BMX track.
The facility, which is contained in a large warehouse in Cherry Orchard industrial estate beside Ballyfermot in west Dublin, has already been christened with a great day’s racing.
Kids from the age of five years to those well into the veteran stages of their twenty-inch careers took to the track for a thrilling meeting.
The launch of the new facility comes at a time of significant resurgence in BMX in Ireland.
The track in Ratoath – which is outdoor and more challenging than Cherry Orchard – has drawn huge crowds since it opened before Christmas.
It also appears that Ireland may have a BMX rider at the London Olympics, in the shape of Kelvin Batey. His qualification for London would undoubtedly raise the profile of BMX racing here and add to its stock rising even further.
Cycling Ireland has established a BMX commission and Eamonn Wyer of Ratoath BMX club is hopeful of bringing a young team to the UCI BMX World Championships in the UK in May.
The Cherry Orchard track’s owner, Limerick businessman and former road cyclist Liam Collins told stickybottle interest has been “massive” since word began spreading that the track was about to open.
He plans to develop a racing league on Friday nights, with leagues to be held over periods of weeks.
The track will also be open for group bookings at other times and will also offer walk-in sessions where riders can simply turn up unannounced and pay a small fee to use the track.
Coaching sessions are now on Wednesday nights at Cherry Orchard BMX covering everything from Gates to Jumping.
See www.bmxpursuits.ie for more information
