PORT ANGELES — Youth and adults will put the pedal to the packed dirt and asphalt stretches of the Lincoln Park BMX track today through Sunday as the Port Angeles facility hosts the Washington State BMX Finals.
After the success of last year’s state finals, the first time Port Angeles ever hosted the competition, Lincoln Park BMX is getting ready for more than 700 riders plus parents, siblings and other visitors from around the state.
The Lincoln Park BMX track is located in the southwest corner of Lincoln Park, at the intersection of West Lauridsen Boulevard and L Street.
Originally built by volunteers in 1993, the city of Port Angeles-owned facility is operated by The Lincoln Park BMX Association.
Since taking over operations of the facility in spring of 2017, the association has rebuilt the track with the help of thousands of volunteer hours, city lodging tax funds and in-kind donations from area construction firms. A small sample of improvements includes constructing a new starting hill, adding a safer starting gate and installing new fences along the property.
Those added investments are a big part of why Port Angeles has been picked to host the state finals two straight years.
Ridership also has grown enormously at the track — with Tuesday and Sunday race days routinely drawing around 100 riders.
Rain received Wednesday should aid racing this weekend, said track operator Sean Coleman.
“The rain we’re getting should help the track. It should be good to go,” he said.
The forecast this weekend is looking good with cloudy skies today and Saturday and sun expected Sunday.
The earned double races will begin this evening with signups from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and racing following.
The Saturday state pre-final sign-ups will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. with racing following.
Sunday’s triple point finals races will begin early in the morning. Practice will run from 7:30 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. and racing will begin at 9 a.m.
Coleman said one thing he learned from hosting the 2018 state finals is the importance of starting and wrapping up the events early Sunday.
“Last year, we had the awards ceremony at 3:30 p.m. People were able to head home early Sunday night. We hope to get racing started early and get people going without any hiccups,” he said.
There will be camping in the area near the track, but Coleman warned that the parking lots and camping sites will fill up, so people should arrive as early as possible.
“It’s going to look a lot like the [county] fair,” he said.
Members of the Sequim Future Farmers of America Alumni group will be on hand to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at the event.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News Port Angeles’ Brian Belbin flies over a hill at the Lincoln Park BMX track earlier this year.
