Thursday, September 27, 2012

Albuquerque BMX

My seven year old recently dragged me to to the state-of -the-art Olympic quality Albuquerque Veloport BMX facility here in ABQ. He is starting to have serious aspirations of racing. I'm hesitant to let him. It's clearly a subversive sport that is ruining our youth... What sort of adults do BMX racers grow up to be?!?



Visiting the track made me extremely nostalgic. The first track I raced at (P.A.L. - Police Athletic League) is easily within walking distance of the new facility. Want some insight into just how frickin" old I am? This is what PAL looks like today. Ironically I can almost see it out the back door of my work office.



...and a pic from the tracks glory days. I have some pictures and keepsakes I really have to dig out one day.

While digging for stuff I found this one lone picture of Blue Sky, the track that sat near San Mateo & McCloud. Most people probably remember it as the location of Midnight Rodeo.

The guy who originally posted this shot mentioned how some guys used to jump out of the rather sizable first turn berm in between races. I saw some seriously ballsy stuff pulled outta that berm. The track was adjoined to a skatepark also called Blue Sky, owned and managed by the Muhlenberger family. As I recall some of the first BMX riding ever done in ABQ in skateparks and half pipes happened there, despite of the fact that it was not quite being kosher with there insurance provider... 

OK, I feel old now. That said I did see the 41-55 class run the day my son and I scouted the track. I honestly believe I could take it to those guys. If I have to be at the track with my son anyway...

1 comment:

Nate said...

The Song "Glory Day's" by the Boss come to mind a bit don't it?

})();