St. Johns, Mich. resident Justin Ebreck, 11, far right, prepares to drop in to the BMX track Sunday afternoon at Gier Park, 2809 N. East St., in Lansing, for Bikes and Bands 2010. The annual celebration, which revolves around a BMX race, featured live music from Animal Mother and had food and games.
Going pro twice, local BMX — or bicycle motocross — rider Greg Days has been racing since he was 10 years old.
He went pro at age 17, but retired five years later to start a family, he said. However, after his children became interested in BMX, he had an inspiration to turn pro again.
“Probably back about 14 years ago, my son started riding a little bit so I came back,” Days said. “My twin daughters that rode, they kind of got me back into the sport. After hanging around a year or two, I got my bike back out, rode a couple years as an amateur then turned up pro again. (I’ve) been riding for about 11 years now as a pro again.”
On Sunday, Days became the track director at the eighth annual Capitol Area BMX FunDay at Gier Park, 2809 N. East St., in Lansing, where he worked cleaning up and organizing the track in preparation for the day’s races.
“This year in the winter time they asked me to get involved with the track so I did,” Days said. “We brought a professional track builder in (and) did a total rebuild on the track for this year, so I just try (to) maintain it.”
The event is part of a day of live entertainment from food vendors, carnival games, a moon bounce and BMX bike races. The event features live entertainment from local bands and dancing throughout the day.
Jaye Buxton, a Lansing resident and band promoter, said everyone is welcome because it’s a family-friendly event with something for all ages.
“The wonderful (thing) about this is it is a municipal park; you can bring the kids, the dogs on a leash, the bikes, your sun canopies, grills, coolers,” Buxton said. “As long as you don’t have glass and alcohol, everything goes. And when everything gets going, you can see the kids up on the track getting big air and the bands are playing and it’s all going on in the same time … it’s just really neat.”
The event is a place for families to come together to support a biker or watch the many live performances, said Lansing resident Kenetha Gibson, the Capitol Area BMX president. The organization aims to instill guidance and leadership qualities in its older bikers so they can relay those to the newer bikers, Gibson said.
“We try to teach good sportsmanship. … it brings them off the streets (and) we keep them busy,” she said. “They fly through the air (and) when they ride their bikes, they ride. They show these little kids, ‘You can do it too.’”
Gibson’s son, 17-year-old Zach Gibson, has been BMXing for four years and has been participating in the races since he was 13 years old. The race brings a wide variety of different experiences levels to the area, he said.
“I like the competition you get to ride against, but basically (I like) how many people could do it, how many are good at it,” he said. “It’s really cool, (it’s) tough competition.”
With tough competition comes tough practice. Sometimes really early in the morning, Zach Gibson said, where dedication and hard work play a key role.
“(You’ve) got to push yourself, you can’t be scared, it takes a lot (of work),” he said. “It’s the sweetest feeling ever (to win), because you put so much into it, (you’ve) got to wake up so early, and just all the money you spend on the race. … (It’s) just the greatest feeling ever.”
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