Track Evolution … are we going in the right direction?
Laura Smulders, Carlos Ramírez and Sylvain André delve in …
Photos: Fifteen BMX / Navada Photography (Laura image)
Track Evolution … are we going in the right direction?
Laura Smulders, Carlos Ramírez and Sylvain André delve in …
Photos: Fifteen BMX / Navada Photography (Laura image)
After every big race on the BMX circuit, you will inevitably stumble across a social media track discussion … there is no passing, they are too dangerous, too big, too fast, too this, too that, and the unavoidable ‘tracks where better in my day’ … it seems impossible to satisfy everyone … sometimes it feels like it’s impossible to satisfy anyone! But when you put down your phone and ask the people who it affects right now, the people who are invested, the current crop of racers, the answers may not be what you expect. The overwhelming feeling is that tracks may just be a little too easy right now and would be safer if they were technically more difficult and with bigger jumps, in the right situation of course.
We’ve talked to Colombia’s Carlos Ramírez on this subject in the past. After a discussion at the Glasgow World Cup we knew he was passionate about it, so we thought we’d delve into it with him again. But to round out the discussion we needed a couple more riders, who we also knew had opinions on the evolution of tracks, and who have raced at the highest level over a period where the tracks have obviously changed … Laura Smulders and Sylvain André where perfect for the task.
To begin with we asked what was their favourite track they had raced, and why? All three went back to a period when the tracks were undeniably bigger! ‘I’d have to go with big ones like, Chula Vista, 2013, 2014 London replica, because it was a big technical track where you could be full gas the whole track, it also made the good riders and bike handlers stand out from the rest on the track, carrying momentum and gaining speed.’ Carlos told us, ‘I would also say the Rio 2016 Olympic track would be one of the tracks I really liked because it was the same scenario, a big technical track that made racing spectacular to watch.’
Sylvain agreed, ‘Chula Vista 2013/14. Big first straight. Multiple lines around the track, with time to make some passes. You had to respect the track. You lack skills, you act dumb, you eat shit!’ Rather than the replica, Laura went straight to the original, ‘my favourite tracks would be the London Olympic Track and Glasgow. Both tracks are technical, big jumps, good racetracks, space for passes, and some options on the third straight. Unfortunately, London got taken down and changed into a 5m track straight after the Games but I would love to see Glasgow back on the World Cup circuit.’ Laura too, looked back on the Chula Vista London track with fondness, ‘Tracks used to be more difficult, and I’d love to see a return of those types of tracks. Copenhagen, Frejus 2010, and the Chula Vista World Cups, especially the London replica, were massive, demanding tracks. Compare that to stops like Santiago or Turkey, which feel pretty small and easy.’
Of the current selection of tracks on the circuit, Papendal, is more often than not on the tip of the tongue of most, if not all, Elite level racers, so it wasn’t surprising to us that Laura, Sylvain and Carlos had good things to say about it too … for the most part. ‘Papendal even though I’d change some stuff on it,’ Carlos remarked, ‘it’s a fast, big open, track where everyone can go full gas and it makes technical riders make a difference too. If we think about not the UCI SX circuit, we could also go to the Rio track which I raced, and oh boy it’s still big!’
‘I think Papendal is always a good World Cup, for everyone, but I might be biased.’ After all Laura’s wins in Papendal, we think she’s earned any bias she might have here, she went on, ‘I think the racing is always great, the event is very well organized, everyone always seems to be very excited to come to Papendal, so it’s sad to not see it on the calendar for the next few years.’
Sylvain too referred to Papendal as a ‘standard’ but also thought Carlos’s Bogota track was a worthy contender for his current favourite track.
Our probing on the past and current tracks was always leading to what they’d like to see from track builders in the future, how would they like to see them develop. All three Olympians, more or less told us the same thing. ‘We are only getting better and faster, so tracks need to grow with us, not hold us back or cause unnecessary danger.’ Laura said, ‘We need more technical straights like Glasgow and London to reward bike handling over pure power. I’d love to see returning venues like Papendal change something every year just to keep it interesting and force us to adapt. Shrinking tracks doesn’t make them safer, it just packs a high-speed field into the first turn together. Technical tracks naturally separate riders by skill, creating cleaner racing. Our progression isn’t slowing down, and the tracks shouldn’t either.’
‘I want to have tracks where skills are rewarded,’ Sylvain exclaimed, ‘where casing or overshooting a jump can make big differences in speed. I also hate when some sections are super narrow, 5m is a joke sometimes. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. But by making some backsides steeper, some jumps a little longer, sometimes a little higher, it creates separation, without making it more dangerous. It’s the opposite. Riders would have to care about the track FIRST.’
Carlos felt like ‘BMX lost its momentum when we started to focus only on rider safe tracks, tracks that made the pack even closer than ever and, in my opinion, made racing even more dangerous than when we had big tracks with big jumps. Look at the London track in 2012, it was a big technical track, with different lines on the third straight, a track that made riders push themselves every time! I just think we are making tracks really easy and are not pushing our sport to the max as it did before’.
Interestingly, as we are rolling into China this weekend with two new tracks on the World Cup circuit both Laura, and Carlos missed the times when everyone turned up to a race weekend not knowing the track (both responded to our questions before the new China tracks were built). ‘How fun was it when no one had extra practice on the track,’ Carlos remembered, ‘we only had two sessions to practice on the track, get used to it, and race it! I think that would also add some spice to the races because we wouldn’t have any local riders or people moving everywhere for two weeks to learn the track.’
Agreeing with Carlos, Laura told us, ‘I really hope the tracks we will be racing in China will be cool. It will be good to see everyone on a new track, no advantages on whoever has travelled the earliest or the most to this place, no local heroes, although we might see some fast Chinese, who knows … Our sport used to be a bit more about adaptability, where nowadays everyone can spend an unlimited time on World Cup tracks before they get raced on. I’d love to see temporary tracks just for World Cups, but I know that’s a bit too ambitious, very expensive. So, I’m excited for new stops, and would encourage tracks to change a few jumps every year or every two years.’