“I work to pay for BMX,” Justin said.
He started racing in the 1980s as a child when he lived next to a race track but gave it up after discovering a love for skateboarding and surfing.
Several decades later, he and his partner Sherilyn were out mountainbiking when they stumbled on a BMX track, and the rest is history.
Sherilyn’s desire to race didn’t take long to germinate when she saw how much fun Justin was having on the track, but she didn’t compete for a “long time”.
As their three children started to grow up, they were out on the BMX track on their balance bikes before they were old enough to go to preschool.
“It’s not just the bike riding . . . for me, it’s as important as swimming,” Justin said.
“You’re out on the roads more than in the pool.”
Since then, the children have grown up a bit, but the family’s desire to race BMX has continued to burn strong.
Before this year’s national competition, they brought in a family friend as a private coach. It was a unique opportunity for the family, with the former world champion never having trained anyone before.
He had them training six days a week, sharing what had worked for him when he competed.
Sherilyn said they were incredibly fortunate to be offered the opportunity to learn from a world-class athlete, and she was surprised at how much of the training was mental.
“There’s a lot of race planning and goal setting. It’s learning to control our nerves for that final.”
This year the family had to overcome adversity at the nationals when Sherilyn crashed in her penultimate race. It was a bad one . . . broken bones and brain bleeds have prevented her from returning to the track.
The crash also shook the confidence of her children who had still to race. As Reave was taking her mark to race in the semifinals, her mother was in the background being wheeled into the ambulance. Reave finished her 11-year-old girls’ semifinal in 10th place.
Severe injuries aren’t common in the sport, but they do happen. This was the first time a family member had crashed and not been able to get up and brush themselves off.
Reave’s little sister Asher was awarded NZ3 for her third place in the 10-year-old girls’ division, while Jax did not place in the five-and-unders.
Sherilyn thought her crash had ended her chances of earning podium in the 35-and-over women’s division. Because she missed her last race and had a DNF (did not finish) from her crash, she was relegated from an all-but-guaranteed second place to third.
Justin finished NZ1 in the 45-to-49-year male division, crushing the competition with strong and aggressive riding.
One thing the family wants to see is the local BMX club succeed. They are down there several times a week and eager to help maintain the track.
Justin, a board member, said they would encourage anyone who wanted to give their sport a go.
Any bike could be used on the track, and they had bikes that people could borrow. All people needed to bring were a helmet, gloves and long-sleeved clothing.
“Our mission is to grow the club,” he said.
“If we do that, we’ll see more support (from the council and funders).”
