New track ripe for Rushing

A SEA of blue and yellow jerseys rolled around Marty Busch Reserve on Sunday morning to bring in a new cycling era.

Ballarat-Sebastopol Rush BMX Club’s new all-weather Sic Surface track was officially opened by President Rob Pompe, Member for Buninyong Michaela Settle and City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Ben Taylor before a day of competition.

Funded by the State government, the $200,000 track upgrade received the most votes from the community in the Pick My Project initiative.

Reaping the rewards of a state-of-the-art facility, Mr Pompe said the whole process has been “sensational.

“I started about 10 years ago here, and it was just a dirt track. It’s been a long haul, but the track’s changed, it’s been redeveloped, we’ve got the containers… now we’re here today with Sic Surface,” he said.

“The track has been completely resurfaced with a really hard road aggregate. There are bitumen berms which makes the track ridable 365 days of the year, so we don’t have to worry about weather at all.

“We’ve got a lot of little kids coming through the ranks. I think we’ve more than doubled our membership since we started this, so it’s been a huge job and we’ve worked tirelessly to get this where it is.”

Ms Settle said the launch day was “incredibly exciting” having been a part of the project for a year and a half.

“When I first came here to the track, there was a gorgeous old truck, and when it was wet, the truck would have to come out and smooth the track so people could ride,” she said.

“To see it now is really just wonderful. It was fantastic to see that the community got behind this project, it really was a choice of the people and I think they made a perfect choice.”

Inspired by the This Girl Can and Change Our Game campaigns, Ballarat-Sebastopol Rush hosted the last of four Move it with BMX sessions on Saturday, encouraging women and girls to try a new sport and get active.

This program was also recently nominated by the City of Ballarat for a Positive Lifestyles for Women and Girls award.