Sometimes, bad news can turn good.
For Revelstoke dirt bikers, that is the case. Five years ago, they found themselves without a home when their track in the industrial park was closed by city hall.
That move spurred them to form the Revy Riders and get organized. They secured land tenure at the end of Westside Road, built a new motocross track and have kept on going since then – adding an endurocross track and almost 50 kilometres of trails to the mix.
Now, to show off their hard work, the club is hosting a family and friends fun ride this weekend – Sept. 21 and 22.
"It's to showcase our whole area in a non-race environment," explained club president, the always enthusiastic Chris Pawlitsky.
The club has a big weekend lined up. It starts Saturday morning with a kids riding camp. In the afternoon, there will be a motocross ride school taught by Brock Hoyer, one of the top dirt bikers in Canada. Victoria Hett will be giving lessons on trail riding.
"She's a world class competitor for cross-country," said Pawlitsky.
There will be guided trail rides all day long and Beta motorcycles will be on hand to loan out demo bikes.
At 4 p.m. the action moves to Glacier House Resort, where Riegan Sieg will be giving a freestyle motocross and trial exhibition. There will be a beer gardens and barbecue at the resort, which will wind into a bonfire and then the Braaap 13 snowmobile movie premiere.
On Sunday, there will be a family and friends fun ride around the Revy Riders trail network. There will be A & B loops set up for people to try and to showcase the entire trail system.
Pawlitsky said he's expecting many people to come from out-of-town for the weekend and he hopes the leave spreading the word about Revelstoke.
"Now that we have a product we can start showing it off," he said.
The club, which has 115 members, has spent about $100,000 on its trail network this year; it recently finished building a seven-kilometre beginner trail and is working on a 15-kilometre expert loop.
"These trails are some of the best in Western Canada," he said. "People realize it so they have no problem joining the club. It gets more volunteers out and more money to get signage. The money goes directly to that and maintenance."