SX start hills to become VIP beer gardens?

16 06 2017

With the news that BMX freestyle had been added to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic program the BMX racing community is all a buzz with talk about the potential impact on BMX racing in upcoming Olympic events.

One big question to come out of this discussion?

Are the Olympics/Supercross(SX)-style tracks’ days numbered?

Signs are beginning to point to “yes”.

According to Mike Carruth on VintageBMX.com,

We are already seeing a gradual departure from the 8M hill, via the UCI rules for 2017, which allow World Cup races to be run off of 5M or 8M hills. To me, that is the beginning of the end for the 8M hill, but it is going to take a while. If BMX Racing gets dropped from the Olympics, as many expect in 2024 or 2028, that will further accelerate the demise of the 8M hill. By then, most of those hills will be 10 yrs old, and will have lived a full life.

But what will become of these massive –now more or less obsolete– structures in this non-SX BMX future?

Well, Carruth has a solid idea that I think we can all get behind:

Then, they [the 8M starting hills] can be converted to stadium seating, with a VIP beer garden at the top.

I think he may be on to something with this idea.