BMX-ing the Metro

Walters says he thinks the land is actually zoned residential, but since it neighbored agricultural property, it could have been initially zoned agricultural. "I don't think it is important what the zoning laws are," he adds. "The point is that this type of facility does not belong in a residential neighborhood."

The races usually take place every Thursday night through the spring, summer, and fall months, with practices scheduled for several other evenings each week. During the three-day national event, which will be held at the track June 30 through July 2, the BMX track operators expect about 750 riders and 3,000 visitors, including the media and spectators. Local residents say they were aware of the national event but didn't know that a special permit would be issued that weekend for people who pay to camp on the site for the duration of the event.

"Raytown should be ashamed for dumping something like that on us," says Walter Beyers, who says he spent his life savings to build a home on Frost Road in 1995. "Developing land usually doesn't mean bringing in a spectator crowd of people into your neighborhood."

Someone will always be inconvenienced when a city moves forward, Lowderman says. "These people will come and spend money in our community, and it will be a source of community pride for us. It is only for three days, just this one weekend. We have done everything to try to accommodate these people, and they just didn't want the track there, period."

Nace says she only recently became aware of the camping option during the nationals weekend and says that she has already submitted a request to Kansas City parks and codes to inquire whether their city zoning laws even apply to the property. Nace also is checking whether the Kansas City Police Department and Raytown police have been notified about increased traffic and people in the area. Still, Nace recognizes that the land is under more than one government entity. "Do we (Kansas City) have jurisdiction?" Nace asks rhetorically. "I don't think so." To try to accommodate the crowd, some have suggested moving the camping location -- for example, to Little Blue Trace Park, which is "just around the corner," Nace says. "This would seclude the campers from the residents of the area." So far, that suggestion remains just that.

Nace says she has worked to help relieve some of the other problems, such as organizing some residents to cut some bushes on an elderly person's private property to help drivers see better around a 90-degree curve on Frost Road, just before it heads into the park. "They had talked about wanting the road widened, but then we are talking about having to take their property for road, and I don't think that they want that," Nace says. "But if we need to do a road, we could partner with Raytown."

Nace adds that eventually the city will have to conduct a traffic study on the road, but because of the five-year capital improvement plan in Kansas City, it will be at least that long before any improvements take place. "Putting in other accesses to the park is just not possible off of any other street because of other recreational fields and homes located there," she says.

The risks of racing
Knowing about the possibility of injury to children involved in BMX racing hit close to home for Nace. "My nephew is a very good racer and has had numerous injuries since he has been racing," she says. "He has had broken ribs, a broken collarbone, several bad leg wounds, and has had teeth knocked out."

Nace adds that she thinks most of his injuries have occurred because he uses a strap on the pedals of the bike to help keep his foot from slipping during a race. "This keeps him from getting away from the bike when he falls, and I suspect that there are a number of collarbone and rib injuries simply because they usually go over the tops of their bikes when they crash," she says.

Gillette, with the ABA, says that he is in his 30s and has been racing since he was a kid. "The only thing I have ever broken is my collarbone," he says.

The U.S. Product Safety Commission's 1998 national injury statistics place bike-riding as the second most dangerous sport, falling only behind basketball. It is unknown how many of the 577,621 bicycle-related injuries occurred while racing bikes in BMX events. Gillette says he didn't know of any statistics available, except for ABA promotional material that claims BMX is safer than other sports youth participate in. The ABA does require racers to wear protective gear and follow practices that kids riding on nonsanctioned tracks or in neighborhoods usually don't follow. ABA rules state that riders must wear a long-sleeve shirt, long pants, and a helmet. A full-face helmet and gloves are recommended, but they are not required. However, riders' parents are not required to be at the races. Track operators contacted for this story would not provide injury statistics, though they say such numbers are provided to the ABA. The ABA, without disclosing figures, claims injury numbers are minimal and injuries usually are not very serious.