Sullivan | Louisville banking on BMX boost

Jerry Conn built an 8-meter launch pad at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park to the precise specifications and daredevil demands of BMX racing.

The 70-foot concrete ramp is graded at three separate slopes -- 15.5, 17.5 and 28.3 degrees – steep enough to give competitors a great vantage point and civilians a case of vertigo.

“You stand at the bottom and look up and you say, ‘That’s a hill,’ ” said Conn, a project superintendent for the Congleton-Hacker construction company. “You get to the top and it’s a cliff.”

To preserve its place and expand its opportunities as a center for BMX (bicycle motocross) competition, the city of Louisville has invested $275,000 toward a $925,000 upgrade of the Sawyer Park site of this weekend’s 32nd Derby City Nationals. Though fund-raising for the renovations continues, the adjoining 8- and 3-meter hills were completed in time for Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony and some long-term benefits have already been realized.

USA BMX, the sport’s national sanctioning body, provided incentive for the project by agreeing to a 10-year contract to keep its East regional championships - the Derby City Nationals - in Louisville. Additionally, USA BMX has agreed to an open-ended moratorium on the construction of new Olympic-caliber venues, which will leave Louisville with the only facility of its kind between Rock Hill, S.C., and Grand Junction, Colo.

“We will not be building any more of these big (8-meter) hills because we don’t want to reach a point of market saturation,” USA BMX Chief Operating Officer John David said. “The communities that have made the investment, we want to maintain the prestige of it instead of diluting it. The beauty of it is we have the ability to do that.”

Managing growth can be a tricky proposition when a niche sport goes mainstream. Formerly a staple of the X Games, BMX was added to the Summer Olympics for the 2008 Games of Beijing. According to USA BMX, the number of members and sanctioned tracks has more than doubled in North America since 1996.

With more than 370 BMX courses tracks on the continent, though, Louisville is only the sixth U.S. venue that meets Olympic standards. Though the Sawyer Park course lacks the permanent seating that helped Rock Hill land the 2017 BMX World Championships, its topography and design should meet the extreme expectations of the sport’s adrenaline junkies.

“Most of these things are built on a flat tract of land,” said Greg Fante, vice president of sports development for the Louisville Sports Commission. “The big hill and the momentum off of that is what carries (cyclists) the entire way. Here, there is a substantial drop from the start all the way to the finish. The speed of this track is just faster than any other track.

“We’re super excited to see what these elite level athletes can do here in terms of time.”

Eric Rupe, who is competing in his 26th Derby City Nationals, says the track is “better than it’s ever been,” and calls the reconstructed turns “amazing.”

“It’s up there with any of the tracks,” said Australian cyclist Sam Willoughby. “It’s definitely pretty cool to have one in your town. They’re very rare around the world because of the expense.”

Thursday afternoon, a small boy surveyed the course from behind a fence, then offered his own endorsement:

“That looks so fun,” he said.

If the Louisville Sports Commission is to justify the city’s investment and pay off its loan, it must translate that kind of enthusiasm into tourism. It will want to attract more events like the Derby City Nationals, which does not charge admission but accounts for thousands of hotel nights over the Labor Day weekend.

“The Derby City Nationals brings cyclists, their families and fans to Louisville, fillings hotels and bringing business to establishments near the park," Mayor Greg Fischer said. "We’re pleased that the competition is part of our tourism economy. Beyond that, this event promotes cycling and our city value of health.”

Karl Schmitt, the Louisville Sports Commission's president and chief executive officer, says the city should henceforth be better positioned to attract other BMX events and to bid for the U.S. Olympic Trials, which have thus far been held exclusively at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

As any cyclist could tell you, to stand still is to get passed by.

“If we don’t do these improvements," Schmitt said, "we can’t even get in the ballgame.”

Tim Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com or @TimSullivan714 on Twitter.