GRAVENHURST - Summer of 2012 saw the Knight family of Gravenhurst back on the Canadian BMX circuit, racing the provincial series and meeting with success.
At age 7, Porter Knight embarked upon his third season of racing in a stacked seven-year-old intermediate class.
Training mainly on a small track he and his dad built in their backyard, Porter has managed to be highly competitive in his field.
“Our local track this year was Milton BMX, just west of Toronto,” said Jeremy, Porter’s dad. “Without a full-scale local track to practise on in Muskoka, we end up learning the tracks over the course of the weekend and getting faster every race.”
Porter’s brother Koby, age 4, followed in his big brother’s footsteps and started racing the BMX strider series this season. Koby had his first BMX strider race at age three, in Kingston on the weekend of June 29.
Striders (or runners) are bikes that have basic bike frames and wheels but no crank arms or pedals.
“This allows the younger kids starting out to gain confidence with balance and momentum on two wheels,” Jeremy explained. “The transition from these to regular pedal bikes seems more natural, as kids carry the fundamentals of riding with them, as well as gaining the strength to pedal when the time is right.”
After five provincial qualifier races through the season, on the Sept. 8 weekend Team Knight Racing travelled to Milton for the provincial finals, a three-day event beginning that Friday afternoon.
Porter and dad Jeremy were coming off back-to-back wins at the qualifier from the Aug. 26 weekend in Port Elgin. At Port Elgin, Jerri (Porter’s mom) had a solid second-place finish in the women’s class for her one and only race of the season. Koby dominated the strider class, winning all of his races that weekend.
“The Milton finals got off to a rough start for Port (Porter),” Jeremy said. “Friday night’s main (race) saw him in second place going into the first corner before a kid (charging from behind) rode straight into the side of him, taking out all but two of the eight riders in the corner.”
After going over the bars and grinding through the asphalt corner on his elbow, Porter got back on his bike and finished third.
On Saturday the race was rained out as the track had become too soft and muddy to ride. It was rescheduled for Sunday and ran back-to-back with the Race For Life charity race that is incorporated into every provincial weekend.
Jeremy said Sunday was “an epic day” that saw Milton BMX set a new record for rider attendance, hosting 52 motos for the first event and 41 in the second event.
Milton BMX held an awards ceremony Sunday afternoon when the racing was finished. Porter finished seventh overall in Ontario.
“We were very proud of Porter this weekend,” Jeremy said. “It’s hard to clear your head after a crash like that and he made the best of it to finish off the season strong.”
Koby won all of his six races for a clean sweep, competing against a loaded class of six other strider riders.
Jeremy finished first overall in Ontario for his men’s division.
The Knight Team thanks all the friends and family who have supported them through the 2012 season and would like to encourage more bikers to get involved in Canadian BMX. BMX Canada has recently become part of the American Bicycle Association; for more information go to USABMX.com.