BMX track mirrors Beijing's

SOUTH JORDAN — Since she started competing in BMX bike races nearly seven years ago, Ashley Topham has dreamed about taking the sport she loves to its highest level by qualifying for the Olympics.

For several years, fulfilling such a dream meant traveling to surrounding states to find the right tracks and the right races. Now to get a feel of an Olympic BMX track, all the Lehi resident has to do is travel a few miles up I-15 to the RAD Canyon BMX complex.

There, Topham can take practice spins on the newest addition to the complex — a pro BMX track which is also an exact replica of the track that will be used in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

For someone like Topham who harbors Olympic qualifying dreams, it's a dream come true.

"To have it here, pretty much in my back yard, is pretty awesome," Topham said.

The track — called the OPTS at RAD Canyon — was completed and opened for practice in June. It was constructed on the unused southern end of the facility and carries the distinction of being the first permanent pro style BMX track located in the Intermountain West.

Some of the more seasoned local racers have already noticed a difference practicing on it.

"It's just got bigger jumps," said Ogden resident Mitch Ropelato. "It's a little bit rougher than most tracks, but we can work that out."

Track groomers do their best to keep the track in pristine shape. Jason Melton, a local BMX rider who is head of maintenance at RAD Canyon, said it took nearly two months of landscaping by tractor and by hand just to prepare the track for the summer.

"Once you build the track with all the jumps and everything, you still have to rake them out," Melton said. "Get all the rocks out. Get all the bumps out. That kind of thing."

Maintaining it will be an ongoing process. Once the track for the 2012 Olympics is revealed, RAD Canyon will once again build an exact replica.

Serving as a tune-up for the Olympics isn't the only purpose of the track. Racers have been using the OPTS track to prepare for the 2007 UCI BMX World Championships in Victoria, Canada, at the end of July.

RAD Canyon also hopes to use the track to stage a pro challenge event in September after the Dew Action Sports Tour wraps up its races scheduled for Salt Lake City.

A new state-of-the-art Olympic replica track seems to be just the thing that will put BMX racing in Utah on the map nationally. Local racers like the idea of drawing top BMX racers from all over to their home state.

"It's pretty cool to see some of the pros wanting to come down here and train on the Olympic track," said Riverton resident Cody Kelley, a six-year veteran of BMX racing. "Having it is good for everybody."

Spectators will notice an immediate difference in the skill level of races, Melton said, once they are regularly staged on the new track. Much more jumping, air time and action are featured than on a normal BMX track.

Skilled racers will appreciate the differences even more.

"The riders themselves will enjoy this more than something that's built for everybody," Melton said. "They'll enjoy a track that's built specifically more for them."