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The bicycle motocross (BMX) track at McCollum Pioneer Park in south Everett has been drawing BMX racers and enthusiasts to its three-turn, high-banked dirt track — complete with numerous jumps and a built-in starting gate — for some 30 years.
Lynnwood’s Kyle Unrein has been there almost from the start. “I’m sure I’m well over a million laps at this track,” he said.
Another Lynnwood resident, North Rivera, has been coming to the track with his dad for just a few years now. “It’s really fun: competing, making friends; talking about BMX, that’s really fun. Working on stuff: jumping, getting faster,” Rivera said.
Though separated by more than 15 years in age, Unrein and Rivera echoed the feeling of many other Puget Sound-area racers of all ages: that summer evenings and weekends are full of fun, family and community at the Bigfoot BMX track.
For Unrein, a 2015 graduate of Mountlake Terrace High School, it all started 26 years ago, just before his third birthday. That’s when his dad, Mike, got him started in BMX racing. “My dad, he always rode dirt bikes,” Unrein said. “He started me in this instead of dirt bikes at first because it was a little easier.”
Unrein took to the sport of BMX racing quickly, moving up in classifications to compete against 9-year-olds in the “expert” division while he was only 5. Then came trips to state and national races numbering in the hundreds.
“When I was racing hardcore, I did 20 to 30 of those (nationals) a year,” Unrein said.
Now as a 28-year-old with a family, Unrein doesn’t travel the continent 30 weekends a year for BMX. But you can still find him at Bigfoot nearly three days a week during the July-through-September racing season.
“I’m pretty much here every summer, when I have the time,” Unrien said. “I’m here Monday for practice, during the week (Monday and Wednesday night races); if I can squeeze it in after work, I come here. And pretty much every Saturday I’ll be here.”
Does Unrein see a future when he’s not hauling his bike up to south Everett for practice and racing? “No,” Unrein replied. “Because I have two kids now and my oldest, he’s going to turn 3 next month, he’s just getting on a strider. And my dad’s out there too.”
Yes, it’s three generations of the Unrein family that take to the Bigfoot track nearly every time the facility is open.
Mike Unrein, after riding dirt bikes, took up BMX just before introducing it to his son — and he still races with him nearly every Wednesday night and Saturday. And Kyle’s 2-year-old son Tanner races in the strider division, getting his first taste of navigating the berms, tabletops, rollers and rhythm sections of the Bigfoot BMX track.
“It’s a pretty family friendly sport,” Unrein said. “And it’s a fun time.”
That combination of having fun and building relationships keeps the Rivera family at Bigfoot BMX throughout the summer. North, a student at Alderwood Middle School, learned the sport at a Bigfoot camp three years ago and has been coming back to the track — and traveling the state for other races — ever since.
Rivera noted that it isn’t just the excitement of racing on the track, but the “community” aspect that draws him back each week.
“You can make a lot of friends,” Rivera said. “It seems hard at first, but a lot of people help you get through it. They don’t just let you go and see what happens. They try to help you step by step.”
Rivera’s dad, Armand, agreed with North about the camaraderie among the families and racers at Bigfoot. “The community is honestly what kept us here,” he said.
“It’s just so welcoming, honestly,” Armand continued. “Everyone wants to give you advice or help, lend a hand to work on the bikes, everything. We’re here all summer so it’s pretty rad to have new riders, old riders, everything.”
The age of the racers at Bigfoot BMX on June 17 ranged from 2 to 81.
Unrein explained the reason for the longevity of his involvement in the sport and many of the others who have been returning to Bigfoot over the years: “Once you start, it’s pretty hard to stop.”
You can find more information about Bigfoot BMX at bigfootbmx.com.
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