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Sept. 16, 2000 BY JIM THOMAS Kyle Galyon, 12, of Cortez has recently qualified and will join a very elite group of Bicycle Motocross riders in the United States who will participate in the Gold Cup Championship Finals in the Central Region. He received a formal invitation from the American Bicycle Association to race at the event. "This is a national race," Galyon said. "I feel very good about qualifying since I only started competitively competing in June."
The 2000 Gold Cup Championship Finals Central will be held Sept. 22-24 at the Metroplex BMX Track in DeSoto, Texas. He will leave with his parents, Cindy and Kent Galyon of Cortez, this Tuesday, Sept. 19, for the long driving trip to Texas. "This event has always proven to be one of the best in terms of competition and this year promises to at least meet these expectations," Clayton John, president of the American Bicycle Association (sanctioning organization). "This race showcases rider’s abilities while they go up against the best riders in the region. The track has been prepped in anticipation of the fiercest competition the Central Region has seen with riders attempting to attain the coveted Gold Cup No. 1 plate and title." The actual Gold Cup Championship Final will be held on Sunday, Sept. 24. The double-points race is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 22, and the U.S. Open Championship on Saturday, Sept. 23. Galyon started competing in the Novice Division in June but by August he advanced into the Intermediate Class. During that time, he competed in 18 races, winning seven, taking second six times, third twice, and fourth three times. A majority of those races were won at track near Aztec, N.M. As of now, he has earned 655 points. He also attended the New Mexico State Championships in Albuquerque earlier this summer and placed third. "I qualified for the Gold Cup race in Montrose by finishing fourth or better (he finished third), then you get to go to it," Galyon, who goes to Cortez Middle School, said. Although he happened to qualify for the race as a Novice he will attend the Gold Cup Championship Central as an Intermediate. He could face as many as 92 riders in 12 intermediate classes in DeSoto. Some of the races are as short as 900 feet to longer than 1,300 feet. "I wanted to race motocross (motorcycles) but I couldn’t do that. My dad (who happens to race stock cars at Fairgrounds Speedway) decided to let me race bicycles," he said. He has been riding bicycles (without training wheels) since he was only 3. His parents were going to let him have a race car when he got old enough. That particular car has been sold and young Galyon has since purchased two BMX racing bikes this summer. He now rides a Specialized Fat Boy Hemi and he raced a Specialized Fat Boy TJ-Lavin for a couple months. He wants to qualify next summer for the Colorado State BMX Championships in Fort Collins. After State is Nationals and World, which was held in Salt Lake City recently. Although he rides some at the bike track at Parque de Vida, he mainly rides up and down his road while practicing. Plans are under way for Cortez to build an ABA sanctioned track, off Empire Road, and it is hoped it could become a qualifier site for the Colorado State BMX Championships. Right now in order for him to qualify for State has got to place high at three different meets: Montrose, Grand Junction and Fort Collins. But more tracks are being built all the time. A Cortez ABA racing organization is being formed this fall. The group hopes to build the track next spring and then hold some races late spring or early summer. |
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Copyright © 2000 the Cortez
Journal. All rights reserved. |
