Shanaze Reade visits Roch Valley Raiders BMX club

Young BMX riders Oliver Stansfield and Joe Matthias being coached on the gate by Shanaze Reade

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Roch Valley Raiders BMX Club and Renegade BMX group welcomed professional British Bicycle Motocross (BMX) race rider Shanaze Reade to the BMX track in Queen’s Park, Heywood on Monday (3 November).

The coaching event at Queen's Park was attended by local BMX riders aged between four and 40 years old.
 
Shanaze won the team sprint world champion title in 2007 and 2008 with Victoria Pendleton as well as her four BMX World Championship titles. She also won the first two rounds of the 2013 BMX Supercross World Cup Series and remained unbeaten before a knee injury forced her to withdraw from competing for the rest of the season.
 
World BMX Champion Shanaze has been taking time out of the Olympic Podium Programme to focus on the ABA BMX Series in America during 2014 and is currently back in the UK doing nine BMX clinics at BMX clubs throughout England.
 
Shanaze told the local riders: “This is not my first time at Heywood BMX track. I have visited the track four/five times to practice. It’s a great track to practice on with something for all abilities. You have a great little club here and some of your riders are showing great potential. The only thing the track needs is tarmac berms, which will benefit the track and attract more riders.

“I love racing and I love BMX and I've found a new love for coaching. Their little smiles are priceless. It was a great session at Heywood.”

Yvonne Mills from Roch Valley Raiders said: “Shanaze Reade was simply amazing. The riders were star stuck to start with, but all left feeling as if she was part of the club. The session was even better than I thought it would be. She made time for everyone. She is an inspirational lady.”

Riders who took part in the session echoed Yvonne’s praise.

Trev Woods said: “It was fantastic to ride with such a good ambassador for the sport and great to see how much time and effort she gave to help all of the trainees work towards their goals.”

Karl Dillon, whose daughter Kirsten took part in the session, said: “Kirsten really enjoyed the session and gained some great tips. It is great to see a sport like BMX were one of the world's top athletes can run a training session, with such a diverse range of ages and abilities attending and by the end of the two hours seeing everyone so positive about what they had achieved.”

Polly Leadon said: “Although I have only just started racing I learnt a lot and enjoyed the experience of being taught by someone like her. I can't wait to try racing next year.”

Roch Valley Raiders BMX club is currently raising funds to tarmac the berms (embanked corners of a BMX track) and hoping to run another BMX clinic when Shanaze returns back to the UK in the New Year.