Between 40-45 riders will take to the Stevie Smith Bike Park in Nanaimo for the Vancouver Island Slopestyle event on June 17.  (Dreamstime)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Freestyle Riding

Nanaimo’s Stevie Smith Bike Park to host slopestyle BMX event

Jun 17, 2023 | 9:06 PM

NANAIMO — More than 40 riders from Vancouver Island, the US and even Mexico will take part in a freestyle event called Vancouver Island Slopestyle on Saturday, June 17.

Organizer and track emcee Nate Berkheimer said slopestyle has really only been around since 2004.

“It’s inspired by BMX dirt jumping but rather than just having dirt jumps there’s wood elements, drops, wall rides, different unique features like that. It’s freestyle, it’s not a timed run it’s a judged run based on tricks and the execution.”

There are three different categories for the main day of competition, ranging from advanced youth ages 10-15, to open men’s and open women’s 16 years and older.

“We’ve got riders from Nanaimo, Parksville, Victoria, Errington, and Nanoose,” Berkheimer said. “Because of the bike park here our talent pool is deep on the island so we should have a good local presence.”

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The athletes will have a practice session from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. on Saturday and then the youth riders will start up at noon, followed by the women’s riders at 1:30 p.m.

“At 3 p.m. is when the men’s contest happens,” Berkheimer noted. “That’s when the big crazy tricks are going on, the stuff you see on TV. Then we’ll wrap up with the awards at 4:30 p.m.”

The Nanaimo event is part of the Freestyle Mountain Bike world tour which has different categories.

“This one is the bronze category which means riders who compete here have a chance to qualify for the bigger events. The premier event for slopestyle is held every year in Whistler, it’s called Joy Ride. This is a stepping stone to get to something like that.”

On June 18 there’s a more informal day on the track called Kickouts and Coffee.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., riders can perform tricks, socialize and get some refreshments.

There will be some awards given but the day will be focused on fun and not results

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