Takin’ it on-track
Cop goes Street Legal on two wheels
By Ajay Bhardwaj
Staff Writer

He’d seen the results of illegal motorcycle racing: the wrecked bikes, the twisted steel, the lives lost.

That was the worst part of being the city copy attending the scenes of “crotch-rocket” bike crashes. The deaths.

“It’s very tough to see and it’s a very tough part of our job,” said Edmonton Police Service Const. Ryan Sparreboom.

So the three-year veteran decided he’d call out the macho speed demons. You wanna race? Bring your bike to the track – ask for Ryan.

“Knowing how dangerous they can be, you have to have some respect for (motorcycles) and you have to have some self-control he said.

“There’s a time and a place to open up the throttle and that place is not on Groat Road or Anthony Henday or the Whitemud. It’s on the track.

Sparreboom, a sport-bike enthusiast for the past seven years, is the newest member of the EPS Street Legal team.

City police Const. Ryan Sparreboom poses with the Street Legal Ducati 749 Superport bike donated by Argyll Motorsports and Ducati. Photo by Walter Tychnowicz, The Edmonton Sun.

Composed of volunteer cops who run the program with the help of donations and sponsorship on their own time, Street Legal aims to get racers off the city’s streets and on to the relative safety of a racetrack.

Sgt. Terry Innes and Const. Mike Wynnyk began Street Legal nine years ago and already have a muscled-up 72 Plymouth Duster and a Hyundai Tiberon to take on all comers.

Interest in motorcycle racing has been booming at Street Legal events, said Innes. But neither he nor Wynnyk had the time to bring in a motorcycle on their own.

Enter Sparreboom. He’s volunteered to take rider training at NAIT to get ready for the spring racing season.

Once the snow clears, Sparreboom, 26, will race a state-of-the-art Ducati 749 Supersport race bike – donated by Argyll Motorsports and Ducati – against all comers, in an attempt to lure the daredevils off the streets.

Last year alone, nine motorcyclists died in Edmonton while speeding on high-powered sport bikes.

“One is to many, but nine is ridiculous,” Sparreboom said. He’ll do most of his racing at a three-kilometer circuit at Stratotech Park near Fort Saskatchewan.

Track racing offers one overwhelming safety advantage over the street kind: racers don’t have to worry about dodging traffic, curbs, light standards, medians or potholes at 200 kph.

“If I can get guys to come out to the track once to try it, I’d be willing to bet guys will get hooked and really like it,” Sparreboom said. “Compared to getting tickets from us, it’s fairly cheap to do.”

Already word should be filtering out to racers that cops have been cracking down on speeders, Innes said.

Sparreboom’s contribution, along with the police helicopter, is only going to help, he said.

“We’ve still got a long ways to go,” Innes said. “But we’re optimistic that it’s going to get some of these young guys before they make mistakes.”

“There’s no recovering from making a mistake on a motorcycle.”