Photo: Rick MacWilliam, The Journal

THE NEED FOR SPEED
More motorcycle riders electing to move racing off Edmonton’s streets to a safe track

MATT HARTLEY, Journal Staff Writer, EDMONTON

You might say that motorcycle riders have a need for speed.

Standing out on turn number 2 of Stratotech Park Raceway, just north of Edmonton, you can almost hear the air around you tearing as members of the Edmonton Motorcycle Roadracing Association come zipping around the corner, their knees just inches off the asphalt, and their engines firing on all cylinders.

But if you ask these leather-suited cycle jockeys to name the most important feature of their club, they don't say it's the adrenaline rush that comes from whipping around the track at speeds in excess of 200 kilometres per hour.

It's safety.

"We're here to promote the safety factor," says Chris Lindermann, a club spokesman.

Lindermann said his dub is dedicated to promoting safe motorcycle racing for riders in the Edmonton area. The club offers race school weekends for new members in addition to hosting both local and regional racing events throughout the summer at the race-track, located at 55112 Secondary Highway 825, just off Highway 15, about 20 minutes north of Edmonton.

"We want [the street riders] to come to the track; they can learn their limits here, they can learn their bikes' limits and their personal limits.

"We want them to come here so they can get [racing] out of their system," Lindermann said.

Established in 2000, the association has seen its membership numbers double each of the past two years as more and more riders elect to move their high-speed racing from the backroads of Edmonton to the polymer asphalt of Stratotech Park Raceway.

Lindermann has been riding since 1989 and a club member since 2002 and thinks he's a far safer driver today when he's out on city streets aboard his Honda RC51. He and his fellow riders are working hard to convince other local streetriders to keep the racing on the track and off the streets.

"I've noticed a dramatic difference in how I ride when I'm in the city," Lindermann said. "We try and get to spots around town where [motorcycle riders] hang out. But it's hard to talk to them without coming off sounding like a salesman. A lot of riders don't even know we exist out here. We just don't want to see their bikes smacked up, and them in hospital.

"Out on the track, it's pure riding, in it's ultimate form."

One of the club's expert riders, Brad Priddle, said he became hooked on the Stratotech track after his father urged him to start racing there. "It's worlds safer here," said Priddle, 22.

"If you go down in the street, or hit a curb or a lamppost, you're done."

The odd errant treadmark, leading off into a protective bale of hay or one of the grey foam pads that line the track's outer walls, serves as a reminder of just how dangerous this sport can be. A 2002 study conducted by the Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research found there were 69 motorcycle-related fatalities in Alberta between 1996 and 2000. Even on the track, which is free of the usual hazards like traffic and pot holes that plague street riders, accidents still happen.

Association president Evert Nadema says mishaps are an unavoidable part of racing but notes his 240-member group had fewer than 15 crashes all last summer.

"You don't learn if you don't crash sometimes, unfortunately," he said, adding the association imposes strict guide-lines to ensure the safety of their members.

Stratotech Park's first race days of the year are next Saturday and Sunday.

mhartley@thejourntll.canwest.com