Motorcross in Cayman gaining popularity
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from October 1990.
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Motorcross is fast gaining popularity with the youngsters of Cayman. Regular meets take place at the track at the far end of North Sound Road, but these have led to a complaint by one of the area's residents who prefers a quieter Sunday afternoon. However, the organisers and racers alike, don't feel this is fair. Their argument is that it keeps the youngsters off the streets and out of trouble.
"They spend their afternoons riding around with friends and their evenings in the garage cleaning the bikes and preparing for the next race," says father of one of the racers, Mr. John Alberga. "The kids enjoy it and the parents, if they have put up the money for the bikes are happy to see the kids enjoying themselves."
For the time being there are two types of bikes on the island, two wheelers and four wheelers. Each of these is available in various sizes, but the most common are 80cc and 125cc.
"There are a lot of four wheelers on the island," says Mr.Alberga, "but most people don't know that we race these as well at the track. We would like to see these kids and their parents coming out and supporting the racing and participating. We are very strong on the safety aspect and helmets are a must."
The races are attracting more and more spectators and many of these are seriously thinking of getting into racing.
"They are often given the chance to ride around the track on other members bikes and this gives them the chance to see whether biking is really for them, without them having to spend the hundreds or thousands of dollars involved." Says organiser Mr. Jason Henzell.
Mr.Alberga did have one appeal to make to the public and that was to ask if anyone had a large piece of land that could be used for the racing. "Eventually I envisage a permenant track similar to the ones in Jamaica where regular races and training sessions can take place. We could start by asking for a nominal fee per race to cover costs and then to award trophies to the winners." The next meeting is at 2pm on Sunday afternoon at the track at the far end of North Sound Road.
