PORT ALBERNI— Aubrey Rayner only started competing in BMX bike races this year, but right away won 10 straight events to make it to expert class, which helped her leave her mark on the sport.
The 10-year-old Huu-ay-aht youth, who lives in Parksville, discovered the sport about eight months ago, and since then she has been winning races and having a lot of fun.
“I’ve always like biking,” she says. “I used to mountain bike, but this is so much fun, and I really like to compete now.”
Since she started racing, Rayner has won a number of Vancouver Island championships in both girls class and cruiser races. The girls’ class features a 20-inch wheel on the bike and cruiser is for a 24-inch wheel.
At the end of the season, Rayner placed second in the province on her class bike. She was ranked fifth in class and fourth in cruiser going into the Grand National race in Chilliwack Oct. 10–12.
The national races featured the best riders from around the country, and Rayner proved she deserved to be there by being ranked fourth in cruiser and fifth in class for the 2014 race season.
She says by placing well in the 2014 season, she will have earned a lower number on her plate for the 2015 race season. In 2014 she was given No. 204, as it was her first year racing. Next year she will be given the No. 4 in class and No. 2 in cruiser.
The Grand Nationals mark the official end of the season for Rayner, but she says that doesn’t mean she won’t be riding this winter. She says she will be training and racing at the Abbotsford indoor track, as well as in the United States at the Peninsula indoor track.
She says she loves the sport because it is something she gets to do with her father, Stephen Rayner.
“My dad and I ride a lot together, it’s how I got started.”
And with the off-season ahead of her, she plans on doing a lot of riding with her dad.
“I really enjoy having something I can do with my dad,” she says. “I ride my bike with my friends, but they don’t do this kind of thing.”
She says through the sport she has made lots of friends, and she looks forward to continuing next season. She says lots of girls are getting into the sport, and that makes it a lot of fun.
As for her future goals, she wants to go to the Olympics.
“Next year I want to be No. 1,” she says, “so I have to keep riding my bike lots and training hard.”