The Kelowna Dirt Bike Club is ready to welcome spring with their season opening events on Saturday and Sunday. 
The Spring Series Races bring together riders from all over B.C.
Photo: Contributed "Right now I've got people here from Kitimat, Terrace and Prince George.  We'll have people from the Lower Mainland, Pemberton, as well as locally." says Kelowna Dirt Bike Club President Jeanine Acheson.
The Club will play host to over 250 motocross enthusiasts who will compete in the two day event.

With support crews, friends and families attending as well, organizers expect well over 500 people to descend on the Bear Main Logging Road for the weekend's event.
The Kelowna Dirt Bike Club (KDBC) is run completely by volunteers, who have put in countless hours and dollars to create a safe, fun place for riders of all skill levels to practice Motocross and enjoy themselves.
Never was that more in evidence than last fall, when the club's many volunteers teamed up to perform a major overhaul and upgrade of the track, and then poured in more hours getting the course ready for the new season.  "We haven't had a race here since 2006, so you're starting all over, having to do stuff that if you're constantly putting races on, you won't have to do." says Acheson.

This year the KDBC is part of the BC Motocross Association series of races which features riders of all ages competing for eight different clubs.
"You've got the little tiny guys, the 50 cc's, with the four to eight year olds, all the way up to a 62 year old that I know is going to be riding. You've got the smaller bikes, the 50's, the 65's and the 85's, and then you start going in to the four strokes with the 250's and the 450's."

With membership spanning generations, the Kelowna Dirt Bike Club stresses a family approach.
In fact, their web site states they are "a family orientated club that wants to provide the community with a controlled environment, where members can enjoy the sport of motocross, and spend time with family and friends”, and Acheson agrees.

"People need to know that its a family sport. Everyone that's here right now are moms and dads and their kids. Even myself, it's my husband and son that ride, and it's not every 20 year old that wants to travel with their parents.  When you're a motocross family you get in the rig and travel a lot of miles together."

The KDBC will also honour Leighton Meyer during Sunday's intermission.  Meyer helped lead a four year campaign on the clubs behalf, after a noise complaint led to a battle with the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The club felt they were in the right and decided to fight it, but the prolonged dispute threatened to shut them down.  "He just did everything he could for nothing. He used his own time and efforts to do the legal stuff for us." says Acheson.  "Lawyers often get a bad rap, but he just believes in what's right and he wanted to help us."

They have since reached an agreement with the regional district and are sound testing all of their bikes to try and ease the concerns of those who launched the initial complaint.  Spectators are welcome for the races on Saturday and Sunday. The track is located 2.5 km off Westside Road on Bear Main Logging Rd.