Riding in wild rosemary: children and adults competed in riding with obstacles

Irkutsk hosted the championship and championship of the city of Irkutsk in Downhill “Baikal Cup – 2023”, in which about 50 athletes aged 7 to 45 years old took part.

– When cycling first appeared, it was very fashionable and cool to do it. Now the excitement around this trend has subsided, but interest in this sport does not disappear, every year we see how new riders appear who come from other sports. They are of different ages – from 5 to 45 years old. Unfortunately, cycling is not the most accessible, because it involves high costs, at least for the purchase of an appropriate bike. And now they have risen in price because of the sanctions. And still need equipment. But enthusiasts ride different bikes and enjoy it regardless of the price of their equipment,” says competition organizer Nikita Parshukov.

For sports, you need a track. The history of the Irkutsk highway begins in the early 2000s. Armed with shovels, the rollers built it in Akademgorodok. Unfortunately, it is illegal, but the athletes hope that the administration of the city and the region will help them legalize it, which, in turn, will improve the track.

“For 20 years it has been built and maintained by cycling enthusiasts. All attempts to build official routes in Irkutsk have so far failed, the administration was not interested. But at the moment, according to rough estimates, more than 150 people visit our track every month. These are amateurs, and professionals, and children, – adds Nikita.

Someone will remember that we have many tracks – there is a downhill track in Angarsk, at the ski base and in Baikalsk on Mount Sobolinaya, there is a track for BMX Race in Angarsk, there are tracks for jumping in Irkutsk on Kaya and in Akademgorodok, as well as in Angarsk. There are small trails on the Kaiskaya mountain, in Yubileiny and on the way to Angarsk. And besides, there are many cycling routes, including winter ones.

– All this is there, but because of such a variety of tracks it is very difficult to constantly maintain them in a suitable condition, carry out cleaning and repair, there are not enough hands and time for this, the support of the administration would be very useful here. We will also do everything possible in our power, we will hold competitions, advertise them in the ways available to us and, of course, keep the tracks in good condition,” Nikita Parshukov shares his thoughts.

Since the sport is extreme, excessive enthusiasm without proper preparation can lead to injuries, so local racers Vladimir Pulyaevsky and Nikita Kryuchkov founded a school where they teach children the basic techniques of cycling and overcoming natural and man-made obstacles. In the future, young racers participate in all-Russian competitions, some disciplines are Olympic. By the way, we already have enough champions in the above sports in the region, the most famous are Alexander Dianov, master of sports in 4 BXM Race, multiple champion Mark Gessen, winner of the Russian championship in mountain bike, Vladimir Pulyaevsky, master of sports in mountain bike, who even twice took part in the Downhill World Championship, Daniil Danilov, multiple winner of the All-Russian competitions in stunt jumping over the springboard.

– Young riders need financial support and official youth sports. At the moment, we hold several stages of Downhill, BMX Race, Pump-track competitions every year, however, all financial support falls on the shoulders of the participants and sponsors of the competition, even at officially held stages. And in order to attract young racers, it is necessary to create the necessary conditions for this, to advertise upcoming sporting events. And to do them first of all with joy, with interest, spectacularly – and only then show a sports result, because cycling is about the pleasure of riding, from performing complex coordination actions, from overcoming one’s own fears and opportunities. If all this is done without pleasure, then it will just be a big and difficult job, but we need to develop the idea of ​​​​getting pleasure from sports, from a healthy lifestyle, the organizers are sure.

The route is picturesque this season – in the grove through which it runs, a huge amount of wild rosemary blooms. All jumps and slopes are in order, the track is clean, which is also maintained by children. The youngest participants of the competition were the first to go to the start, then those who are older.

– At the very beginning I was engaged in skiing, and then I became interested in cycling. I have been cycling for seven years now. We have several days a week training with Vladimir Pulyaevsky. In the warm season we ride in the park on the street, and in winter we train indoors, there are wooden springboards and other figures where we hone jumps and turns. This is not the first competition. In the winter, we had competitions on the ice in Jacobi Bay. We have been preparing for these competitions for a long time and helped build ski jumps. It’s a shame that rain and snow spoiled the track a bit. But everything dried up by lunchtime, and we will show what we have learned, – says Boris Bashirov. In his age category – boys from 11 to 14 years old – Boris took first place, ahead of his rival Mikhail Panishev by two seconds. The third was Demyan Medvedev.

The most fierce struggle unfolded among adult cyclists. They were divided into two categories – professionals and amateurs. Among professionals, Vladimir Pulyaevsky became the fastest and most technical, and among amateurs – Daniil Danilov.

Cyclists have a busy season ahead: competitions will be held in Angarsk on June 3–4, in Irkutsk on July 29–30, and in Baikalsk on August 26–27. Not only professional athletes can take part, but anyone who has a bike and protection can take part.