MOUNT VERNON — Cameron Johnston of Mount Vernon was in his element.

The 16-year-old BMX racer was trying to entice several youngsters into delving pedal-first into the sport.

Johnston is running a week-long camp at Bakerview BMX in Mount Vernon. Johnston and 14-year-old Mitch Partridge had about a half-dozen charges, all of whom were interested in learning from a couple of grizzled veterans. Well, at least as grizzled as one can get at the ages of 16 and 14.

“I started racing when I was 10 years old,” Johnston said. “I saw some kids out here and I wanted to win some trophies. It was really easy to get started.

“I’ve been doing all right at national events. There is a lot of competition.”

Johnston has taken it one step further, starting the Diablos Racing team two years ago. The team has racers in Washington, Canada and Texas. The riders’ ages run the gamut — from 4 to 45.

Being so involved at a young age is what you’d expect from the son of the track’s operator.

“I’ve spent a lot of time on this track,” Johnston said. “This is my home track. This is where I started out. It’s just an awesome sport and it’s something you can keep doing.”

This BMX camp was the second of three to be held this summer at Bakerview BMX. The final camp will be Aug. 18-21. For more information, go to www. bakerviewbmx.net.

“The first camp went well,” said Johnston, who races in the 16-expert class. “The numbers weren’t exceptionally high, but every day a few more kids trickled in. We had a 5-year-old and a couple 8-year-olds. We will definitely be having the camp again next year.”

There are numerous classifications in BMX racing. The first is based on wheel size — 20- or 24-inch tires. Classifications are then broken down into age and ability (novice, intermediate, expert, A pro and AA pro).

Josh Pace, 10, and his mother Kerri traveled from Oak Harbor for this week’s BMX camp. Josh is beginning his second year of racing and has already competed at nationals.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Josh Pace. “You get to spend time with your friends and you get to race. You get to meet a lot of new kids and make new friends. I’ve made a lot of friends.”

Kerri Pace enjoys the family atmosphere — as well as the racing.

“Josh really likes it,” she said, “and everyone out here is so supportive, not only of their own kids, but everyone else’s. There are three teams that race out of Bakerview. It’s one big family.”

Each day is a little different at the BMX camp. There’s plenty to learn, much of which is intricate. Johnston said he and Partridge round out the time by practicing gate-starts and, section by section, they break down the parts of the track.

“We’ve learned how to do most everything,” said Josh Pace. “I’m not good at it all, but at least I tried.”

Don’t think racing isn’t physical. Just ask 7-year-old Fabian Garcia of Sedro-Woolley, who is a veteran of four racing camps. He got tangled up with another racer on the camp’s first day.

“I crashed,” Garcia said as he rolled up his shirt sleeve to show his battle wound. “It was an accident. My foot hit his foot and my face got planted in the dirt. I got a road rash.”

Garcia offered insights into the sport.

“It makes you lose weight,” he proclaimed. “And you have to drink water to keep your mind focused.”

When 5-year-old Madeline Johanson of Arlington started racing, her bike had training wheels and she was only able to ride on certain parts of the track. That’s all changed. Now she has no problem ripping around the track on her pink bike.

“I’ve been racing for one year,” said Johanson, who placed second at state in her classification. “Racing with the boys makes me faster. I am learning to ride fast.”

When asked about the size of the state trophy she won, Johanson jumped up and put her hand at face level.

“It was way up to my nose,” she said triumphantly. “It’s really big.”

The start in a BMX race is of the utmost importance, Johnston said. He explained that if a racer doesn’t get a solid jump on the competition, he or she has to make up for it somewhere else on the track. That’s not always easy to do.

There were several starting techniques Johnston taught his campers. In particular, the “slingshot” and the “snap.”

For the slingshot, a racer backs up off the gate in an attempt to get an extra pedal in before the gate snaps to the ground.

“With a snap start, as soon as the gate falls, you throw all you weight forward,” Johnston said.

After practicing the starts, it’s on to other aspects of BMX racing.

“We take them through the corners, jumps and rhythms,” Johnston said. “It’s progressive. As the week goes on, we’ll move on to more difficult stages of the track.”

Rhythms are a series of large bumps. They may look innocuous, but there are right and wrong ways to clear them.

“For some kids, the rhythms are the most difficult part of the course,” Johnston explained. “They are a set of rollers that are usually pretty long. There’s a definite way to gain speed on the track through that section. We are teaching the kids to get through them by pumping. That’s where you use your arms and legs as shock absorbers. It takes a lot of practice to get it down. But that is what we are here for.”

Partridge explained that holding a line through the high-bank turns is also important.

“They can’t let anyone push them up (on the turn),” Partridge said. “If you are racing, you have to hold your line.”

Josh Pace had his own strategy.

“It’s always that first berm,” he said. “That’s where you can make all the good moves. All the other berms (after that first one) are smaller at most tracks.”

And the start? Well, Pace had his strategy here, too.

“You just have to be ready,” he said. “You have to concentrate. And you have to be confident. You have to be the first one out of there if you want to win.”

After a strenuous couple of hours, the campers take a lunch break. Then it’s right back out on the track.

“After lunch,” Johnston said, “we come back and play games like cat and mouse and foot-down. That is a game of balance.”

In the game, each rider is given a particular area to ride. The object is to get one of the other riders to put his or her foot down by crowding them out.

The bottom line at the camp isn’t who can turn the fastest lap. It’s all about having a good time while learning the specifics of BMX racing.

“The most important aspect of this camp is that they (the campers) have fun,” Johnston said, “and maybe get some gold (trophies) when they’re done. Another important aspect is rider population at this track. We want kids to get to know the sport. We want kids to come and learn what it’s all about. We want BMX racing to become as big as possible.

“It really is easy (to get started), just ask Partridge. The first time he came out to the track, he was riding a bike bought at a garage sale,” Johnston said. “But he’s really progressed and now he’s really good. He’ll tell you how easy it is to get started.”

Partridge, an incoming freshman at Mount Vernon High School, races in the 14-year-old expert class. He said a friend first took him to the track, and he was hooked after that.

This is Partridge’s first experience as a camp counselor.
“I just wanted to help kids find something to do,” he said. “BMX racing is good for them. I am pretty sure they are having a lot of fun. I know I am. You meet a lot of people and it’s fun to be on a bike. I want the kids to come back and race. I hope they want to do that.”

Despite his crash, Garcia was all smiles.

“This is a lot of fun,” he said, “and I’m learning lots.”

That’s exactly what Johnston and Partridge want to hear. Now only time will tell whether their pupils will begin to bring home the hardware.

• Vince Richardson can be reached at 360-416-2181 or by e-mail at