A New Starting Gate

Sorry about the lack of posts recently. I could blame it on the season and we are way too busy to be blogging. That's partly true. Around here you need to enjoy the beautiful weather while it is here because it never seems to last long enough.

A couple of weeks ago the track operator at our local BMX track approached Bryan about building a new starting gate for the track. It has been on its last leg for a while and she wanted to get it replaced. She was asking if he knew anyone that could help, but of course he volunteered himself to make the gate. He wanted to make sure it was done right and well, he has amazing skills and know how to do the project. Afterall I think his first love is steel. DId I mention he has amazing skills? 

Anyway our days recently have been filled with making a new starting gate. From scratch. He drew up the plans, cleaned the garage (wish I had some before pictures of that!) then started cutting steel and building. He hasn't built anything like this for a while and while it was a TON of work, I think he really enjoyed building again. So here are some construction pictures of the build:

The first cut for the new frame.

The starting gate frame taking shape.

Just about finished and ready for paint.

Wait. Are we building a gate or a bridge? Actually he is straightening out the bend. It's very important the gate be perfectly straight so it drops correctly and doesn't put too much stress on the joints. 

Straight as can be. Now a little paint and it's ready to be installed.

Cutting out the old gate. While we were in the middle of construction of the new gate the old one died. It finally broke pretty much all its hinges off in the middle of gate practice. Now racing is totally stopped until the gate is finished. Lucky for them Bryan is a quick worker!

Attaching the new gate. The frame is 4 inches taller than what was there so they had to pour a new concrete pad. The old one had settled so much and was so uneven that Gate 8 was 5 inches lower than gate 1. No wonder the old gate was so crooked! Pouring a new pad would help insure it would be level and function properly.

Look how dirty my hubby is! He had lots of help getting the gate installed. Even though there was a big state race going on at another track, and it was 92 degrees that day. They spent 8 hours getting that all installed. And Nick worked right along with the rest of them. In fact he was telling the guys how to build the forms for the concrete and they were following his directions. Guess Bryan's handiness is rubbing off on those kids. They know more about construction and building than a lot of people.

The gate is straight. The dirt is not. You can see how much lower the left hand side is than the right hand side. They will need to bring more dirt in to level the starting hill out.

Freshly poured concrete and brand new gate. Looks amazing and should outlast us! He did such an amazing job and has helping out more than he will ever know. I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband. About 40 hours of labor at home, and 2 days at the track leads to years more of great BMX racing. So many families and racers will benefit from the new gate. 

 That track is a dirty place! This is the dirt line on Nick's leg from the day at the track. Both boys came home so dirty they weren't allowed to touch anything until they had taken a shower. It was pretty disgusting. But we are so grateful for the hard work they did. Can't wait to race on Sunday with the new gate. Should be a great time!

Now that the gate project is completed we can get back to finishing some projects around the house. And racing more. And bike riding. And maybe get out on the river again for some water fun. Lets hope the weather continues to stay warm!