BMX - Walker wants a dry run on track

Olympian Sarah Walker has given Whangarei BMX club's new track at Pohe Island the thumbs-up.
The rain that fell in the morning dampened the enthusiasm she might have had for the track but that only increased her resolve to return there in April for the national championships.
"After the first lap I had to check my tires, I thought they might have been flat but it was only the damp areas between the jumps slowing me down.
"I can't wait to try it when it's dry, I'm betting it'll be really fast."
Walker is the most recognisable face of the sport in New Zealand. She was swamped by admiring fans when she arrived at the BMX club's current track at Riverside to hold a training session with club members.
The 20-year-old went to Beijing as the world's top-ranked rider as the sport made its Olympic debut. The Eastern Bay of Plenty rider was runner-up at the 2007 World Championships in Canada and won the Cruiser class world title in her first year as an elite rider but missed out on a medal when she finished fourth in the final.
"I wasn't as disappointed as I thought, because luck is always going to be a part of BMX racing ... I was gutted that I didn't get a medal because I knew I could have but I knew I'd prepared as well as I could," she said.
The Whangarei BMX club invited Walker and a few other elite riders, including Waipu's Trent Jones and Mike and Alex Williams to test the track, project co-ordinator Stu Bell said.
"Tom [Ritzenthaler] the track builder wanted some of our elite riders to try it so they can give him some feedback, he's tried a few things on this track that he's thinking of putting into the World Championship track in South Africa, so he wants to see what they think," Bell said.
Ritzenthaler is well known to Walker.
"I know him quite well and he's built a lot of tracks that I've raced on around the world ... they're all similar but with different features so it's good to get a look at another one," Walker said.
"It's going to be impressive once it's finished, it's a shame it's a little bit damp today, it makes the track a bit slower, so you can't get a true feel for it but judging by the speed we've been going in the damp, it's going to be very fast."
Walker is just getting back into riding after an extended break after the Olympics, she will attend next year's World Championships in Adelaide, but says the real racing won't happen until 2010, when Olympic Qualifying for the London Olympics begins.