Riverview/Twin Peaks raceway history.

[bnd]

Alex Gren asked a question in another thread about this track & I thought it deserved it's own thread.

Riverview raceway was located just S.W. of the Riverview Jr. High school in Murray. It was on the far end of the park area. When I left the scene in 86'ish it was still called Riverview BMX but when I came back in 93' the name had been changed to Twin Peaks BMX.
I could be wrong but I think the track got it's start in 1979 & then got shut down in at the end of 1995. The houses that were built just due south of the track in the late 80's early 90's, well the people were cool with it for a time then a few familys got togther & petitioned for it's closure. The announcing Tuesdays nights & so called "kids jumping the fence & riding the track when nobody was around" excuses were enough to get it done. I could never understand that reasoning because the baseball diamonds right next to the track had games every night & the weekends w/ loudspeakers going.
They had a few meetings with councilman Brent Overson with the BMX crowd outnumbering the non-bmxers 10 to 1 but the BMX crowd lost a track that hosted many, many nationals, Gold/Redline cups & a ton of memories.
In the summertime when I was a kid we would ride over the the "Mr. G's" convenince store right around the corner to get drinks or play video games. This was before the track had a snack shack.

I didn't get to race that 1995 season as I hurt my ankle pretty bad in the first practice in May. I did make it back for the very last race though which was the State Championship Finals & took some video, grabbed a shirt & visited.
The track got plowed & I haven't been back. I heard that it just sits as a vacant lot now.

Overson promised that the track would be replaced & it was, with Rad Canyon BMX. Pat Simmons was the main player in that.

Here's a vid from the Video of the Day archives of Dave Hoffman, Tracy Myers & myself on a Tuesday night in 1993. Funny, Tracy's brother Troy now races again as does Hoffman.

http://www.utahbmx.com/bnd/93twinpeaksbrucemoto.wmv


If anybody has anything to add or can correct me on any facts feel free to chime in.

b.

[augern1]

There are houses where the track was but the softball diamonds are still there to the north

[b2]

Thanks for that history lesson, Bruce. The track looks like it was fun and long... Nice number plates, too.

[bnd]

I would love to see the last 100ft' of RC's last straight flat. Just a straight up sprint to the finishline. That would really show who's in shape & who's not.

b.

[ZDM]

The only thing I could add is the track was open access until I quit going in '84. I used to ride the track everyday. The "kids jumping the fence" problem came some time after that.

[sil89via]

I Loved that track it was called "Harper" before "Riverview" or "Twinpeaks" a little extra History.
Many good races there with jumps like "Deathvalley" the "big step up" & massive first roller.

L. Wiberg

[mr pezhead]

this was such a fun track. Both me and my sister raced and rode here almost daily before we moved. I was racing 13x that year. When I went back before I got married we went there and it was really heartbreaking to see it all gone. That track kept us not only in shape but completly out of trouble. Its really a shame that the homeowners could not grasp that. I remember only great memories of this place. My family helped shape the track when this pic was taken. that last jumped scared the hell out of me until one of the older kids said dont think about it just jump it like the double and that was all it took. first jump nailed it. second jump was during finals and ate it hard. never jumped it in a race after that.

[skicruz78]

Great post!
I grew up in Midvale and my brother and I were introduced to Riverview by the older boys in the neighborhood. We would ride our Schwinn Phantom Scramblers (yellow Skyway mags, of course), Schwinn Predators, and Team Murrays from our house at about 80th South and 200 West over to Riverview. In hindsight, I am sure our mother would have killed us if she knew where we were going! Once we discovered the track we couldn't stay away. I don't know for sure, but this must have been during the summers of 82, 83, 84ish. We never actually participated in an official race, but spent many, many happy summer afternoons bombing around that track. If my friends and I were part of the "kids jumping the fence" problem, I sincerely apologize (although I don't remember jumping any fences).

The other spot we used to ride was the vacant lot at 90th South and the frontage road, just east of the long defunct Western Honda. It was a large lot that had been extensively excavated for a building before being abandoned. Because of the excavation, there were large (huge as my 9 - 12 year old mind remembers them!) hills and deep ruts with all kinds of great jump lines. While nothing in comparison to today's dirt jump lines, they provided endless opportunities to play bikes. Because the hills were located close to Western Honda, we called the place the "Honda Hills" After riding we would often go into Western Honda and buy JT stickers for 10/$2. Anybody else remember the Honda Hills?

Skicruz

[Pbandj19]

I grew up riding and racing there as well.
Bob did a great job running that track!
And announcing the races... COMIN' AT YA!!!

[bnd]

Bump.

b.

[dylmunchy]

Awesome Video! Never saw this thread. Looked like a fun track!