Dallen and Connor Brereton-Stiles are becoming big wheels on small bikes.
The Coquitlam brothers have been burning up BMX tracks across North America and, most recently, Glasgow, Scotland, where Dallen finished eighth in his 14 year-old age category at the UCI world cycling championships and Connor, 13, finished in the top 20 in his age bracket.
Their sport of choice may have been bred in the bone, as dad Grant also raced BMX when he was younger.
Dallen was the first to climb aboard a compact, single-speed BMX bike, when he was four. Connor wasn't even three years old when he started riding.
Now they compete at local tracks in Pitt Meadows, Langley, Surrey, the North Shore and Abbotsford, as well as across Canada and at least six races a year in the United States.
Glasgow wasn't even their first world championships, as each also raced at the 2017 worlds in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
It's a busy season, especially when training at their home Ridge Meadows track, in the gym and with coach Mischa Partridge, plus school work, are factored in, said their mom, Sandy Brereton-Stiles.
"They love racing and are both so passionate about BMX," she said. "We try to get behind them and support them whenever possible by taking them to events."
The magnitude of time spent pursuing their BMX passion, though, is eased by the sport's supportive family-friendly nature, added Sandy.
Well, not always.
Because when Dallen and Connor are on the Ridge Meadows track together at their weekly Tuesday night training sessions, things can get pretty competitive as the brothers push each other to get faster on the undulating 400-metre circuit racers typically cover in 30–40 seconds.
"I love everything about BMX, the training, racing and relationships," said Dallen, who's in Grade 9 at Heritage Woods Secondary School.
He added his top-eight finish at Glasgow has hungered him for more despite the stress of competing on the world stage. Or maybe because of it.
"It was super exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time," he said. "Once I qualified for finals, all the stress was gone and it was just me and the track."
Connor, a Grade 8 student at Summit Middle School, said his Glasgow experience, where BMX shared its world championship events with every other cycling discipline for the first time ever, has also whet his competitive appetite.
"It was an unbeatable experience," he said, adding he "can't wait for the worlds next year."
Actually, that wait won’t be so long, as next year’s world championships are just seven months away, when they’ll return to Rock Hill, May 12-18.
But before the brothers begin their training arc for that event, they’ll be able to put some of the lessons they learned in Scotland to the test at the USA BMX Grand Nationals, Nov. 23-26, in Tulsa, Okla., that wraps the sport’s competitive season in North America.
Dallen said he's got his eyes set on improving this year’s eighth place at next year's worlds while Connor is excited to make new friends on his ride toward elite status.
"I love competing in big races," he said. "BMX racing brings such amazing connections and relationships through other BMXers."
