NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Of all the equipment you need to be race-ready for BMX, the bike is certainly the most important. This is why, when NewsChannel 5 first visited Music City BMXa few weeks ago, things had gotten off track.
Track Manager Randy Moore opened up their storage facility back in September to find more than half of their specialty BMX bikes had been stolen, sidelining kids who don't have bikes of their own.
"It’s like a kick in the gut, you know? This particular bike runs retail about $300," Moore said in September.
But thankfully the story didn't end there.
Just days after our story aired and word spread, every single bike that had been stolen was either replaced or recovered.
"These are the ones we ended up purchasing with the help of a lot of friends," said Moore. "We have several to choose from depending on the size of the kid, the rider."
Randy experienced a lot of kindness from the BMX community, but perhaps the most generous offer came from an 11-year-old boy from East Tennessee — Ian Kellal. He lives in Morristown and was ready to give up the sport and sell his bikes when he heard what happened.
"We heard about the break in. And I think it’s just very bad they took, not the adult bikes, just the kid bikes," said Kellal.
That's when the generous young man approached his parents with a different idea.
"Who knows how many kids didn’t have bikes riding at Music City?" said Ian during an interview with NewsChannel 5 over FaceTime. "It’s going to a place where people can use them."
Moore said not only did Ian fill a void, he substantially upgraded their fleet.
"They’re not cheap, they’re not the $300 bikes we bought. One of them is $800-900," the track operator explained. "So it’s pretty amazing for an 11-year-old to come up with that idea."
Of course, Moore wishes things never had to get off track, but thanks to the generosity of so many, Music City BMX is more race-ready than ever before. "Not the way we wanted to go about it, but we’re pretty fortunate really," he said.
Metro Police were able to make an arrest and recover three of the original bikes stolen, as well.
