In Bermuda, motocross became an island obsession: for decades roaring bikes and airborne jumps were a holiday spectacle, drawing “thousands upon thousands of spectators” and bonding generations of families. The story began in the early 1970s when pack races on Bermuda’s main road forced the authorities to act. Bermudians wanted a safe track, and Robin Simmons, a local motorcycling enthusiast, recalled in a 2022 Royal Gazette interview: “I said what they need is a track – we have got to have somewhere to race.” That idea led first to a race at Ferry Reach in 1972, which drew over 3,000 fans into Bermudian motocross.
Shortly after that first meeting, the government insisted the races move to Coney Island – then mostly abandoned US naval land – so a new track had to be built from scratch. Bermudians answered the call with a true community effort. “It was a Sunday morning…I saw them come with picks, shovels… They came with their children and their wives,” Simmons told The Royal Gazette in 2022. Volunteers literally cut out the Coney Island track by hand, carving jumps and turns through the fern and sand. “It gave us so many joyous moments…to see the people coming together,” he said.
Racing took root on a course almost immediately, and traditions like Boxing Day races were born – festive post-Christmas events that became a Bermudian holiday staple as crowds once again swelled into the thousands.
In those early years the whole island felt connected to motocross. Bikes thundered around the park where young Bermudians saw legends like Robin Simmons and later champion Otis Ingham cut their teeth on the track. Indeed, Ingham – son of champion Bert Ingham – would race for 40 years and still be remembered for his passion. As he told The Royal Gazette in 2022, “Motocross meant everything. It was probably the love I had for riding a bike. Just something about the adrenaline when I turned the gas.”
Riders like Ingham, and even Lionette Jones – who in the 1980s became Bermuda’s first female motocross racer at Coney – cemented the sport’s daring reputation. The Bermudian motocross club grew around these figures, staging regular races at Coney and eventually moving the venue to a purpose-built track in Warwick and then to a larger facility in St. David’s.
A Golden Era of Family Racing
By the 1980s and ’90s the sport was woven into island life. Boxing Day racing remained a highlight, and weekend meet-ups saw multi-generational crowds cheering every lap. Young motocross riders saw bike-racing as a rite of passage – even today, former president Arlene Simmons (Robin’s daughter and Bermuda’s first female motocross club president) remarked to The Royal Gazette in 2022 that “in my time, motocross at Coney Island was a rite of passage.” She and other club leaders have worked to honour that legacy. In 2022, for example, Simmons launched expanded youth programs and training classes to nurture new talent.
The passion in the ’80s and ’90s was unmistakable. The Bermudian press reported that motocross had “created numerous sporting legends [and] proved a crucial source of bonding for countless local families” during its first fifty years. Riders and fans still speak of those years with pride. Otis Ingham’s love for the sport was shared by many veterans: as one lifelong participant told The Royal Gazette, “Every lap, the track is different… You can come off in spectacular fashion, but 95% of the time you can get back up,” reflecting the fearless spirit riders cherished.
Conservation vs. Competition
By the late 1990s into the 2000s, however, environmental concerns began to silence the noise of two-stroke engines at Coney. Bermuda had declared Coney Island a national park, and officials worried about damage to its delicate ecosystem. Environmental groups noted that past motocross use “resulted in significant damage to the landscape and it has taken years of restoration work for the park to recover,” including “damage to the aquatic features of Coney Island due to extensive muddy run-off from the motocross tracks,” as reported in Bernews in 2024.
In one legislative debate in 1995, an MP even argued that motocross should be moved to return “that lovely park to our park system.” In practice, the races were gradually shifted to the newer Southside Motorsports Park in St. David’s, a clean, dedicated track, away from the beach and bird sanctuary.
For more than two decades Coney’s hills fell quiet, its motocross days kept alive only in memory. Generations of Bermudians who grew up before the shutdown recall the track in nostalgic terms – a place where families once gathered, and where a young rider could dream of flying a dirt bike just as high as their heroes. But for the children who came of age during the 2000s, Coney Island motocross was something they only heard of as legend.
Motocross Returns
In December 2024, the engines roared to life again on Coney’s sandy soil. A youth-driven group called Pink Sand Scrambling organized a one-off event, “Dash-for-Cash,” and after a month of controversy the Bermuda Government approved the return of motocross to the old track. On December 15th, more than 100 riders (from age 5 to 61) took to Coney’s trail, and thousands of spectators turned out despite grey skies.
Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, then Public Works Minister, told Bernews, “It was a spectacular event which exceeded everybody’s expectations,” noting that giving the go-ahead balanced youth opportunity with environmental care. Jyrie Mitchell, a local promoter and racer, echoed the sentiment in a statement to The Royal Gazette: “It was a successful event… Several thousand people [filled] Coney Island, which exceeded my expectations. I am more than excited… that we raced at Coney Island today.”
Racing returned to Coney with great care for the park. Organizers pledged to restore the grounds, and after the event – as promised – the park was “fully restored to its original state… even taking the opportunity to clean up two decades of pollution in the lagoon,” according to Bernews.
The positive atmosphere was evident. Officials reported that the race brought families and neighbors together without incident, a day of fun and pride. As one government spokesman noted, it was “a truly family-oriented experience, with every neighbourhood in Bermuda able to come enjoy the day.”
Even veteran riders took heart – 61-year-old Marvin Woolridge suited up to relive “glory days” on Coney’s red mud, telling The Royal Gazette, “We need Coney Island back and people love it. It was a beautiful race…I have no more for Coney Island and I’ll continue being a race marshal, but it was beautiful today.”
The “Road” Ahead
The December 2024 scramble proved that Bermudians’ love for Coney motocross runs deep. The crowd wasn’t just fans; it was old champions and their children, novices and veterans, all cheering as bikes soared overhead. Even U.S. visitors were struck by the unique atmosphere, noting how smoothly the day ran. As the Minister of Tourism Owen Darrell said afterward, Coney Island had showcased “veteran athletes aged 60 and over reliving their glory days on motorcycles alongside young riders.”
For many, returning to Coney felt like reconnecting with a cherished heritage. “Motocross is part of Bermuda’s history and culture, and this event brought generations together to celebrate that heritage,” Minister Burch reflected in remarks to Bernews after the race. The sight of a father hoisting a trophy while a toddler gripped a plastic bike, or a former champion smiling beside a newbie learning to ride, underlined how special the moment was.
Looking forward, there is cautious optimism. Riders and fans hope that with careful stewardship, Coney Island can safely host more races – perhaps even rekindling those old Boxing Day traditions in some new form. The Bermuda Motocross Club, now bolstered by renewed interest, is already expanding youth training programs and considering ways to honor both their history and future. With supporters like Simmons and Ingham urging the community to remember its roots, it seems likely that Coney will continue to feature in Bermuda’s motocross story. After all, as Otis Ingham once told The Royal Gazette, motocross is more than just racing – it’s a passion passed down through family and friends. With the 2024 event reminding everyone of what was possible, the roar of bikes on Coney’s sands may well become a new chapter in that legacy.
