Breakaway Loft is owned by Craig Goode. It is located in West Point,
Utah, about a mile from the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake.
To the east the Wasatch Mountains rise up in a beautiful line running
north to south through the entire valley. To the west, Antelope Island
can be seen with it's smaller mountain peaks and to the northwest
other smaller mountain peaks are visible. Beginning in about October
and continuing till June or July of the next year, the mountain peaks
are capped with beautiful white snow. The Ogden valley is a beautiful,
peaceful valley full of homes, farms, businesses, schools, churches
and parks that extend from the mountain benches to the edges of the
Great Salt Lake.
For the past seventeen years, Breakaway Loft has flown with the Ogden
Racing Pigeon Club which encompasses all of Weber County and Davis
County.
This
is a
large
area which
covers
all of the Ogden Valley. There are around 30 pigeon fanciers in the
area, however not all of them are flying at the current time. Most
young bird seasons start out with about 22 fliers and end with 12
to 15 fliers. The old bird season generally has a few more.
For many years, the Ogden Racing Pigeon Club was part of the Northern
Utah Racing Pigeon Combine along with the Golden Spike Racing Pigeon
Club from Boxelder County and the Rocky Mountain Racing Pigeon
Club from Cache County. These two clubs add an additional 10 to
20 fliers to compete against. The combine flies to the north and
to the northwest from stations in Idaho and Montana. During the
old bird season they also pick up one station in Oregon. The race
course has to bend to the west to avoid going into Canada. Currently
the combine is not in operation. Each of the three clubs is flying
individually. It has been a sad thing to see the combine break
apart.
The Combine has usually flown two races each week from the same
station, an hour apart. We averaged between 200 and 500 birds per
race with more going on the shorter races and less on the longer
ones at the end of the season. The combine has always been a very
competitive one. There have always been excellent birds and fliers
to compete against. A number of fliers have bought birds that have
been imported from Belgium and several have spent a great deal
of money aquiring these birds. Other fliers are flying pigeons
that they have developed over many years of breeding.
I would love to see all of the clubs and combines join together
to form a large federation. Currently the Concourse is the closest
thing we have to that. In the year 2001 this concept was tried,
but it lasted only one year. There was so much road construction
that it was hard for everyone to train the birds. Those on the
long end felt that the schedule was too hard on their birds and
those on the short end felt like the schedule was too easy. There
were a lot of factors to consider and it just didn't work out.
Maybe someday in the future.
2004 Young Bird Season This year, the Ogden Racing Pigeon Club voted to fly
young birds using no systems. I was unable to attend the meeting
where this was decided, because I was at Parent Teacher Conferences
for the High School where I teach. I was informed that I would
not be able to fly using the darkening system which I have used
successfully for eight years now. By the time I was informed of
the change in rules, my birds were already on the darkening system
and it would have been foolish to make a change at that point.
It also goes against the AU rules to tell people how they can handle
their pigeons.
In an attempt to minimize arguments and hard feelings in the club,
I chose to fly with the Western Flyers Club, the Western Flyers
Combine and the Wasatch Racing Pigeon Concourse in Salt Lake. They
graciously allowed me to come down and fly with them. I am on the
short end of this group of flyers. I live in Northern Davis County.
The Western Flyers Club has members in Davis County,
and Salt Lake County. The concourse includes flyers in Utah County
and farther south. On this race course being on the short end is
an advantage for me, but there won't be enough long races to allow
me to apply for any awards.
I am really enjoying this season. I have made many new friends
in the sport and it has been exciting to compete against a larger
number of pigeons each week. I feel great about the way my pigeons
are flying. I don't know when I have had such a great time.It
is a little farther and more inconvenient to drive to Salt Lake
than to North Ogden, but well worth the trip. I have also made
some wonderful new friends and we have been taking turns driving
and going together. That has reduced the cost and made it a more
enjoyable
experience.
We have a great time discussing pigeons and other common interests.
I would like to continue to fly with the Western Flyers Club and
I have
asked for an opportunity to become a member of their club. I am anxiously
waiting for the club to have a meeting where they can vote on it. Sometimes
change is hard, but for me, this has been a great opportunity and I
am grateful for the change. |
