VIDEO – Buzz has been building as Powell River’s newest park nears completion with hundreds of curious riders already sampling its various bumps, jumps and ramps.
Andrew Shostak, youth coordinator for Powell River Cycling Association, said over the weekend there were at least 100 people at the Bike and Skate Park at Powell River Recreation Complex at any given time. Shostak, like many others trying the park out for the first time, is impressed.
“It has exceeded my expectations about what they could have been able to come up with,” Shostak said. “It’s great for this town.”
Shostak, who also races mountain bikes competitively, explained that he cannot think of a place in BC or probably Canada that has a similar type of facility geared for riders with a range of skill levels. He said the closest might be Whistler, but riders would need to visit several separate locations to find the same progression of skills development.
“At this park a kid can start out on the concrete or dirt pump track, do some simple jumps and then move all the way up,” he said. Without the support of Powell River Community Forest Ltd., the project would have not been possible, he added.
City officials have announced the park will open a month earlier than expected in order to ramp up on that interest.
“It just did not make sense to wait to open the park,” said Neil Pukesh, recreation manager for City of Powell River.
Spring’s early arrival has meant that shaping crews from Alpine Bike Parks, the Whistler-based company building the bike skills portion of the park, have been able to complete work that they had hoped to finish last fall. Morgan Benbough, project manager for Alpine, said that despite finishing the concrete pump track and about 95 per cent of the park’s infrastructure, worsening weather made forward progress impossible a few months ago.
“We were going three steps back, one step forward,” said Benbough. No one would have been happy with the end product as his crews battled either frozen ground or the muddiest conditions imaginable, he added. Alpine approached the city to suggest that they return in the spring to finish the job.
Since being back on the job his crew has been able to fine tune the one hectare park’s five ride-lines designed for all ages and skill levels, Benbough added.
“We’ve had our crew here to make sure that everything rides appropriately and is finished up to a high quality,” he added.
The design of the park incorporates a blend of features taking the best of Whistler but also competition courses from around North America.
The park includes advanced features like a 1,200-pound log canon and an up-ramp. Two pump tracks, one concrete, the other dirt, and progressive courses will help novice riders build skills.
“When we designed it we wanted to make it something that was unique and really excite the riders,” Benbough said.
There are less than three concrete tracks in the world and it is a good fit for Powell River because of the amount of rain that falls, Benbough said.
“It’s a great all-weather surface and can be ridden anytime,” he added. “It requires no maintenance because essentially it is like a skate park and it’ll be very durable and definitely adds a unique aesthetic to the park and something that’s on the cutting edge of mountain bike parks.”
The park’s five courses are designed to increase in difficulty as the rider progresses.
The city has said that it will take care of some of the park’s maintenance, but riders are also expected to help out to preserve the dirt courses. The ground is fresh and still fairly soft, but the builders expect that as it is used it will harden over time. Shostak said that with any course some maintenance will be needed and that riders who mark up landing zones are expected to take a minute to fix any marks that may result from awkward landings.
As the riders are starting out they can do a warm-up run or two on the beginner line and then move up to the intermediate. “Each run in itself gets a little more difficult, so the features at the end of one run should be in line with the features at the beginning of the next more difficult run,” said Benbough. “It’s a nice way to slowly work your way up.”
He added that there are a lot of ways to link runs together to keep the park fresh. “It gives riders the ability to bridge out and try new things even within the runs themselves.”
As with use of any public park or facility, safety is being stressed with the bike skills park. Full-face helmets and pads are strongly recommended for riders as well. In addition to those precautions, Pukesh said the park is adopting the mantra of pre-ride, re-ride and free-ride, a process to help riders make sure they are ready for their experience and not try to ride above their ability level.
“You want to ride it based on your ability and slowly you want to be able to progress to the higher jumps,” he said.
Pukesh is inviting the community to come out and celebrate the park’s official opening from noon to 3 pm on Saturday, March 7. A ceremony is being planned for 1 pm with DJ sets and prize draws to follow.
Bike Skills Park from Powell River Peak on Vimeo.
