The thing about the proposed bike park at Kitchener's McLennan Park (aka Mount Trashmore) is that from the parking lot, it doesn't look like much of a challenge. In fact, it doesn't even look like much of a hill.
It's different on top. First, you get this fabulous view of the area from what is one of the highest points in the city. Then you start to ride back down, and as you start working the brakes on that downhill leg you realize that with a couple of jumps and some switchbacks in place, this could be a real blast.
Scott Henderson of Planning & Engineering Intiatives Inc. (PEIL) sent me a map of the four parks planned for the hill, which were first shown to the public 10 days ago. They should be completed by fall.
The plans include a parking-lot level "pump track," for the BMXers, a huge course for the 4Xers (aka biker cross or mountain cross), two tracks for a jump park and a free ride course.
If you want to ride up to the top of the hill, you can kind of plot out the routes, with the 4X track swinging out toward the toboggan hill and flanking it. The free ride course will zigzag through the existing poplars, and the jump park will be south of the treeline.
Although work hasn't started on the routes, I wanted to test ride through the weeds. Bad move, considering the thorns and deadfall. I don't recommend it. But there is a mowed path that parallels the free-ride route, and it's worth going up there and wearing down your brakes on the downhill.
Oh, I can foresee the odd broken bone when this is open, but they will be "good" broken bones.
I wish Trashmore could have been a few metres higher, or that the trails didn't have to stop at the service road for the region's gas control building. If those routes could be just a little bit longer...
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One Fun Lunch Hour report..... (Kitchener Bike park)
Busy morning of answering phones and doing tech support as most of my support staff is on hoidaze... Settling into a Friday kind .of mood, dreaming of beer and weekend spoils :) Gotta get out of her for lunch or I am going to go crazy... Read a Blog yesterday about a new Bike Park opening right along side the trail I take for my lunch hour time trials.... So off I go... Sudden thrust of Adrenaline as I realize what I am about to do....
Out the front of the building I go....
Onto the old-school Nishiki SS toy...
Hammer down the sidewalk...
Ollie off then on then off then onto one final curb as I get around a nice little road obstacle I play with often...
Hammer down a short stretch of sidewalk...
Round a grassed berm onto a nice long stretch of rolling doubletrack away from the office...
Cross a road and into some tight winding rock and root laden singletrack (Bliss)...
Back out into open field singletrack over a foot bridge and onto some more double track...
Lunch hour sounds good so-far eh :)....
Round a dirt birmed corner and back onto sidewalk....
Across a road and a little more sidewalk......
Turn right and into open field singletrack....
Slowly climbing I reach the base of the new park....
Entering from a nice spot at the back that I know has a singletrack climb not for the faint of heart...
Still cant see any change to the area that would tell me there is a bike park on this hill i have climbed so may lunch hours....
So I climb the tight steep singletrack climb and bank onto the still steep doubletrack climb and there it is...
Every teenage dirt-jumpers dream...
4X, Wooden Structures, Teeter Totters, Pump Track, etc.....
I decided to stick with the 4X and pump t rack today...
Did 4 runs on the 4X - Seemed kind of fitting...
Kids looked at me like I was a crazy man riding 4X course complete with tabletops, gaps, banks, and berms on my XC MTB...
But it was not until I continued to climb the hil on the bike while they all walked their clunky steeds up that they really stared....
I could not hold back 2 kids were huffing and pufing and pushing up the hill.... I let them know it is easier to climb the hill on the bike :)
After 4 times up and down the 4X and 3 or 4 times around the pump track I figured i should get back to the office for the finally of my Friday....
Back up the doubltrack climb one more time....
Down the epic singletrack climb from earlier...
Up a new section of doubletrack....
Right onto a major road...
Right back into doubletrack from earlier...
back across the foot bridge...
back trough the singletrack with roots a plenty...
rest just a blur of riding back....
Realized while in the shower that I was on an immense Adrenaline High for a lunch hour..
Hopefully I can ride it out until it is time to ride home after work.....
May have to alter my route home tonight too :)
Posted by: Mike Osborne | July 24, 2009 at 01:51 PM
Wow! This sounds like on the best lunch hours you could have. And full points to the employer for having a shower on hand. You want healthy happy workers? Give them change/shower facilities and enough time to get a midday workout!
Posted by: Bill | July 25, 2009 at 07:14 PM