MtnRanks.com Promotion:

MtnRanks.com, a clothing company out of Park City, is giving away t-shirts as a part of a promotion. Keep an eye out for the dog tags in the picture below and you could get yourself a free shirt. There is a tag placed somewhere at the Park. Find the tag and follow the instructions imprinted on it to win. Don't forget to include what shirt you want and the size when you send the tag in.

Warning to Riders

A rider had a close call on Sage Fright this afternoon. As he came out of the Talladega area and landed, he was greeted with a railroad tie blocking the entire trail. Luckily it was closer to the big hip than the lander coming out of the Talladega, or he would not have been able to avoid it. He moved it off the trail but we all need to walk the trails before taking runs (unfortunately this is how it is). This is not an isolated incident. There has been some intentional damage caused to the new trails and debris placed on the trails. Let's all keep our eyes open and report any vandalism or suspicious activity to the Eagle Police Department.

Thanks and be safe!

DJ Trailwork This Weekend

The volunteers were out this weekend working on the expert DJ's. They made some serious progress and the first three hits on the hip line were tested successfully. It looked super flowy. Max Dollar and a BMX rider Bobby (it think) were easily making the 3rd in the set. Here are some pictures from Sunday.


Max on the first hip in line three.


Max styling the second hip in line three.


Here is a shot of Bobby (sorry if that is wrong) on the third jump of line one with Charlie watching from the top of the lander on line two.

Here is a video of Bobby hitting line three.

Fall Park Progress Update

A lot has been getting done out at the park this fall thanks to the dedication of the volunteers. Two new trails, the DH and freeride, are almost finished. These trails are the result of the Bikes Belong grant, our four local Lowe's stores community improvement grants, and a ton of hard work. Ian and Charlie have also led the effort to re-work and expand the expert jump area. Here are some pictures of the progress.

The expert DJ line got a serious re-working. Unfortunately the water has been shut off for the winter. We need a decent amount of rain in order to pack the jumps. This work was also made possible by the Bikes Belong grant. The mini-excavator we rented to build the DH trail and freeride trail, with grant funds, came with a day's free use of a skidster. The skidster could not be used on the steep terrain of the DH and freeride line so we put it to use here. The results are pretty impressive.

Looking down the berm. The first lip has been expanded into three options. Option one is the big line that was already there. Option two is more of a straight shot. Option three has some major hips.

The fist gap.

The three options after the first jump.

The third set.

After the third set. Lots of potential.

There is still a lot of room at the end of the line to add more in the future.

The DH line is nearly complete. We only need the trail crossing installed and a couple other small touches. It has come together very well. There are several new drops installed. Nearly all of the drops are directly into rock gardens. This work was completed by John Trojacek and his crew of youngsters. He works with kids in the juvenile court system and says that they really enjoy working out at the park. Hopefully some future shredders.

The steep chute. This now ends in a tricky drop to corner.

The drop after the chute.

Drop to rock garden.

Looking down the steep middle section.

The last two drops in the steep middle section.

Finally, the freeride line. The entire trail has been raked and the jumps shaped. The first trail crossing is installed and the other two are in progress. This is truly a unique trail in our area.

The new crossing.

The new crossing from the side. It is pretty tall. It needs a little more paint to prevent corrosion and then it will be complete.

Looking at the landing off the top of the crossing.

Here is a shot of Jim hitting the new crossing.

If you haven't been out for a while there is a lot of new stuff to ride. Thanks to all the volunteers who make it all possible. Thanks to Bikes Belong and Lowe's for funding these trails. If you would like to keep up to date on work days, events and general issues at the park send an email to bafvolunteers@gmail.com.

September 19th & 20th Trailwork

There will be some volunteers coming out this Saturday and Sunday starting at 8:00 a.m. to work on the new freeride line. The work will probably go until around noon unless people want to stay longer. If you would like to come out and help send an email to bafvolunteers@gmail.com or show up at the shed at around 8:00. If you show up later the crew will be up on the freeride line at the south end of the park. It should be pretty easy to see the crew on the trail with the burned hillside. If you haven't checked out this trail yet this is a great chance to do some work and walk the entire thing. Believe me you will be pumped for it to be finished once you see it.

Park Progress Update

It is time for an update on what has been going on out at the park this summer. If you haven't been out, or haven't ventured past the jump lines, there is a lot of cool stuff going on. As most of you know the park received a very generous grant from Bikes Belong, a membership organization founded by bicycle industry leaders with the mission of "putting more people on bikes more often". As a result we have two new trails that are nearing completion. The intermediate DH and the freeride line both should be riding before winter. The four local Lowe's stores also selected the park for their community improvement grant. As a result the park installed a much needed water line connection, has a new public bike repair stand, a bunch of new tools, and some cool locking hose boxes. Here is an update of the activity:

The new freeride/jump line has been cut in and the jumps built. This trail comes down from the top of the largest hill at the park and ends over by the houses on the far south end of the park. There is some additional raking and grooming to be done, but the majority of work is finished. After the line is raked we just need some rain to aid in the packing and shaping of the trail. We haven't done an accurate measurement but it is about 7/10 of a mile and has about 35 jumps/drops on it. The jumps range from 15-20 feet. We are also having trail crossings built to go over the XC trails. These will hopefully be finished and installed by the beginning of October. Thanks Bikes Belong! Here is a short photo tour of the trail. There are 30+ jumps/drops so you will have to come out and ride it when finished to see everything.


Here is a shot looking down from the start.


This is a shot of the first two jumps.


Here is one of the first large berms. It is a little hard to make out but there is a jump at entrance and exit of the berm.

This is going to be a great section. This is looking at the take off of a step-down which feeds right into another jump to berm.

This is looking at the take off (bottom left) of a step-down to step-up to berm to one of the trail crossings.


The park now has its own ravine gap. The bike gives some perspective of the size of this thing.

Another large berm in the middle to bottom section of the trail.

Another of the trail crossings. The crossings are going to be fabricated metal structures with synthetic wood slats.

Another step-down. This feeds into a step-up.

And looking down the end of the trail. That was a total of 10 jumps and 4 berms. Come out and take a walk to see the other 25...

The intermediate dirt jumps are getting some love thanks to Ian and Charlie. If you have hit this line you probably noticed a few of the jumps at the end need their landings lengthened and heightened. These guys have taken charge of re-shaping all the jumps and expanding the last few in the line with the mini excavator. Thanks Ian and Charlie for taking ownership of these jumps. Everyone appreciates it. The expert dirt jump progress has been stalled for a while due to schedule conflicts and lack of funds to get the large equipment out needed to construct these jumps. Erik Ream is planning to get back out with some friends to do more work in the near future. There is also plans to create another expert DJ line which will be smaller than the existing to help riders progress to the big ones.

Looking up the re-worked intermediate DJ line.

The 2nd to last had its entire center dug out and moved to the landing.

The last jump is now a big step-up into an improved turn around berm.

Finally the Intermediate DH course. Our core young riders stepped up to make this come together. Dallas Pynchon, Sean Waters, Joe Pynchon, Bobby Unser, Evan Pynchon, Max Dollar, Austen Nelson, and Chase Frost have been spending their evenings and weekends out on this trail. Thanks to their efforts the section from the Junkyard crossing down is done and extremely fun. They have moved their efforts to the upper section installing rock gardens and drops. Thanks you guys for putting in serious hours getting this thing riding and again thanks Bikes Belong for providing funding for this project. This is going to be a great race venue (you better be fast if you are going to beat the build crew). Here are some pics and video clips of the Intermediate DH course and build crew.


Sean hitting the Dallas gap.


Bobby shaping a landing on one of the doubles.


Bobby hitting the last jump before the finish.


The first rock garden.

Another right after.

The steep chute.

Looking down the drops.

Looking up the drops. This section is pretty steep.

Here are a few clips of the bottom section on the Intermediate DH.

Lowe's Trailwork Day

We had a wildly successful volunteer day and we wanted to give a huge thanks to Lowe's for all they have done at the bike park. We had over 50 volunteers that included Lowe's employee's, bike park volunteers, and volunteers from the Idaho Youth Ranch. The bike repair stand that Lowe's constructed is amazing and we were able to get several other projects completed. Irrigation boxes were installed around quick couplers and hoses were placed inside. Much of the park was weeded, fencing was installed, rocks were hauled and placed on the intermediate DH trail to build rock gardens, and the 4X track was repaired. The 4X was not only damaged by the fire trucks but the rain from this last storm destroyed it again. Volunteers were able to go through the entire course to rake out the rain ruts and rebuild the lips and landings of the jumps. If you get a chance to go out to the park this weekend, make sure you take a couple runs down the 4X as it could use some packing again.

Again, thanks for everyone who came out to help, and thanks for working the first hour in the rain. It wouldn't be a true bike park event without getting rained on.

Brad Nelson and the Dirt Board.

Here is a couple pictures from the day. I will put up more pictures in the next few days.

The Lowe's crew breaking for lunch.

A group cleaning up after the most mean weed wacker you have ever seen which was donated by Lowe's.

Here is the repair stand.

The Lowe's guys don't mess around. It is fully covered, has two clamps, and benches.

Lowe's Grant

Thanks to the efforts of some local Lowe's employees and bike park enthusiasts, our park has been chosen by all four local Lowe's stores for their community improvement grants! As a part of the grant Lowe's employees will be coming out to volunteer on August 8th. The Lowe's employees and members of the Dirt Board have come up with a cool project for the volunteer day. We will be installing a public bike repair station. It will be complete with custom bike clamp, tools, and a shade cover. They will also be supplying us with 8 in ground boxes which will be installed on the water lines (up the 4x, expert line, and intermediate line). These boxes will contain 75ft hoses and help us maintain the race courses and jump lines. In addition they will be providing stain for the skills park to help extend the life of our wooden structures. We would all like to thank Lowe's and those involved in getting us these grants. We greatly appreciate it! If you are interested in coming out on August 8th to help with the projects please RSVP to bafvolunteers@gmail.com. Subway will be providing lunch. It should be a great day of volunteer work.

Lowe's and Your Bike Park

Recently some of the park's enthusiasts (who happen to be employed at Lowe's) suggested that the park be considered in a Lowe's community improvement grant project. Nothing is official yet but it looks good. If our park is chosen we will get a significant amount to be spent on some projects at the park and some new tools to help maintain the park. Included is a walk behind weed trimmer (the weeds are a little tall if you haven't been out lately). This is the community support we need to keep things going. Thank you Lowe's for considering our park for your program. Stay tuned for updates

Thursday Night Race Series

Have you been out to race on Thursday nights at the park? If not check it out. We set this up as an informal race series to help local talent develop their skills and hopefully raise support in the race community. The cycling park has two great courses. We also need the help of you guys and gals with race experience to help keep these tracks running at their full potential. This means advice and elbow grease. If you don't race but think it sounds cool come out and spectate to show your support. Here are some pictures of our race this week.

Ride On Take Two

We made it all the way until 2:00 p.m. before the rain came this time. Although the kids race and DJ demo was rained out everyone who came had a good time. The 4X race was held in the morning as well as the short track cross country race. Here is a link to the 4X and short track cross country results: Wild Rockies. The new short track cross country trail was a hit with the racers and will be used for training and races on a weekly basis. Thanks Chris and Rowdy for getting this thing done in record time. We are currently trying to gauge the interest in the racing community for holding weekly 4X or dual slalom races. If you have interest in racing or having weekly training races email bafvolunteers@gmail.com.

Yeti, Giant, and Bobs Bicycles provided demos all day. Joyride Cycles and Bikes 2 Boards also were in attendance. Thanks for coming out and giving everyone a chance to ride all the great bikes.

The fundraising raffle and volunteer appreciation raffle was held at 4:00 p.m. huddled inside the construction trailer and under our tent. Thanks again to A-1 Cycles for donating a complete SE Flyer DJ bike. Thanks to Meridian Cycles for donating a complete Felt DJ bike. Thanks to A-line Cycles for donating two complete BMX bikes. Reed Cycle, Scott, Transition, Fly Racing, Brodie Bicycles, Bobs Bicycles, Dirt Dart, Bibs BMX, and George's Cycles also contributed generously to the park with raffle items. Thanks! Without support like this we would be unable to continue the progress at the park. It also means a ton to the volunteers and helps keep them motivated to work at the park. Lastly thanks to the volunteers who make this park possible. You guys and gals have put in over 6,500 hours of hard work. As a direct result of your efforts the park is getting a lot of recognition. We have an exciting summer ahead with scheduled construction of an intermediate downhill trail (already with significant progress), an expert DH trail (courtesy of a 10,000 dollar grant from Bikes Belong), and a freeride line. Thanks again to everyone involved. Here are some pictures from the day. Thanks Erica for being camera operator for the day.

These guys are race ready. Johnny needs to do some endurance training though. Where is Max?

None of the winners wanted to stand on the podium in the downpour...? so we only got one picture.

4X action

Dan Bachman was out getting some shots. Here is a couple of his photos from the 4X race. You should also check out some of his amazing photos in our Flikr gallery.

Here are some pics of the shops and demos that came out.

Intermediate Downhill Trail

The weather kind of cooperated today for the trailwork day organized by REI. We had 45 volunteers come out and the mini-x building. The volunteers armored, bench cutted, built berms, and jumps. Everyone had a good time and the trail is about 80% done, we still need to do some tune-up on some berms and will be adding features for quite a while. This will definatly be a killer trail.

Please hold off on riding the trail until we get the bridge installed and some final touches done. It will be worth the wait.