Bike Park Build Results

I know it’s hard for some people to understand, but some of my best days as a mountain biker have been the builds at the Castle Rock Bike Park.

Things invariably start the same. Our main guys show up at 8 or 8:15. Everybody stands around, talking about what we need to do and how to approach things. The thing I love most is that there is no manual, no blueprint, and no instructional video on YouTube. It’s always about figuring out how to make things work.

At about 8:45, the crew shows up, the machines crank over, and every member of our group is kicking ass. 34 volunteers, three machines, and an incredible amount of hard work and ingenuity.

By the time lunch rolls around, we have completed more work than you can imagine.

People often ask me how we get so much done. The answer is the same: If you have a good plan and the best people, nobody can compete with you. It is so gratifying to see so much get done in such a short time. Even better, it was a nice day and kids swarmed the park and started riding the new stuff.

We adjusted our scope of work slightly. Here’s what got done -

*Complete rehab of the pump tracks
*Installation of a 268-foot log/slab ride on the east side of the park
*Raising of the start-hill by 3-4 feet
*Construction of a lengthy pipe-over line on the west side of the park
*Construction of five small rollers on the way back from the north end of the jump lines
*Clearing of scotch broom on the west side of the park to allow for future possibilities
*Complete clean-up of the park, including pick-up of hundreds of rocks to allow us to mow and burning of a ton of debris

Thanks to all of our fabulous volunteers. Special shout-outs to Juntu Oberg and Northwest Trail Alliance for providing lunch, to Ryane Olin and Cade Sparks of Columbia Ground Works for supplying two machines and their expertise, to the City of Castle Rock for lending us a machine and operator, to Justin Opsahl and River Rock Ranch for supplying drain rock, and to Kevin Knorr and Proper Cycle Werks for their support. One more to Nathan Frechen for the donuts.