MTBco In The News

The City of Kelowna’s first mountain bike skills park is now open.

“The City collaborated with local riders and the Mountain Bikers of the Central Okanagan to build a park that provides something for of all ages and abilities,” says Park Projects Manager Andrew Gibbs.

The Mountain Bikers of the Central Okanagan will manage the park, provide education and training for users and maintain the bike facilities. The Club is planning an official grand opening for the park later this summer.

Located on a 3.4 hectare site at 1960 Hollywood Road South, the skills park includes a pump track and six dirt jump lanes progressing from beginner to expert. Riders can access the park by bike via the Mission Creek Greenway.

“We have been working closely with the mountain biking community and this type of facility was identified as a priority,” says Gibbs. The 2008 Kelowna & Area Mountain Bike Strategy, a joint project with the City, Regional District and BC Parks will guide future development and management of mountain bike facilities in the area.

Completed at a cost of $243,000, the park was designed by a Gravity Logic of Whistler and van der Zalm & Associates landscape architects in collaboration with local riders and constructed by Cormode and Dickson of Kelowna and Gravity Logic. Many businesses and individuals in the community helped with construction through the supply of labour, equipment and material at reduced cost.

Find links to Kelowna’s parks and beaches at kelowna.ca/parks.

The International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) Trail Care Crew visits up to 70 areas in North America to help affiliated clubs learn more about proper trail maintenance, construction and care, work more effectively with land managers and maintain healthy, strong community based clubs.

This weekend long event will consist of the following:

IMBA TRAIL SCHOOL

A one day session where participants will learn IMBA’s trail building philosophies and techniques. The school consists of three hours in the classroom followed by 1/2 day in the field doing hands-on trail work and field instruction on Saturday, June 20^th starting at 8am (see poster and map below for further details). This session is the only fee based portion of the weekend and will include a lunch and wrap up BBQ for participants. Interested parties are asked to contact imbaevent@mtbco.ca to receive more information about registering.  Space is limited to 45 participants only.

IMBA GOVERNMENT STAFF TRAIL SCHOOL

Parks staff from the City of Kelowna, Central Okanagan Regional District and District of West Kelowna will be invited to participate in a trail school just for parks employees on Thursday, June 18th. This is at the request of the local governments and shows their commitment to the recently adopted Regional Mountain Bike Strategy.

CLUB CARE WORKSHOP/REGIONAL ROUND TABLE (Clubs only)

During the Club Care Workshop being held Friday June 19^th at 7pm, the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew will share techniques that advocacy organizations across North America have used to reach goals, overcome challenges, and grow the mountain bike community. This is also an opportunity for representatives of various Thompson/Okanagan club’s to meet other groups, share successes/stories and discuss long term visions for mountain biking in our regions. This event segment is open to representatives of all mountain bike clubs from up and down the valley as well as all other user group clubs.

TRAIL ASSESSMENT (IMBA, MTBco, City of Kelowna only)

MTBco, IMBA and the City of Kelowna will discuss trail conflict issues in Knox Mountain Park and will evaluate trail opportunities.  MTBco hopes to access the main DH/FR trail used on Knox to gain insight into improvement options than can be included in the upcoming Knox Mountain Management Plan Update.

SOCIAL (open to all)

A social will be held at Cyclepath bike shop on Saturday, June 20^th at 7pm. It is an opportunity for participants to network, share stories, talk about trial building, etc. The IMBA reps will be on hand along with representatives from various Okanagan clubs including MTBco. Come on out, hang out, talk shop and have some fun. All are welcome!

RIDE (open to all)

An IMBA visit without a ride is like peanut butter without jelly! Everyone is invited to join a group ride held on Sunday, June 21st at 10am at Knox Mountain.  Groups will be formed based on skill level or riding discipline. Groups will be led my MTBco members/friends. For all you DHers, there will most likely be a group heading off to ride Gillard or Postil as well. Come out, rip with some new friends and enjoy the local mountain bike scene.

THE MAIN VENUE

Knox Mountain Park has been chosen as the key location for this event due to its ease of access, amenities and significance to the community. MTBco’s goal is to show local government, community members and all other trail user groups that the local mountain bike community is a responsible trail user that is committed to ensuring mountain bikers are welcome within the park. The club is committed to park improvement and user education.

For more information about this great MTBco event please email imbaevent@mtbco.ca or mike@mtbco.ca. Please note space is limited for the trail school day but everyone is welcome to join us at the social and group ride.

…working hard for your right to ride.

MTBco would like to thank our great event sponsors for their support, cheers to Cyclepath Bike Shop, The Old Bike Shop Café, Studio A and Okanagan Sign Design for helping to ensure this will be a top notch weekend!