START YOUR RIDE HERE
Edited byJamie DarlowGEAR RIDES FAST & FIT INSPIRATION GET STARTEDBunkers and fairways are out, tabletops and berms are in, at Leeds Urban Bike Park
M
ountainbikingisthenewgolf:
you’ve probably heard that
expression before, along with
theideathatnewridersarebeing
drawntothesportwhowouldpreviously
have participated in safe, mainstream hobbies,
likegolf.InLeedsthough,mountainbikingis
literally replacing golf with the opening of a
newbikeparkonthesiteofanoldgolfcourse.
TheribbonhasjustbeencutonLeedsUrban
BikePark,withaminiblueandred-graded
loopcompletewithrollers,bermsandapretty
seriousjumpline,aswellasapumptrackanda
BMXtrack.It’sthelatestinaseriesofmountain
bike projects that demonstrate how much can
be achieved when these facilities are treated
more like social enterprises and less like money
making businesses.
LeedsUrbanBikeParkhasbeenbuiltand
fundedbythecouncil,withSportEnglandalso
helpingfinancially,andthewholeventureis
beingrunasacommunityinterestcompany
—thatmeansit’sacompanywithasocial
obligation, half way between a business and
a charity. Leeds follows in the footsteps of
Sheffield,arguablythebestorganisedcityfor
traildevelopment,withitsplansfora£22.5m
bike park at the old Sheffield Ski Village. Leeds
Bike Park is on a more modest scale, £1.2m
of investment, but this is just phase one of
development, explains Jeremy Hayes who
designed the venue.
“We pushed the boundaries of money as
faraswecouldwithoutbeingexecutedby
the council,” he says. “Phase two goes into
the woods with trails that are a little bit more
downhill.It’sbeingbuiltnow,3kmlongand
creating a total loop of about 6km connecting
tothe current South Trail.”
That’snot all either, phase three will
hopefullycomelater,askillsareawithtwojump
linesthatpeoplecanusetoprogresstheirskill
levels.Atthemomentthere’sacafelocated
in the old golf clubhouse, and by the time you
read this there should be a bike shop and bike
lending library up and running too.
“We’vebeen a bit of an experiment really,”
Jeremy says. “The council just wanted to buildsometrails in the woods, and we came along
with the BMX model, which is to function as a
clubandacommunityservice.”
It’s free to ride at the bike park, something
that surprises plenty of people who turn up,
Jeremy says. “People come in and ask ‘how
muchisitformykidstohaveago?’andit’s
greattotellthemitcostsnothing.Welooked
atparkingchargesbutpeoplewouldparkin
the street, plus we didn’t want to put people
offfromjustusingthecafe,whichisthemain
income generator.”
Is the bike park worth travelling to, at just
6kmlong?Inawayitdoesn’tmatter,it’s
genuinelyurban,atlessthanfourmilesfrom
theverycentreofthecity,puttingitwithineasy
reachofahugemountainbikebase.Thepark
is also an impressive venue, well thought-out
andexecuted,andwithbagsofpotentialfor
thefuture,andyoucouldloseadayfiguringout
lines on the BMX and pump tracks too. We also
thinkitrepresentsagoodfutureformountain
bikingintheUK,puttingtrailswithinreachof
kids. Farewell fairways, hello mountain bikes.MARCH 2018mbr 15