City of Seattle, BBTC Break Ground on Urban Mountain Bike Park

Thanks to Eric Stobin for passing this along from www.bicycleretailer.com. I'll be photographing the ground breaking ceremonies later today in Seattle. The club is doing a lot of great things lately and this is just the start of it. BBTC is making an already excellent place to be a mountain biker into one of the best spots in the country.

OCTOBER 14, 2005 -- SEATTLE, WA - Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club (BBTC) and Seattle Parks and Recreation are teaming up to build an urban mountain bike skills park. The park will be an open-air, fully sheltered facility-the first of its kind in the country.

The skills park is part of the city's larger I-5 Colonnade project, a 7.5-acre facility located under the deck of the I-5 freeway that in addition to the 2-acre bike park will have an off-leash dog area, a public art component and an ADA-accessible walkway that will reconnect the Capitol Hill and Eastlake neighborhoods.

The mountain bike skills park's two acres of trails will have skill building features for mountain bikers such as switchbacks, log rides, rock gardens, skinnies, wall-rides and small jumps. Unlike traditional Northwest mountain biking, the I-5 colonnade will allow riders to guide their mountain bikes through the freeway support columns, the "colonnades," in a rain-free environment. The trails will simulate natural terrain and obstacles while reflecting the urban character of the park.

Mountain bikers, led by BBTC, are designing, funding, constructing and maintaining the mountain bike skills park. All aspects of this project rely heavily on volunteers and donations. To date, $115,000 has been raised from sources including private donors Vulcan, REI, King County Youth Sports Facilities Grant, the City of Seattle Neighborhood Matching Fund, Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Pro Parks Levy and Bikes Belong.