Whether you’re a professional rider or looking to try something new, Santa Clarita has officially opened a designated bike park to practice jumps and soon race against others, city officials announced Friday.
The long-awaited recreational amenity of about 7 acres, which took about five weeks to complete, is located at the Santa Clarita Sports Complex on Centre Point Parkway and offers plentiful space for activities such as BMX, mountain biking and areas for younger riders of varied skill sets.
“It’s been a long effort and a long time coming,” said Mayor Cameron Smyth during a city ribbon-cutting event. “Before today, there was not a place dedicated solely to the bike riders of Santa Clarita. Over the past few weeks, we’ve watched the 7-acre site transform from, really, just a brush-covered hill to a park where people of all ages and skill levels can come and ride, practice their jumps, develop skills for both mountain biking and BMX.”
And Friday’s grand opening was a testament to just that: On one side, demonstration rider Ryan Howard shredded through the pump track, while 4-year-old George Lindenberg tested the youth track with help from his father Jason.
“Here is a place where we’re going to be able to do a lot of building up cycling skills, so we’re really excited about this,” said Nina Moskol of the Santa Clarita Valley Bicycle Coalition.
The park includes several single-track mountain bike trails that range in difficulty levels; a pump track with 330 yards of combination jumps such as “step-ups,” “step-downs,” “rollers” and “tabletops,” — a track designed by Dane Herron, who also designed tracks for the X Games, Red Bull X Fighters and the 2012 London Olympics.
Adjacent to the pump track will soon be a BMX-designated track, according to Nelson Vasquez, a city Public Works administrator.
“The BMX track is meant for racing and will have jumps but it’s more of a place for straightaways,” he said. “So, you start at one end and you’re just pedaling, racing against other people.”
Bike park hours are from dawn to dusk, city officials said.
