BIKE: Albuquerque Cooperates with Locals for MTB Park

[Jeff Thorne]

Please excuse the long article.
{ http://www.abqjournal.com/go/162000go04-15-04.htm }.  

Here's the money quote: 
"In Texas, nobody even knows what a mountain bike is."
__________________________________________________________________

Thursday, April 15, 2004 

Extreme Mountain Bikers, With City, Build Their Own Park 

By Jeff Proctor
Of the Journal
    Seth Harney says he moved to New Mexico because the "extreme-sports
community was shunned" in his native Texas.
    "We were pretty much known as a bunch of stoners, not as athletes," says
Harney, who moved to the Land of Enchantment just a month ago in search of a
place to hone his skills in the rapidly growing sport of extreme mountain
biking. "In Texas, nobody even knows what a mountain bike is."
    Harney is part of a new breed of mountain bikers who hurl themselves
through the air off jumps, plunge down from 10-foot drop-offs and tempt fate
along sketchy "bridges." Even the bikes they ride are different: They're
shorter than standard models, have lower seats and come equipped with front
and rear shocks.
    Competitions such as the X-Games have, in recent years, thrust the sport
of extreme mountain biking into the national limelight.
    But why New Mexico?
    "They've done a lot for the sport," says the 17-year-old Harney, adding
that New Mexico has a community of riders ranging from teenagers to guys in
their 30s, not to mention plenty of places to play all over the state.
    And now, Harney and his pals are getting their kicks in Albuquerque—
city-sponsored style.
    On March 6, a group of local riders, with the blessing of the National
Forest Service and Albuquerque Open Space Division and help from the
International Mountain Bike Association, broke ground on a mountain bike park
in Embudo Canyon.
    Locally owned Fat Tire Cycles, Inc. and Wilger Enterprises each sprung
for
a Bobcat , and about 50 mountain bikers and BMX riders headed for the hills
to
build themselves a playground.
    "John Wilger really hooked us up," says Tony Gradillas, a Fat Tire
employee and rider. Gradillas says. "We got a rockin' deal on those Bobcats."
    The park, which takes up about two acres, sports three lines of 10 jumps
apiece.
    One line has "tabletop" jumps and no gaps. It's for beginners, says
Travis
Coleman, a PNM engineer and one of the local riders who was instrumental in
building the park. "We wanted people to be able to learn up here," he says.
    The other two lines, which feature gaps as wide as 20 feet, are for
expert
riders.
    The jump's transitions were solidified with a sugar and water mixture
that
makes the surface hard and smooth— almost like concrete, Coleman says. The
mixture also gave the riders their name: "The Pastry Club."
    The plan is to eventually expand the park to contain some drop-offs and a
technical trail through the foothills, Coleman says. Terrain for
intermediate-level riders also is in the park's future.
    Until recently, if extreme riders wanted to do their thing in the Duke
City, they had to break the law.
    "This is definitely the first city-sanctioned mountain bike place in
Albuquerque," says Jim Sattler, a visitor services manager with Open Space.
    The deal requires the riders to check with Open Space before any
construction takes place, Sattler says. The park also must conform with
environmental standards, and all burden of risk falls on the guys riding the
bikes.
    Convincing the folks at Open Space that a mountain bike park tucked away
in the city's eastern foothills could be a good thing was no small task,
especially given the tumultuous relationship riders and officials have had in
the past.
    "We were kind of pushing all their comfort zones," Coleman says.
"Traditional land management certainly is not this."
    He says The Pastry Club had been building jumps and trails in various
locations all over the city for years, but the activity was clandestine and
frowned upon by officials. One such spot was in the exclusive Four Hills
community, where there is a narrow strip of Open Space between the houses and
private land. Bikers would build jumps in the area, ride for a while, then
watch their playground get bulldozed when city officials caught on.
    "When we saw some of this activity going on in other areas, like Four
Hills and the Bosque, and the guys don't have permits, we see it as tearing
up
the environment," Sattler says. "We'd find the course, tear it down and chase
these guys off. We were looking at it more as a disturbance than a legitimate
sport."
    The Four Hills spot really went sour after builders won a lawsuit to
develop the private land near the Open Space, Coleman says.
    "They built a road, and off-road vehicles and motorcycles started going
up
there," he says. "Our jumps were a victim of circumstances. It was a
hot-button issue, so we just stopped going up there."
    Coleman says he began negotiating with Sattler and Attila Bality from the
National Park Service Rivers and Trails Assistance Program, and the group
finally settled on Embudo Canyon.
    "The purpose was to cut down on illegal trail building," Coleman says.
"This place was already damaged and dug out, so it worked well."
    And though the dirt in the area is inherently unstable and requires
constant maintenance, the decomposing granite in the canyon was easy to work
with, he says.
    "That first weekend, it was snowing, so the ground was wet," Coleman
says,
adding that most of the heavy work, including moving the dirt for the jumps
had to be done quickly because the guys only had the Bobcats for two days.
    In the days since, he estimates that more than 1,000 man-hours have gone
into building fences (to keep riders from wandering off into the
environmentally sensitive areas around the park), putting up "Ride at Your
Own
Risk" signs and maintaining the jumps.
    But it's all been worth it, says Harney, wiping his brow shortly after
narrowly missing the biggest gap in the park.
    "The more you can get up here, the better," he says. "Unless you wreck
yourself."
    Harney says he plans on competing this summer in extreme mountain bike
events across the country. And the Embudo Canyon park will be an ideal place
for him to practice.
    "This is just great," he says. "It gives kids a place to play, and it
doesn't cost a dime."
    
If you go
    To get to the city's new mountain bike park, take Indian School east,
through a residential zone and over several speed bumps, until you reach
Embudo Canyon Trailhead. There are two parking areas, and either is
acceptable.
    Looking east, you will see a water tower and a reservoir ditch. Farther
east is a large cement spillway. The park is just east of the spillway, about
a mile and a half from the lower parking area.
    There is no fee for using the park, but riders must do so at their own
risk.
  Copyright 2004 Albuquerque Journal 
Click for commercial reprint permission
(PRC# 3.4676.162000)  





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