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Eagle cycling park is taking shape

The 20-acre project is open to users even as it's being developed. Several events are planned this month.

BY KATY MOELLER - kmoeller@idahostatesman.com

Published: 09/13/08

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

EVENTS AT CYCLING PARK

Duke Enterprises Trailpalozza

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

Where: Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park, off Old Horseshoe Bend Road, north of Floating Feather Road, in east Eagle.

What: Full day of outdoor activities. Check-in from 9 a.m.-9:30 a.m. for Shu's 5K Trail Fun Run ($5 proceeds go to park and trail system); mountain bike activities will include kids rodeo, skills drills, bike demos and rentals. Music festival begins at 11 a.m. Hot dogs and hamburgers will be sold ($10 meal bracelet for adults; $5 for kids). Proceeds go to park and trail system.

Who: Mountain bikers, hikers, people walking dogs, music lovers, etc.

REI Trail Day

When: 9 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 27.

Where: Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park.

What: REI employees and their affiliates will build a new trail at the cycling park. The public is welcome to join in.

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

When: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4.

Where: Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park.

What: Organized ride in association with International Mountain Biking Association and BYRDS youth cycling club to introduce kids to riding on trails and lifelong sport of cycling.

VOLUNTEERS ARE A KEY PART OF THE PROCESS

Volunteers from across the valley have been hard at work on the Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park since last spring, adding all sorts of new features and finishing touches to welcome a variety of users.

Eagle resident Brad Nelson, an avid cyclist who lives nearby, has coordinated the volunteer effort. He's developed a list of more than 100 volunteers who are on-call to pitch in at the park.

"Whenever we have work days, I send out e-mails," said Nelson, noting that there's usually one each week.

Volunteers have done a variety of things around the cycling park, from raking jumps and berms to laying sod to building teeter-totters, ladder bridges and other items for the skills parks.

"We're probably up to 1,800 to 2,000 volunteer hours since the spring," Nelson said.

Two Scouts did their Eagle projects at the cycling park.

Scout Tanner Frost led the effort to create a grassy area with trees and curbs near the pump park, so that parents and others would have a comfortable place to sit and watch kids riding the circuit.

Cycling park volunteer Jodi Peterson acquired 13,000 square feet of donated sod for the Scout project, and up to 40 people came together to lay it down in August.

Scout Jordan Evans completed his Eagle project, bringing several log benches and a teeter-totter to the park.

"I love dirt bike riding and mountain biking," said Evans, a 15-year-old Eagle High sophomore in an e-mail. "My friends and I have gone to the park many times, and we love it. That motivated me to do a project for the bike park."

Nelson said there's a lot more work to be done at the park this fall, including building the intermediate and advanced skills parks.

They can always use more volunteers, donations of redwood or pressure treated lumber and earth-moving equipment.

If you'd like to help out at the cycling park, contact Nelson at bafvolunteers@gmail.com

Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Kristin Armstrong says many communities across the country talk about building cycling parks and velodromes, but few ever do.

Some don't believe her when she brags about the Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park, a 20-acre cycling park that's being developed in Eagle.

"The Treasure Valley community is so unique. It's such a great place," she said.

The Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park - which is open to users but still a work in progress - will hold a variety of activities Sunday as part of an event called Trailpalooza. It's the first of a series of public events at the park this fall.

Armstrong won't appear Sunday as she is focused now on preparing for the world championships. But she is a big proponent of the cycling park.

"I want to be involved in bringing more kids into the sport," said Armstrong, a member of the Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park Association's board of directors. "To find a safe place to ride is getting more difficult. The park is a great place to get children out and teach them bike safety."

Idaho's iconic cyclist says she'll do whatever she can to help get the cycling park project completed. Sponsors and donations are most needed now, she said.

"We're working to get someone from a major foundation or a major business," said Douglas Tobin, who has co-led the cycling park's fundraising efforts.

The cycling park is a public-private venture.

The park is on Ada County land leased by the city of Eagle, which has contributed $1 million for water, sewer and parking, all of which have been completed. The cycling park association is raising $7 million to build the trails, tracks and other attractions.

Tobin said the group has raised about $200,000 in cash donations, including two $10,000 grants from REI, and as much as $750,000 of in-kind and volunteer work.

The last component of the park's first phase is the paving of the velodrome, an oval-shaped concrete track, and the landscaping around it. That will cost about $1.5 to $1.7 million.

A ginormous hole for the 333-meter velodome track has been dug at the cycling park. Grandstands are planned on the west side of the velodrome, while the east side will feature terraced seating with benches, tables, chairs and grass.

The track won't just be a place for cyclists to train or race.

"You could have a lot of community outdoor activities here," Tobin said.

The park has been evolving since January.

Numerous trails and tracks are finished, including the pump park, three jump lines, four-cross, dual slalom, and the mountain biking trails Twisted Sister, D's Chaos, Junkyard and Rabbit Run.

Katy Moeller: 377-6413

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