Dozens of volunteers pitch in for bike park

Dozens of volunteers pitch in for bike park


Several dozen children, teenagers, parents, and longtime bicyclists spent last weekend putting the finishing touches on mounds of dirt large and small at Elk Grove Park.

They shaped what will become Elk Grove’s first dirt bicycle park, which is set to open next month.

“We got to bring it to life and that’s what we’re all here to do,” bike park designer and consultant Nat Lopes of Hilride told a group of volunteer leaders on July 29.

The 2.4-acre facility replaced the Green Diamond softball field on Elk Grove Park’s western side along East Stockton Boulevard. The Cosumnes Community Services District (CSD) board agreed to spend $365,000 on the project last April.

The bike park’s 10,000 yards of dirt were donated from the Elk Grove Promenade mall site that sits across Highway 99 from the park. CSD Management Analyst Fred Bremerman earlier told the Citizen that donation would save the district between $150,000 to $200,000 in construction costs.

Local bicyclists typically have to travel to Folsom, south Sacramento or Roseville to use BMX bike parks. Some resorted to building their own dirt jumps in empty lots across Elk Grove.

Last year, BMX rider Matt Litton told the Citizen he usually has to take a bus or light rail to the BMX park near Power Inn Road in south Sacramento, a trip that his parents consider to be unsafe.

“It will be more convenient,” he said about a BMX park in Elk Grove.

Several local bicyclists contributed design ideas to CSD staff during several workshops.

Elk Grove Park’s future bike park is now roughly 40 percent completed, Bremerman said.

“This has been my headache, I mean, my love,” he joked.

A small hill sits at the center of the park for bicyclists to ride down from and travel on either a beginner course with small mounds and an advanced course with taller mounds and sharper turns.

Parent and bicyclist Frank Fines gave Lopes several ideas on how to make places in the bike park easier for riders to use. He later spent much time driving a Bobcat tractor in helping build the park last weekend.

“My expertise is landscaping so this stuff is kind of easy,” Fines said.

He mentioned that his 12-year-old daughter, Sienna has competed in national BMX events and now ranks fourth in the nation.

“We spend a lot of time in the dirt,” Fines said. “I’m just thinking of another park for my daughter to ride in.”

Keith CoBen, a local bicyclist and parent, spent four years trying to entice the CSD board to approve a bike park in Elk Grove. He was pleased with the outpouring of support last weekend.

”Throughout the weekend, curious onlookers were stopping by and looking at what was being done,” CoBen recalled. “The same goes for cars driving by and honking their approval.”

He mentioned that Sunstate Equipment donated special machinery that compacted the dirt and noted that three Bobcats were operating at once.