Throughout the year, local breweries, bike shops, t-shirt sales, restaurants, a summer film festival and online crowd-funding have raised tens of thousands of dollars to support the design and building of a mountain biking skills park that may make Blacksburg a mountain biking mecca.
Once a horse-back trail into the Jefferson National forest, the Blacksburg Rotary Mt. Biking Skills trail may set off from Gateway Park path on rural Meadowbrook Rd.
At the last Blacksburg Town Council meeting of the year, the council, chaired by Vice-Mayor Anderson, approved the acceptance of $80,000 in donations to the General Capital Improvement fund.
Half is earmarked to build a picnic shelter in Municipal Park (920 Turner St NE), the other $40,000 going to fund the design and building of a Blacksburg Rotary Mountain Biking Skills Improvement Park on Meadowbrook Road.
As appreciated as the picnic shelter was, the contribution to the Rotary Mountain Biking Skills Improvement Park was met by a chamber full of supporters with speeches and applause.
The biking skills park has been on the town’s list for several years said Chris Lawrence, deputy town manager.
Money had been appropriated for a concept plan by a designer to provide a range of opportunities for skills development from beginners to trail-riding and cross-country to work on skills like balance and maneuvering.
“There was no money originally allocated to it, but the community has certainly been very supportive,” Lawrence said. “So, to date, we have about $35000 that are true cash donations have come in from fund raisers. We expect more money to come in,”
A request for quotes for builders closed in mid-December.
The town hopes to “take the money we do have as far as we can go” said Lawrence, planning to at least complete Phase I “to get the energy and excitement around it. And if you build it, more, certainly will come.”
Following Lawrence’s staff report, the floor was open for public comment a number of women, girls, boys, and men bike togs rose to speak .
Members of the NRV Composite Middle School/high school mountain bike team who have finished first in the state four years in a row.
The team currently rides on the Poverty Creek trail system at Pandapas Pond on the top of Brush Mountain.
Many bikers spoke eloquently of the benefits
The Poverty Creek trail is well-known and appreciated, but rooty and rocky and difficult for beginners to ride,” Gracie Bryon of Blacksburg said. “opp for New riders to work on skills progression Investments in recreation enhances quality of life and healthy lifestyles.
Skills progression for anyone from middle school and high school race riders to parents riding with their kids and anyone new to the sport. This would have been a great resource when I was starting out,” she said.
Blacksburg is home to a number of adult and youth mountain biking teams.
This season, the Blacksburg High School Mountain Bike Team had 25 riders, grades 9-12.
“We want to build a cycling community that is inclusive, accessible to all skill levels,” Blacksburg High School Mountain Biking Team sponsor, Laura Hamm, said in an email following the meeting, “One made up of cyclists who are invested in maintaining and building that community.”
According to Hamm, the high school team’s parent organization, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, emphasizes building communities through cycling.
“So, our team is involved in community-building activities like trail building, bike advocacy, and volunteering at local cycling events. We welcome riders who want to be involved in the cycling community, but may not be interested in racing competitively, and I hope that biking becomes a life-long activity for our riders, whether that be through racing, commuting, or riding with friends.”
Hamm and others at the meeting spoke about improving infrastructure to support a biking community encouraging the council to continue to consider improvement to bike lanes to improve access to new and existing parks through extended bike lanes do eliminate the need to drive to these locations.
Virginia Tech’s mountain biking team president, Nick Belluccia, whose group was active in fundraising, envisioned the skills park as a draw to visitors.
“The skills park will surely bring visitors from outside Blacksburg as well, which will in turn boost local businesses including shops, restaurants, and even the hotels. It is very exciting to see Blacksburg supporting the biking community, and embracing the trail system in the national forest,” he said. “We are very thankful for the community showing so much support for the sport, and we cannot wait to pick up some shovels and start digging!”
In the biker-filled council chambers, applause followed many of the speakers registering support for the park. Vice-mayor Anderson asked the audience to hold its applause in case someone wanted to speak against the park.
No one did.
By the end of the night, the council had voted unanimously to amend the 2018/2019 operating budget for the general Capital Improvement Fund by accepting and appropriating money for the bike skills park.
“You can clap now,” councilperson Michael Sutphin said. They did.
