Image taken on one of the upper turns of Stormin Mormon before the trail was complete.
Meet BAMBA (Boise Area Mountain Bike Association), Idaho's newest advocacy group that is responsible for keeping the park alive for years to come. There are many hidden facets to running a bike park, and the park has seen it's share of ups and downs in terms of how it needs to be managed and who is going to manage it. After dealing with several issues that include land-use agreements and insurance requirements, the parks managers have turned to IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association), which has extensive experience in dealing with these types of issues, to assist them in handling these requirements. BAMBA is the park's new non-profit advocacy group that will coordinate future development and maintenance with city and county officials. The new group is founded by several of the individuals involved with the development of the park and the immediate goal of the BAMBA is to maintain, develop and protect the Eagle Bike Park. If you live in the Boise area, or plan on frequenting the park, please consider joining this great group. It doesn't cost much and the benefits are vast. You can get more information or join on-line right here...
Almost finished... Then new Eagle Foothills BMX facility.
In addition to the advocacy group, there is another new group joining the park this year - Welcome the Eagle Foothills BMX, a new non-profit facility located at the Eagle Bike Park that includes an ABA built BMX track and a separate track built for the "Hot Wheels", riders typically three or younger. I didn't know kids could ride much younger than three, but apparently they're coming out pedaling these days... The ABA track construction was started in October and enlisted the help of local BMX Pro, Matt Baisley, and BMX guru Sean Boyle, to lead the track design. When the track is complete it will have a concrete start hill, paved corners, and will be grassed in and irrigated. The park is a non-profit organization and track improvements are funded by donations and funds raised from race events. Track maintenance is provided by volunteers. The track is scheduled to be race ready this spring, with the finishing touches to follow. The race schedule is already up. If you’re interested in helping out or racing, please go to www.EF-BMX.com, email: efbmx@cableone.net, facebook: Eagle Foothills BMX, or call 208-396-3988. There is no lack of contact information.
The greatest trail addition of 2010 gave us the new freeride trail, Stormin Mormon, started in 2009 and completed in 2010 with the help of a Bikes Belong grant we were very thankful for. Not just a great name, but a really fun freeride trail built for intermediate-advanced riders. It includes several well construcgted ladder drops that cross existing trails, bermed-turns, and various jumps. There are no rocks so it can be ridden on anything from a long travel bike to a hardtail dirt-jumper. This trail is best suited toward lighter bikes.
Construction of expert dirt jumps. I poached this pic from the web, please forgive me...
Thanks to massive amounts of time an energy of a few key dirt-jumpers, the entire jump section was rebuilt to better accommodate all levels or riders. The beginner set was buffed-up to make it a little safer and easier to learn, while the intermediate set was better shaped to allow riders to comfortably advance into getting more air and trying tricks. The expert riders continued to build horrifically large jumps that scare the bejesus out of
most who pass them.
Sunset view from the top of Stormon Mormon. Cant wait for warm weather!
All in all 2011 is shaping up to be a great year for the Eagle Bike Park - Proper management is starting to fall into place, new riding groups are a welcome addition, the trails are better than ever, and there is a schedule of races and gatherings for just about every type of dirt racer out there. You can find the schedule of races and gatherings by clicking here... I hope you can get out to the Eagle Bike Park this summer and join us for some great riding, and thanks for reading!
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