Photos: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
Two new mountain biking skills courses will soon be ready for riding at Lake Fayetteville.
Volunteers with the Ozark Off-Road Cyclists group are working this week with Crossland Construction crews to complete the project along the north shore of the lake.
For years the non-profit mountain biking organization has built and maintained a series of soft-surface trails that circumnavigate most of Lake Fayetteville. The new bike park is part of an ongoing plan to improve off-road biking amenities around the lake.
Chuck Maxwell, president of Ozark Off-Road Cyclists, said the skills courses include one track for beginners and a second course for intermediate riders.
The courses include low-lying, wooden bike ramps designed to teach slow-riding technical and balance skills. The ramps on the beginner’s course will sit 6-12 inches off the ground, and can accomodate young children who are just learning how to ride balance bikes. The intermediate course includes larger features for more experienced riders with ramps as tall as 3.5 feet.
The project also includes rehabilitation work on a soft-surface trail just east of the skills courses where a series of bermed turns are being groomed in the pine grove immediately north of the Environmental Science Center parking lot.
Maxwell said if all goes well, the skills courses could be open for use by early next week.
Another feature that was discussed for Lake Fayetteville was a fiberglass pump track, but city park planner Ken Eastin said that project was put on hold.
“We still see the need for a pump track locally, but in our discussions we questioned the best location,” he said, adding that the feature is expected to be added to future plan at either Lake Fayetteville or the Regional Park being constructed near Kessler Mountain.
For more information about the project, call the city’s Parks and Recreation Department at 479-444-3471.
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