Hood River is a small town on the Columbia River with volumes of energy for sport of all kinds. There is also a deep history of agriculture in the valley. There are varied socioeconomic groups in Hood River with a great divide in access and use of biking and hiking trails. We need biking opportunities that are local and in town. Hood River Oregon with Mt Hood basking in the sunset There is a thriving biking community here; both road and mountain biking. Currently, our mountain biking consists of several focused areas of trails in the nearby hills and mountains. Kleeway Trail in Post Canyon MTB Park - Photo by Greg Galliano
There are very few opportunities for skill development in town. Thus, many youths who do not have an opportunity to go to the trails are missing out on developing biking skills and engaging in the healthy life long activity of biking.
Our proposed project will be located in a newly built park in town. The park is adjacent to the local high school. Hood River Parks and Recreation has allocated 1.5 acres of Golden Eagle park to be designated as a pump track and bike skills area. Golden Eagle Park - the new site for the pumptrack HRATS will be the entity building the bike area of the park. Funding for the bike skills area and pump track is incumbent on HRATS fundraising efforts. Biking continues to be a growing sport and is often a privileged activity. Our aim is to bring a bike project to all youth and adults of the Hood River valley. As the bike industry flourishes, it is important to continue efforts to reach everyone. Hood River is a STEM community and biking is a cornerstone of STEM related sport and technology. There is potential to coordinate STEM programming in our schools with the Velosolutions pump track in Hood River. There are two lines of dirt single track which were roughed-in in November. These will be completed in a few months. Our goal is to raise funds and contract Velosolutions to build the pump track in summer of 2018. Our initial fundraising event this past December raised $10,300 and we entered into design contract with Velosolutions to start site specific CAD design. Preliminary pumptrack design for Hood RIver We see the asphalt pump track in Hood River as a multi-season biking venue where people can come together with friends, family, peers, and mentors to learn and grow together as riders and as a biking community. It has been proven worldwide that the sport playground is not just able to get kids excited, but also their parents, grandparents and the entire community. The pump track becomes a meeting place of all different generations and the town’s center of life. A similar design to what will be implemented in Hood River
