Your parents might have been onto something when they told you to go outside and ride your bike.
Your parents might have been onto something when they told you to go outside and ride your bike.
The mental and physical benefits are plentiful and if you’re a mountain cyclist, the adrenaline pumping thrill of exploring nature has recently become more accessible in Geauga County.
The county’s first single-track mountain bike trail was added to Big Creek Park in Chardon thanks to a partnership with Cleveland Area Mountain Bike Association, which developed and laid out the trail with the help of Geauga Park District’s in-house construction crew.
“A single track mountain bike trail at Big Creek Park is a great addition to our parks,” GPD Executive Director John Oros said. “The trail is geared toward new riders and youth. As an organization, Geauga Park District continues to look for creative ways to create unique opportunities for young adults in our county. This trail was built with them in mind.”
According to Forbes in July, “Mountain bike trail counts across the United States are showing increase of 100% to over 500% compared with the same time in 2019.”
It’s that kind of excitement CAMBA Treasurer Mike Ryba, designer of Big Creek’s new trail, loves to hear.
Nonprofit’s mission aims to create, preserve, promote, protect and enhance diverse and enjoyable trail experiences for mountain bikers throughout their territory, and an area of focus is on designing, constructing and maintaining the trails.
Ryba, of Hudson, said in some ways, his participation in CAMBA — formed in 2001 — all started with a ticket.
“I received a citation for riding my mountain bike on a hiking-only trail in Cuyahoga Valley National park in 2001,” Ryba said.
He joined CAMBA, got active in trail building, became their treasurer and has stayed active in both roles ever since.
“I really enjoy being outside and contributing to the enjoyment of the outdoors for others,” Ryba said.” Some years, I spend more time working on trails and supporting CAMBA than I do riding trails.”
The GPD approached CAMBA in August 2019 asking for their assistance in building a mountain bike trail at Big Creek Park.
After discussions, a plan was formed to use a “hybrid” approach to building the trails there.
“This means it would be a combination of volunteer and in-house Geauga park employees building the trail,” Ryba said. “A few other experienced volunteers and I hiked the park several times to get a vision of what kind and how much trail was possible.”
Oros said it’s a great opportunity to recognize the GPD staff’s creativity in collaborating with the local mountain biking community.
“Together, they were able to build and design a terrific trail,” Oros said.
When it comes to designing a trail from scratch, Ryba did some scouting and trail design about six years ago with Summit County.
The new GPD trail brought particular enthusiasm, since he did most of the design by himself.
Ryba said experience has shown a mountain bike trail needs to be at least four to five miles long to get significant use and be worth the investment of resources.
The trail is 2.05 miles, with hikers sharing the space for just over a half mile. It is part of a total of five miles of mountain bike trail to be built at Big Creek.
Big Creek’s new trail is considered a “traditional” trail, with some modern touches Ryba shared during a recent walk along the path.
“Meaning there is minimal disruption of the natural resources, so the rider gets to see the best nature can offer,” he added.
Difficulty-wise, it is considered on the easy side of intermediate, he said.
More trail that will be added in the future will lean toward more an intermediate difficulty level, Ryba said.
“Another goal was to make the trail ‘fun at 5 and fun at 15,’” he said.
This means users would enjoy the experience whether they were going slow, at 5 mph, or fast, at 15 mph.
“It was clear that the natural beauty of the terrain would be its biggest draw,” Ryba said. “I visited the park many times last winter to ‘tweak’ the trail so that it would be great in either direction any time of year.”
Then, park management reviewed the prospective trail to make sure it met their goals and would be environmentally sound.
“In June, construction by the Geauga Park District started in earnest and many thanks to their professional crew who worked through some very hot days,” Ryba said.
His career in education as a high school teacher allowed him the time to work side by side with the GPD crew a number of days this past summer.
Matt McCue, GPD’s planning and operations director, and Daniel McConnaughy, GPD park planner, worked with Ryba.
“We’re really excited to work in cooperation with CAMBA and really appreciated all the time and expertise they volunteered,” McCue said, adding the members who helped did a “great job.”
“The pandemic has connected people with their local trails in dramatic fashion,” said David Wiens, executive director of the Colorado-based International Mountain Biking Association, in the Forbes article. “We are hearing about tons of new users, including lots of families getting outside together. Families are mountain biking like never before and people of all ages, from all walks of life, are realizing the benefits of having great mountain biking trails nearby.”
Leroy Township’s Chris Pfeil has been mountain biking for 20 years and joined CAMBA to help support getting new trails built in the area.
“I like the new trail. It has some nice flowing sections and some short climbs,” Pfeil said. “I will be riding it often. It’s nice to have a new trail so close to my home. I also like that the first phase of the trail is beginner friendly, so I can take my son there.”
