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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us December 24, 2004 Bike jump park taking shape By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings A long-awaited bike jump course is taking shape near the Ashland dog park off Nevada Street. Parks department workers push mounds of dirt into place Wednesday in the first shapings of the Ashland BMX Park near the dog park. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings City crews and volunteers have been bulldozing and shoveling dirt since Wednesday morning to shape the jumps that will launch bikers high into the air. Astride mountain bikes with extra suspension, the more advanced riders will be able to do such aerial maneuvers as front flips, back flips or a Superman - a move where the airborne rider pushes the bike in front and hangs onto the saddle, according to Sean-David Salliotte. Salliotte, the owner of Forged-Horse Cycle & Beanery on Ashland Street, helped organize the park design and construction effort after kids visiting his business kept asking about the progress of the bike jump course. Although approved by the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission several years ago, construction of the park was put on hold while crews used the site to house construction trailers during the upgrade of the nearby wastewater treatment plant, according to Parks Superintendent Steve Gies. Once complete, the jump park will provide a place for youths to go, Salliotte said. "One thing about living here we see a lot of our young people hanging out and not doing much. What the park is great for is it provides a definite place they can go and hang out during the daytime hours and have some good, clean fun," he said. "It's definitely a healthy activity." The park will be divided into sections for beginning, intermediate and experienced riders, according to Salliotte. "Dirt jumping is something you learn quickly. There will definitely be beginning and intermediate sections to the park, with the majority dedicated to the skilled section because otherwise there's nowhere to go. The learning curve is really quite short," he said. Riders travel in a relatively straight line across the jump course, reach the end, and then cycle back on a perimeter track to the beginning, Salliotte explained. The course is well-suited for mountain bikes, which are too large to fit well on BMX race courses or in skateboard parks, he said. Salliotte predicted riders from throughout the area will be drawn to the jump park, providing a benefit to local businesses, including bike shops. The major shaping of the dirt with bulldozers should take a few days, according to Gies. Volunteers will be shaping and fine-tuning the jumps by hand with shovels during the next few months, Salliotte said. Parks Commissioner JoAnne Eggers said she appreciates the work that is being put into the jump park. "I think it's another good recreational activity. A lot of energy has been put into it from the city and the volunteers," she said. "I look forward to going and seeing all the crazy things that they do." Because the course is made of dirt, the biking community can continue to modify the park, Salliotte said. "The jumps can get bigger and taller as some of the riders get better and better and want to do more tricks," he said. "The cool thing about a dirt jump park is it can change and grow." Anyone wishing to volunteer to help sculpt the park can call Salliotte at 488-8886 for more information. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams