|
Winter Games:
Bike fans breathe in the air
supply at Ray's MTB Indoor Park
Cleveland, Ohio
Back in the day, kids used to put
playing cards in the spokes of their bikes to jazz up a ride, and the
closest thing to a daredevil move on a Schwinn was riding hands-free, often
followed by another ride -- this time in a car to the local emergency room.
Life has changed, and Ray Petro had
the foresight to see that. The former construction worker has converted an
old warehouse into what is truly a world-class indoor gem for BMX and
mountain bikers, right here in Northeast Ohio. Ray's MTB Indoor Park opened
its doors -- and ramps and bumps and well, you get the idea -- in the first
part of 2004 and hasn't stopped growing since, in either size or reputation.
The park at 9801 Walford Ave.,
Cleveland, boasts more than 103,000 square feet of jumps, simulated mountain
terrain, banks and hills that can challenge the most experienced rider, and
educate a newbie. It draws riders from all over the world.
"It was built out of necessity because
of the Ohio winters," said Jacob Thacker, a member of Petro's staff who was
manning the busy front desk.
And with all its bells and whistles,
it's not for the faint of heart. Joe Koenigsmark, another member of Petro's
staff, is an avid rider, as are his two sons. One of them, Austin, broke his
jaw in a fall at the age of 14 and tore up his anterior cruciate ligament
the next year. He's 16 now, and was, as of the day after Christmas, when we
visited the park, uninjured.
But then again, the park had only been
open a couple of weeks; it runs from mid-December to the end of April.
Though it's not a guarantee, the snow should stop falling by then, and Ohio
cyclists can ride outdoors. Petro and his staff use the downtime to add to,
improve and repair the indoor park.
Mountain biking isn't an especially
cheap hobby. Bikes can range from $300 to more than $2,000. You do NOT want
to take your street bike to the hills -- or on this track. The $69.99 bike
from the local Mega-Lo Mart will crater under the strain. Mountain bikes
feature stronger components and are better able to withstand the pounding of
riding on logs, over rocks, down railroad tracks. The wheels and pedals in
particular just can't take it, said the elder Koenigsmark.
A good helmet -- advisable if you want
to avoid something like, oh, a fractured jaw -- can run from $30 to $500.
Gloves and elbow, knee and shin pads can add to the expense. But it's one of
those pay-me-now or pay-me-later things. A $10 elbow pad is a lot cheaper
than a $500 trip to the ER for a cast.
And it's a good place for family
entertainment. Art Gallo, 45, of Medina was chugging along next to his sons.
He didn't do the flips or some of the tricks that one son, Tony, was doing.
But that might be because Tony is a professional motocross rider. Based in
Florida, he was visiting for the holidays and riding a bike at the track to
get in some cardio work.
Colton Johnson wasn't huffing and
puffing nearly as much as some of the other riders. That's partly because
he's been doing it almost all his life and partly because his life is only 9
years old. He and his dad, Mike Johnson, drive in from Ashland two or three
times a year to ride at the park.
Colton was tooling around the park on
his Haro BMX bike, a $300 bike, just FYI, and dreaming of trying a back
flip. He and his dad discovered the park when a friend had a birthday party
there. Parties are big at the park, too. It features a big, open area with a
fireplace where moms, dads and other sedentary types can wait for their
young adventurers. That area boasts couches, picnic tables, a big-screen TV
and more.
By far, though, the best viewing is
from an elevated sitting area above one of the jumps along the expert
course. And yes, there are several different grades, from beginner to one
that should be labeled post-your-will-on-the-wall. A big-screen TV in that
sitting area usually goes unwatched as it's more exciting to see riders come
flying around a turn and go airborne, looking for all the world as though
they're going to crash into the steel girders crisscrossing the ceiling.
But as a writer in the trade mag
DirtRag put it in a story about the park, two words especially add light to
a cyclist's eyes: "foam pit." A 16-by-20-foot pit filled with foam pieces
lets riders practice those back flips and other tricks. True, it's kind of
fun to watch the riders "swim" through the foam with their bikes and try to
get out, but it does look like fun to try.
That's just part of the eight
different courses throughout the massive park. Which only proves that where
there's a wheel, there's a way...to have fun. And it's a whole lot better
than a card in your spokes.
Source: Cleveland.com
Click here for to visit the Article Source
Posted By: Diesel
Date: 01/24/2010 |
