Park corral is new playground for mountain bikes

By Stephen Hlawaty
Outdoors Columnist

The Corral Center Mountain Bike Park is Lory State Park's newest addition. The state park's old horse corrals, located just southeast of the visitor center, have been converted into a mountain bike park where riders of all abilities can participate in this unique bicycle challenge area.

With 70,000 square feet of track, the mountain bike park is Colorado's first officially state-sponsored dirt/pump track area. The Corral Center Mountain Bike Park includes three sections: Skills Area, Pump Track and Dirt Jumps.

The Skills Area is a great place to develop new skills or improve upon evolving skills. The area is very beginner friendly and includes some interesting features that simulate the environment that you might find in the park's larger trail system. For instance, there's a teeter that trains riders how to negotiate loose hazards and larger drop-offs with respect to logs and rocks that may be in the trail. There are raised, narrow wooden walkways, also known as "skinnies," that are both straight and curved. Skinnies often cross marshy areas or creeks. Logs strewn below a tabletop replicate those you might find as water barriers while riding. The Skills Area is ideal for children or mountain-biking novices.

The Pump Track offers riders a chance to test their skills absorbing shocks while riding at faster speeds. "Pump" suggests the action arms and legs might perform as they absorb the effects of riding over closely spaced jumps. The track's perimeter includes a straight line of eight rollers, which are spaced for continuous speed. These rollers resemble washboards that have mutated to gigantic proportions. As you move away from the perimeter, the track delivers a variety of twists and turns, including a couple of "snails," full 360-degree berms that riders can rail and jump off. These inside lines can be tight and tricky. Riders can make a variety of circuitous combinations and transfers. Bear in mind that the Skills Area and the Pump Track can be ridden in two directions.

The Dirt Jumps are the biggest features in the Corral Center Mountain Bike Park. Here, seasoned riders can test their takeoff and landing skills as they launch from jump to jump. There are three lines of dirt jumps with good approaches and landings. The jumps range from 3 to 5 feet high, suitable for most seasoned riders. Moreover, each of the jumps is topped with a table of compacted dirt and constructed with safety and function in mind. Run-out berms and S-turns provide easy access and approaches to the next set of jumps. In short, big-air potential abounds. Unlike the Skills Area and the Pump Track, riders should only ride the Dirt Jumps in a downhill direction.

Other than these sections, the area also offers a covered picnic site and tables. Views of Horsetooth Reservoir, particularly Eltuck Cove, and the hills of Lory State Park to the west also provide an idyllic backdrop to the mountain bike park.

In this combination, we recognize the evolution of a once marginal sport of thrill-seekers to a sport that is now fully embraced by mainstream outdoor enthusiasts. The Corral Center Mountain Bike Park is yet another addition to mountain biking's offshoots, some of which include cross-country, downhill, cyclecross, freestyle and freeriding.

As such, the mountain bike park welcomes picnickers, youngsters and their families, as well as experienced mountain bikers, huckers and BMX-ers. Indeed, Lory State Park Ranger Denise Kostiv says that the Corral Center Mountain Bike Park is "fun for everyone and for all skill levels." And visitor center attendant Andrew French admits that "the park is getting great reviews from across the country and good exposure on the Internet."

Designed and built by Lee McCormack and Steve Wentz, the Corral Center Mountain Bike Park opened to the public in October 2006. By November, the park received an estimated 25 to 35 riders each snow-free weekend day. Lory State Park will be celebrating the Corral Center's grand opening on June 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. To mark the occasion, entrance to the park will be free for everyone. There will be entertainment and a variety of activities suitable for all ages and skill levels, some of which will include biking demos, relay races, guided mountain bike rides, geocaching demonstrations and scavenger hunts. There will also be professional dirt jumping exhibitions and professional bike riders showing off their skills. Give-aways and food will be available.

For more information, call Lory State Park at 493-1623 or visit http://parks.state.co.us/Parks/lory or www.leelikesbikes.com.