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EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – On Saturday morning, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at Lowes Creek County Park, opening a new bike course.

Thanks to a partnership between the 906 Adventure Team, the Community for Outdoor Recreation, Biking, and Adventure, or CORBA, and Eau Claire County Parks and Forest, the Eau Claire area now has a new spot to put tread to dirt.

“It’s really been kind of a community effort with everyone that’s been involved,” said Adventure Team area leader Nathan McCorkle. “We had an army of volunteers out here cleaning the clearing, the land, putting fencing in, and the trail was able to be built in just a couple of days.”

With banks, bumps, and a-frames galore, McCorkle emphasizes the area as an all-skills level course.

“The features are all meant for beginners,” McCorkle explained. “They’re low consequence, almost all of them have a spot where you can ride around it if you’re not comfortable, so it’s just meant for it to be a way to get to get comfortable on the bike.”

For those nervous about their lack of a mountain bike, McCorkle said, “You can come here with a city bike, really you can use any bike. You don’t have to have a mountain bike.”

According to McCorkle, the rave reviews are already coming in, including from his two children Connor and Katelyn.

“I’ve already seen, having been out here and working on this, more people out using the park than I’ve seen in the past,” said Nathan. “I think one of the coolest things we’ve seen so far is the number of laughs and like ‘woo-hoo’s!’ and everything we’ve seen coming out of this space since it was built.”

“It’s cool,” confirmed Connor.

“Yeah, I think it’s pretty cool to see people like ride around, and then get to know mountain biking and trails and stuff,” added Katelyn.

The beginner’s course is phase one of a larger plan at Lowes Park, with phase two adding another larger, more challenging course to Lowes later. Following today’s event, McCorkle’s focus turns towards the next step.

“We’ve had great support so far through the design phase, and definitely great support from volunteers and local businesses in getting this this off the ground, so we’re just looking to the future to help continue fundraising for that project, and hopefully get it built as soon as possible,” McCorkle said.

More information on how to donate to the ongoing project, or general information on the project itself, can be found here.

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