Solution: Build mountain bike trails closer to where kids live so they can ride to the trailhead.

Granted, that would seem to fall into the “No ‘duh” category. But because mountain bike trails take up some territory, making urban trails happen isn’t as easy as it sounds. Postage stamp-size urban parks tend to have their turf eaten up pretty quickly with playgrounds, basketball courts and a ball field or two. Often, though, there are scraps of unused parklands that can be put to recreational use. That’s why the International Mountain Bicycling Association started its Gateway Trails program, a program that last week added it’s first Triangle entry, at Durham’s Solite Park.

By big-boy mountain biking standards, the Solite system is small. There’s about a half mile of trail as well as a “pump track” — a series of bumps and berms designed to be ridden on sheer momentum and body movement (hence, the pumping), alleviating the need to pedal. Pump tracks are seen as a good introduction to mountain biking for kids who sometimes don’t have the attention span or stamina for a three-hour ride on a 20-mile trail. What’s particularly genius about the Solite Park network is the park’s location — along the northern section of the American Tobacco Trail. This nearly 7-mile stretch of paved greenway links downtown Durham with NC 55, and ties in several neighborhoods and Hillside High School along the way. Kids, several of whom were at last Thursday’s grand opening, can easily and safely bike to the trail. Adults, too.

The trail came together quickly. It was announced earlier in the year, and was funded with a $7,000 grant from REI and $5,000 from Trips for Kids, an international non-profit with a Triangle branch whose goal is to get at-risk kids on bikes. The Triangle Off Road Cyclists shepherded the project; Durham Parks and Rec. played perhaps the biggest role by turning a blind eye to bureaucracy and letting the system proceed post haste. A good public/private/non-profit/corporate partnership: Bravo to all.

For a better sense of what a pump track is about, check out the video.

The post Durham’s Solite Park: a Gateway to inner city mountain biking appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

How about helping a kid get a bike?

It’s true: This afternoon’s 30-mile training ride could mean the difference between a local kid getting his or her first bike — or not.

Here’s the deal: Trips for Kids is one of three teams competing in the $100,000 Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge. Each team automatically qualifies for $25,000 under the challenge; that last $25,000 will be given the team that rides the most miles between now and Oct. 31. Which is where you come in. Go to the Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge — heretofore referred to as the CB2MC — Web site, click on “Red Team” and register. (It’s quick, easy, no salesman will call.) Then, every time you ride, log on and log your miles. If the Red Team winds up with the most miles, Trips for Kids gets $50,000.

How much of a difference could those 30 miles after work make?

“Every $325 buys a new bike/new opportunity for another kid to join us on a ride,” says Andrea Hundermark, who heads up Trips for Kids — Triangle.  In addition to hooking up kids with rides of their own, Trips for Kids takes kids on rides, often to places they wouldn’t otherwise get to explore.

“We hold a lot of one-day mountain biking excursions for the kids in my school district,” says Hundermark, who lives in Durham. “Without fail, each ride ends with some fantastic stories from these kids — they couldn’t believe that mountain biking was actually something that was done in the woods, they didn’t know that so many trees actually existed, especially in their own back yard of Durham.”

Miles logged under CB2MC will go to the national Trips for Kids program, which has more than 60 chapters nationwide, including ones in Charlotte and Boone. Hundermark says the money awarded must be used to buy new bikes. The “2 Mile Challenge” name comes from one of the contest’s goals: To wean people from their automobiles and on to bikes. (According to Clif, 40 percent of all urban travel in the U.S. occurs within two miles of the originating destination, and 90 percent of that is by car. Two miles is a perfectly reasonable distance to bike, hence the 2 Mile Challenge, although longer rides — including that 30-miler you’re contemplating blowing off in favor of a pale ale — count as well.)

Now, the good news early in the CB2MC is that the Red Team (a k a Trips for Kids) is currently in first place. But the Gold Team (the Alliance for Biking and Walking) is a close second and the Blues (the Alliance for Climate Education) are not far behind. Plus, it’s very early in the race. Think of this as Day 3 of the Tour de France: We may be wearing the maillot jaune today, but anything can happen between now and Paris. Or Oct. 31.

So, what will it be after work, a beer? Or a new bike for a deserving, underprivileged kid?

Guilt trip courtesy my parents.

Photo courtesy Trips For Kids — Triangle/Danielle Riley

The post Challenge yourself — to put a deserving kid on a new bike appeared first on GetGoing NC!.