By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The hills of Rudolph were loaded with bikers Wednesday evening, sailing through the air, banking curves, and speaking BMX.
“Dude, is that a Polygon? Do you like it?” one biker asked another.
“Yeah, it shreds,” the man replied.
The two were among a group gathered on one of the course’s “table tops,” waiting for the right moment to take on the new Rudolph Bike Park, officially opened Wednesday by the Wood County Park District.
The grand opening came none too soon for Bengerman Warnement, 14, who snuck in some spins on the track when parts were first constructed.
“I was here five hours a day,” Warnement said. “I just really like BMX. I know what I’m doing. It just takes a little bit of balance.”
Waiting for the bike park to be officially open was tough for Warnement, who lives just down the street from the course.
“Very hard to resist,” he said.
The pump track bike course was first suggested in 2019 by Wood County Park District naturalist Craig Spicer, who realized that the track could attract a whole different crowd to a county park.
So as he watched young and old try out the park on Wednesday, Spicer said he was touched that the trail finally was finished.
“I couldn’t help but get a little emotional seeing everyone ride it for the first time,” he said.
Don DiBartolomeo, head of the non-profit Right Direction Youth Development Program, had the same feelings.
“I’m pumped,” he said.
The pump track course is one of the longest in the U.S., with 1,834 lineal feet of peaks and valleys.
“You don’t pedal through it, you pump through it,” DiBartolomeo said about the sport.
From new riders to advanced mountain bikers, the Rudolph Bike Park will provide a location for skills development on its pump tracks and mountain bike skills loop.
A pump track is a circuit of rollers, banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders pumping — generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling or pushing. This style of track was originally designed for mountain bike and BMX users.
The park can also be used by scooters and skateboards.
The different sections of the course allow people of all ages and skill levels to test their skills.
“It teaches you all the fundamentals,” DiBartolomeo said.
A public survey of more than 2,000 Wood County residents in 2018 showed that 43.48% of people requested more bike trails and increased access, with 55% of those respondents requesting non-traditional biking opportunities.
“They wanted different, more involved biking opportunities,” Spicer said.
As soon as the track was poured, dedicated bikers found their way to the park that straddles the edge of the Slippery Elm Trail as it travels through Rudolph. Bikers have already come from across the country to try out the course.
“We had kids coming from Florida and Texas,” since they had no place else to practice their skills before a competition, Spicer said.
Wednesday’s grand opening was delayed first by COVID and then by zoning issues resolved by compromises between the park district, Liberty Township Trustees and the pump track construction firm.
The park, which sits near the crossroads of Mermill Road and Rudolph Road, is a welcome addition, said Liberty Township Trustee Doug Kale.
“It will be good for the community,” Kale said. “It’s a good thing. It will be used quite a bit.”
Wood County Park District Executive Director Chris Smalley shared the enthusiasm.
“We made it,” he said. “Any day you open a new park is a good day.”
Park Board President Sandy Wiechman recalled Spicer first introducing the idea for the bike park, saying “this would be really cool.” It was well worth the wait, she said.
Park district board member Tom Myers agreed.
“It took a little bit longer than we anticipated,” he said. “We hope everybody enjoys it.”
Myers brought two young grandchildren to the grand opening. They weren’t quite ready to tackle the hills on wheels, but “this is something you can work for as soon as you get your training wheels off your bikes,” he told them.
Board member Bill Cameron remarked on the large crowd at the opening.
“I’ve never seen so many people show up for a ribbon cutting,” he said.
And Wood County Commissioner Doris Herringshaw remarked on the park being in her township. “This is almost in my backyard,” she said. “We hope that you enjoy it.”
After the speeches, the bikers tried out the track.
Among the younger test drivers were Ben, 7, and Henry, 3, sons of Bob and Jessica Clements of Bowling Green.
With his helmet sporting spiky LED lights, Ben bravely took to the trail with the older riders.
“I try to not take the risky path,” he said. Ben and his family had ridden to the park on the Slippery Elm Trail from Bowling Green. “I like that you don’t really have to pedal,” on the pump tracks, he said.
Also tackling the course was Joey Rouse, and his 8-year-old son, Thatcher, from Bowling Green.
“We’ve met a lot of interesting people here,” said Rouse, who has already met a rider from Maine and one from Columbus, who comes up after dropping his children off at school.
“It’s an adrenaline rush and good exercise,” Rouse said. “We’re out here as long as it’s not snowing.”
The Rudolph Bike Park will be free and open to the public daily from 8 a.m. until 30 minutes past sunset.
