Construction Updates and Work Days

[klainet]

Don't forget our WORK DAY this Saturday, January 23rd. Nat Lopes will be here (all week) helping us take this park to the next level. Come work! Come meet Nat! Come ride and check out the park! Here is the Facebook link to our work day: https://www.facebook.com/events/1677169765875501/


We will also be onsite Friday and Sunday.


And, if you are at all into MUSIC... come support the park at our EVENT this Thursday! See here: https://griffinbikepark.com/events/rock-the-park/

[klainet]

Our work week during January was great! Despite the cold temps we made significant progress cleaning and clearing out 60 years of junk, brush, and trees from the LZ Terrain Park. We even started shaping the Dual Slalom Course! Thanks to MaCallister CAT for the Dozer and Excavator! We are making some great progress towards our GRAND OPENING on October 15th!! Mark you calendars!! It is going to be epic!


February's work week is going to be great! Nat Lopes, Hilride Progression, will be onsite in Feb from 2/18 - 2/21. Feel free to come out anytime, but our official big work day is Saturday, Feb. 20th. There is another contingent of folks who work Sunday also, which turns out to be a good showing.


February's Saturday work day will be VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION DAY!! As a way to say THANK YOU to all our amazing volunteers, the Friends of Griffin Bike Park will provide a FREE PANCAKE BREAKFAST to each volunteer who comes to the Vigo County Parks and Recreation Department's annual Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, February 20, 2016 between 8:00 am and 8:30 am! The Pancake Breakfast is located in the Fowler Park Log Barn, right across the street from the Griffin Bike Park. Here is a link to their Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1652338425017987/


At 8:45 am, we will head across the street for orientation and to start our work day. As always, those who stay all day will have lunch provided also! Come work with us! We are looking forward to meeting new folks.

[klainet]

If you haven't seen the LZ area lately, including the dual slalom course, you owe it to yourself to come take a look! It has cleaned up nicely and is starting to take shape. The dual slalom course is clear, the return trail/circuit connector is dug-in, the start hill is almost complete, and we are ready to start installing the course features. The jump line start hills are also taking shape. We continue to dig new trails and just took delivery of enough lumber to build quite a few features! We also have an order in for some sweet pre-built features for the Little Kids/skills park area. We should get delivery in time to work on installation during our April or May work day.


Come on out to our next work events! Hilride's next visit will be April 7th - 10th. Our biggest, advertised work day is Saturday, but we usually get quite a good showing on Friday and Sunday as well. The park is definitely taking shape!

[Rich Moore]

We got 11 Pro Ramp Builders features installed and landscaped this weekend. As well as signage started and more beginner trail cut in.
Things are starting to come together.

[klainet]

Like Rich mentioned... we have 11 pre-built features from Pro Ramp Builders installed in the Basic Training Skills zone and they are NICE! Come out and ride them! But be prepared for our next work day... unless there is a delay, we will have our Floating Trail, Lake Jump, and two (2) Bridges delivered to the site! Come out and join us in May! We will be there from May 12-15th, with our big work day that Saturday, May 14th. In addition to receiving these sick new features we will be adding new trails.

[klainet]

Looking forward to our May work days! We are currently getting more dirt donated and hauled into the LZ for our jump lines, dual slalom, and pump track. In addition to the Floating Trail, Lake Jump, and Bridges getting delivered, we are also expecting delivery of some Kicker Jump Ramps from Pro Ramp Builders! These will be installed on our first jump line, maybe two! That's right all you jumpers... pre-built lips. No hassling with grooming the lips each time you come out!


Mark your calendars and come join us May 12-15th. Our biggest work day will be Saturday, May 14th.

[klainet]

Ha! Yeah Flynn, but not just a floating "bridge"... it will be a 200' long floating TRAIL across the lake! the Lake Jump will be nearby, but the 2 bridges will be for other parts of the park and won't float.


If anyone is headed to Town Run tomorrow for DINO's Tune-up, there will at least be some flyers there to grab, and perhaps someone to answer questions with a copy of our overall development map.

[klainet]

The floating trail is in the water! The ends still need secured to soon-to-be-placed concrete piers, but it is awesome! We also took delivery of the jumps and started putting them together. They are sweet! A little bit of new trail was dug-in, but progress was slow with the wet conditions. Overall a great work week! Looking forward to the next one!

[klainet]

We had over 425 volunteer hours from Thursday to Sunday! That brings 2016 hours up to 3,045 and project to date up to 11,936!! 728 different people have volunteered their time at the park. WOW!! A HUGE shout-out to all the volunteers!!!


And major kudos to Bill Sumansky and the Sumansky-Lewis Foundation for his HUGE donation of our floating trail, lake jump, and two bridges!! Thank you Bill!!


We can't forget MacAllister CAT for the heavy equipment! They provided a front-end loader, an off-road forklift, and two skid-steers for all four days!


And finally thank you to Casey's Foods for lunch!! [size=78%] [/size]

[klainet]

We are having an informal work day this Saturday May 28th to assemble jump ramps and work on some trails. Come on out and see us. Bring your bikes and we will ride.

[klainet]

Come spend some time this memorial day weekend assembling some jump ramps in honor of those who have fallen! We will be assembling ramps tomorrow, Saturday, May 28th. We will have a BBQ at 11:30 for all who are in attendance. We could use some help assembling and moving these beasts! Just an hour or two will be a HUGE help! Thanks in advance...

[klainet]

We are working this weekend!! Nat Lopes, our developer with Hilride Progression Development is in town today through Sunday. Bring your bikes, come meet the team, help us continue to build, and then ride with us! We will be assembling jump ramps and installing them this weekend, putting the finishing touches on the lake crossing and jump, and building new trails. As always we will be there Thursday to Sunday from 8 am until 4 pm (later usually).


And don't forget to bring your kids on Saturday for IMBA's National Take a Kid Mtn Biking Day!! We are hosting this free event, with food, from Noon to 4 pm.


Come join us!

[klainet]

The Lake Crossing Trail and Lake Jump are basically complete! We have some finishing touches but check out some of the photos and videos on our Facebook page! Definitely a BLAST! We have assembled all of our pro-built Ramps and have started placing them on the jump lines. We are also about 100' of bench-cutting away from completing the 1 +/- mile "Advanced Tactical Training Course" (Beginner Loop 1) which includes some steep drops (with a bypass  ), fast downhills, and some technicality. It will need ridden in and polished but will shape up to be a great trail.


Our next big push is July 14th - July 17th when our Developer, Hilride Progression Development, will be onsite working with us. We will be installing all the jump ramps, working on building the features for the Dual Slalom course, building other features, and building/polishing up some new trails. We will be ready for Pro Rider Brian Lopes to come ride at our Grand Opening in October!!!


The evening of Friday, July 15th, the night before RAIN, we are hosting a screening of the mt. bike movie Not2Bad at St. Mary of the Wood's College! Come check it out! ALL proceeds will go to the Griffin Bike Park.


Be sure to mark some time on your calendar to come work and ride with us in July! It will be worth your time to experience a jump into the lake!!

[klainet]

Work is going great!! Come check out the progress on the Jump Lines and Dual Slalom and help us get them finished up!!

[ATimman]

Are any of the jump lines or slalom finished and rideable?
Is the lake jump open to the public yet?
I took the day off Friday the 22nd to bring a friend out to check on the progress.
Lake jump would be fun after riding in Fridays heat.