NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — City of Hutchinson Parks and Facilities Director Justin Combs said that an early 2024 project for his staff will be putting in a bike park in the Salt City.
"Originally, when we planned the bike park, it was going to be in Harsha Park, right along the Jim Martinez Trail," Combs said. "However, because of multiple reasons, we've kind of taken a last minute change there and we're going to put it in Carey Park, just south of the skate park. There's an open space between one of our newer playgrounds and the skate park. It will go right there."
This will be able to be used by all skill levels.
"It will have two main components," Combs said. "The centerpiece will be an asphalt pump track. If you think of, kind of a BMX track or a motocross track, that's a series of turns and mounds, it's the same idea but compact and made out of asphalt. The reason it's made out of asphalt, it's usable by anything on wheels, skateboards, Razor-type scooters, BMX bikes, mountain bikes."
The pump track part of it will force more physical activity for those that use it.
"Just like when you were a kid and you could swing on a swingset by manipulating your body weight," Combs said. "Pumping your body weight forward and back, you can do the exact same thing on a bicycle or a skateboard and manipulate your body weight to generate momentum. You do that around this course and skilled athletes can get going really, really fast and turn things into jumps, then you can have younger, less skilled who are just learning, just kind of get that sensation of going up and down and around corners and things."
The timeline for construction will be weather dependent.
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