We are currently in the eye of the Coronavirus storm and the depths of winter simultaneously, the bike park has been closed for almost 7 of the last 12 months and times are undoubtedly hard.
Are we moping around waiting for this all to end though? No, that’s simply not how we are wired!
This pandemic has been devastating for so many people in so many ways, the most awful being the loss of loved ones and the incredible difficulties faced by our frontline health care workers. Context is important in these situations and although our small business has been ravaged by the restrictions imposed due to this terrible disease and we’ve certainly faced many, many struggles we appreciate that we remain in a privileged position to still be standing and ready to look forward to summer.
So what have we been doing?
Aside from doing everything we possibly can to survive this period we have been very, very busy working on every aspect of the bike park to make sure that when we do reopen you will return to a site that has been improved in every way.
Trails
Let’s start with what we know you really care about! We are working on no less than three new trails currently, each bringing something new to the park.
Blue tech trail
Some of you may have noticed the addition of Merthyr Rocks to our trail map in the summer, this blue tech trail will make a great addition offering another blue option to return to the uplift from the mid road. It features some huge rock slabs and Billy has been working his magic in there creating a unique addition to the park. Watch this space.
Red tech trail
We are really excited by this one! This trail is a true team effort with almost every member of staff getting involved in the build. With so many of the team on flexi-furlough currently we have been rotating team members in to get some trail building experience supervised by Stu. Everyone from Morgan in the kitchen to Hannah from reception, Matt the driver and Olly from the shop have had a hand in this family affair and everyone has loved getting their hands dirty to create something positive in the midst of this chaos. This hand built trail has a very natural, rooty nature so will be sure to present a challenge to all riders.
Flagship jump line with yet to be named pro rider
Now this is very exciting! More new to come soon but we have teamed up with one of the UK’s very best riders to build a truly iconic jump trail. Our in house jump expert Dunc will be leading this one from our side, working with the rider to create something that will become a landmark line at the park. Watch this space for more news to come on this one soon.
As if three new trails wasn’t enough we have also completely rebuilt our pump track, reopened Bush Whacker and A470 line and Hard Shoulder have had a complete rebuild. We are VERY, VERY excited about the A470 rebuild, Dunc has created something very special here and we can’t wait to show you more when we launch the trail along with some well known riders in the Spring time.
Topeak Tool stations
Those who visited just before the most recent lockdown will have seen our new Topeak Tool Stations. These are located at convenient spots around the park (including the uplift pickup) and they have been a huge hit. These stations are really well equipped and even include a built in work stand so you can fix most urgent repairs without having to head back to the centre.
New Visitor Centre
We took the brave decision at the end of November to pick up tools again and finish our new visitor centre which was abandoned back in March. This new building is where everyone will check-in to collect passes and is a new dedicated bike hire centre. This gives us much more space and means we can speed up the registration process significantly, getting you all out on the trails faster than ever. We will also have a small classroom allowing us to expand our programme for beginner riders, something at the heart of our vision for an inclusive park.
As well as the new building our terrace and surrounding area is also being landscaped, the terrace will be almost twice the size, we are planting trees and making the area better than ever to enjoy a post ride brew/beer.
Car parking!
We have needed more parking at the park for several years now but the sensitivity of our site means that it is not a simple task. Getting our designs through planning and SuDS drainage approval has taken 2 years and many redesigns but we are delighted to say that we have now started work on a car park expansion that will give us an additional 45 spaces.
The scheme is very sympathetic to the environment and uses cutting edge water management features to manage sediment and flood water runoff as well as encouraging wetland plant species. We are also planting hundreds of native trees around the new car park to regenerate the area which was clear felled in 2013 due to an outbreak of Phytophera Ramorum that infected the Larch trees previously inhabiting the site. All being well we expect the new car park to be ready for use in April.
Web store
We have also been using this “downtime” to catch up with the rest of the world and work on our online shop. The bike industry has experienced a huge boom during 2020 and we kind of missed the whole thing! One positive is that we have lots of stock that nobody else has, so if you are looking for some new kit, please check out our online store, it’s a great way to support the park whilst we are closed and you may find we have something you’ve been looking for.
So as you can see we’ve been rather busy, our entire focus has been on using this time to make the park better than ever for you, our riders. We can’t tell you how much we have missed you, the park feels ghostly quiet without the whoops and hollers of happy riders and we can’t wait to welcome you back so you can enjoy the fruits of our labour. We’d like to say a huge thank you to each an every one of you for standing by us through this terrible time, every booking that you’ve held with us, every voucher purchased, every word of support means the world and we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Stay safe everyone and we look forward to seeing you soon (don’t worry, we will let you know as soon as we know!)
The BPW team