New bike park opens in Sisters

Sisters cyclists have a brand-new playground in Sisters. Phase 1 of the Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD) Community Bike Park is now open to the public.

The bike park is the product of about a year of community effort. A core group of volunteers have been working as a committee of SPRD to try to bring this concept to reality, according to SPRD Executive Director Liam Hughes.

The committee, along with Hughes, wrote and presented a grant proposal to the Oregon State Parks Local Government Grant Program. The project, while recognized for its merits, fell just outside the funding line in this cycle and was not funded. So, the group revaluated the plans and decided that the park could be built in phases, Hughes reported.

Because of donations from the community and the Central Oregon Trails Alliance (COTA), resources were available to construct the pump track portion of the park as Phase 1. Other phases of the park, including the skill features, will be much more time-consuming and costly to construct.

On Sunday, October 18, a team of local volunteers, spearheaded by Joel Palanuk from COTA and Paul Lissette from Dirt Mechanics, shaped and formed the donated dirt the committee has been gathering into an exciting new small pump track appropriate for kids and adults alike. Once the dirt was roughly shaped out, they packed it down the fun way - by riding it. Casey Meudt from Blazin Saddles ran back to his shop and grabbed a few fat tire bikes and let people ride them around to help pack the dirt.

"The pump track is part of a much bigger park we have planned, but it's great to get something done so that the kids can enjoy it before winter hits," said Palanuk.

For more information or to donate to the project, contact Hughes at SPRD, 541-549-2091.