The Bell Built Grant Program has been successful from a marketing perspective, bringing attention to grass root efforts of participating mountain bike clubs throughout the US. However, after the initial ho-rah, you often don’t hear updates, so it’s great to see this edit of the recently completed Bell Built Project in Knoxville, TN.
The video of the new trail features Neko Mulally ripping “the Devils Racetrack”, a downhill/ freeride trail filled with ripping berms, rock gardens, table top jumps, wall rides and other features.
Knoxville, Tennesse: Cycling Destination?
The west coast could learn a lot from Knoxville, as the city is doing clearly doing something very, very right; their Urban Wilderness Park contains over 1,000 forest acres along the downtown south waterfront, creating a corridor filled with multi-use trails, parks, historic sites and opportunities for recreation. The new gravity trail is one of three downhill-only trails in the Baker Creek Preserve area, which has a total of 7.1 miles of bike and hiking opportunities.
In addition to the three designated gravity trails, there are five multi-use trails which connect into a total of 42 miles of trail in the Urban Wilderness Park.
The grant was awarded in 2015; funded by the Bell Built program, the new gravity track is over half a mile long and is located only a few miles from the city center, making it accessible for riders and was designed and built by IMBA Trail Solutions as well as other bike park contractors.
There’s always so much hype around the hope to get a park built, that it’s great to see something actually in the ground and ready to ride. Kudos to Bell and all those involved in creating this opportunity for local riders. Also: you guys at AMBC SORBA — you are kicking ass.
Learn more about the project at Bellhelmets.com/bell-built or at the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club website, AMBC-SORBA.org
Discover more:
Outdoor Knoxville: Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness
Local press: The Knoxville Mercury
MTB Project: Knoxville Urban Wilderness Trail System – South Loop
Construction of Knoxville’s $100,000 Gravity Trail Is All Downhill From Here