Cochrane is notorious for its bike community. Coming spring of 2020, bikers will have a new hang out spot as the much anticipated bike park will be ready for those of all ages and skill levels.
The bike park will be located in the parking lot of Bow Street Commons at The Quarry, and is sure to be met with thumbs up from Cochranites. Almost a year ago the idea was sparked by a local group of bike enthusiasts who were interested in making Cochrane more bike friendly. It trickled down to six people who established the Bike Cochrane Society.
“We wanted to show everyone that we’re not just part of the town, we actually fundraised all of that money to cover all the costs for that ourselves. Even the land it actually belongs to the developer, Springwood, and they are the ones that provided the land for us. We went through the full approval with the town, we got our town permits, we did everything that was required and asked of us,” said member of Bike Cochrane Society, Jerold Hoshowatiuk. “We went through the full process and in less than a year from the time we got our status we’ve started building a park.”
The bike park will cost $100,000 and so far the society has raised around $60,000. Construction for the park began at the end of September and will continue as long as the weather cooperates. Hoshowatiuk says once winter sets in they will pack up. The finishing touches will be complete next spring. The society is continuing to fundraise for the park but they are confident they will reach their target.
"We had the majority of the money so we said lets get it started now so we can actually show people that we are serious," said Hoshowatiuk.
The bike park will be a safe place for riders of all ages to develop their skills. Hoshowatiuk explained the park has been designed and constructed in such a way to encourage kids on little balance bikes to be able to learn how to roll over the features and gain their balance, all the way up to the expert level riders so it's challenging for them as well. He says it's not only for one level of ridership.
The location, more commonly known as outside Garmin and Good Earth will act as a meeting place for both kids and parents and the hope is that it will eventually become a community hot spot on those warm summer days and attract bikers from surrounding areas like Waiparous, Bragg Creek and Calgary.
"If mom and dad want to come out they can go grab a coffee or grab a snack to eat while the kids are out riding," said Hoshowatiuk. "We're a hop, skip, and a jump away from getting to downtown Cochrane. If someone wants to take their kids for ice cream, you can head over to MacKay's or whatever else they want to do, everything is really close."
It doesn't just stop with the bike park, the society has been working with the Town of Cochrane and they have since mapped out trails and bike paths in town. Hoshowatiuk pointed out bike maps are available at the tourism office. The society is constantly working at improving access for bikers throughout Cochrane. This winter they will be mapping out safe bike routes within town.
"We get the riders from Calgary or other surrounding areas that don't know Cochrane. Instead of them bombing down (Highway) 22 to get to (Highway) 1A to go back up the Cochrane hill, we want to show them there's safer ways to do this, here's some pathways, here's some trails. I live up in Bow Ridge and my kids go to school in Glenbow, as of right now there's no real safe way for them to ride their bikes to school because they have to cross the bridge that's super narrow and it's not the best way for kids to get around," he explained.
Hoshowatiuk would like to see relationships built in the surrounding communities and the hope is to bridge the gap between bikers and drivers while creating feasible paths to draw awareness to safe transportation.
"With the history that the town has with cycling, it's just absolutely amazing. With the history of the movie Rad that was filmed here back in the 80's. At the end of the day, this is such an iconic town and an iconic place to be in the BMX world and cycling. It's so cool to be able to be here and to be part of this."
The completion of the bike park will be on Cochranites' radar come the new year. If you would like to donate to the bike park, Hosowatiuk said with a chuckle they will never turn down donations. You can reach out to them at www.bikecochrane.com or head to one of the bike shops in town, Cafe Roubaix Bicycle Studio or Bike Bros and purchase a hat or t-shirt.
