The organizers of the Yellowknife Mountain Bike Club is confident if they build it, they will come.

President Geoff Foster and team member Crystal Sabel presented a plan for their dream bike park to the municipal services committee meeting on Monday.

SA国际影视传媒�There's a lot of potential for more biking community,SA国际影视传媒� Sabel told the committee. SA国际影视传媒淭his would be a hub to kind of congeal that.SA国际影视传媒�

The proposed mountain bike skills development park would be located at Bristol Pit. Foster estimates it would cost around $500,000, but told Yellowknifer it could be built in a phased approach.

The park would include features like beginnersSA国际影视传媒� trails, skills parks, dirt jumps and manmade features that would let people develop skills to later take to other trails. He said he'd like to see construction begin as soon as possible, with the city and volunteers helping to build temporary jumps.

The highlight of the final park would be an asphalt pump track, an undulating circuit that skilled bikers can cruise through without pedalling, with a price tag of between $130,000 and $150,000.

SA国际影视传媒�They're awesome,SA国际影视传媒� said Foster. SA国际影视传媒淚t's kind of like a gateway drug into mountain biking and the bike park more generally.SA国际影视传媒�

He added that having an asphalt pump track would make it accessible not just to mountain and BMX bikes but skateboards and scooters and riders.

SA国际影视传媒�Hopefully by attracting the skateboarders we could also convert them to mountain bikers,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

As he told city committee, selling mountain biking to impressionable youth is the point.

SA国际影视传媒�There's a different type of person that can fit into that mountain biking niche, especially where youth is concerned,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭here's a lot of kids out there that don't' really get into organized sport, it doesn't really interest them. We really want to support kids like that that aren't really being served by hockey rinks and things like that.SA国际影视传媒�

The club presented the results of a survey asking the community what they'd like to see in a bike park. More than 400 people responded to the survey over six weeks. The majority were over 19, and 95 per cent responded that they, or their families, would use a local bike skills facility.

SA国际影视传媒�That's a pretty good indication of how many people we would see using our bike park,SA国际影视传媒� said Sabel.

The survey also found many riders felt there was a gap between easy beginner trails and trails that made them clutch the handle bars in fear. Foster told the committee that while other cities have a more gentle progression for riders, Yellowknife goes from beginner to intermediate rides on Frame Lake trail with little in between.

SA国际影视传媒�They have that stepping stone,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淵ellowknife lacks that and I think that's one of the big reasons why you haven't seen mountain biking take off.SA国际影视传媒�

He stressed bike parks are spreading quickly across the country, with many other bike parks completely funded by city coffers in other municipalities.

He's not quite looking for the city to cut him a big cheque however. He said once they get the go-ahead from council, either by giving the club the land to build the park or allowing them to use it, they'll be in fundraising mode for cash and in-kind donations.

SA国际影视传媒�What matters to me is that the park gets built, and the facility is created there to cater to a demographic that isn't being catered to at all,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淪o I don't really care who really pays for it, what I really want to see is the community get involved.SA国际影视传媒�

Municipal services committee did not have enough councillors in attendance on Monday for quorum, and could not give direction to staff.

SA国际影视传媒�I know there is some interest among multiple councillors,SA国际影视传媒� said Mayor Mark Heyck. SA国际影视传媒淚'm sure it will come back at a not-so-distant future date for some direction.SA国际影视传媒�