B U I L D I N G M O U N TA I N S
Biking the Bogue Chitto
JUMP, DROP, FLY DOWN WASHINGTON PARISH’S FOURTEEN MILES OF NEW MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAILS
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Story by Catherine Comeaux • Photos by Sean Gasser ooooohoooo!” a blonde toddler squealed as she rolled the red dirt berms through the piney woods of the Bogue Chitto State Park Mountain Bike Trails on a recent Saturday morning. Before her first birthday, she was riding a balance bike—learning the physics of steering from the hips. It wasn’t long before she was pedaling her own two fat tires down the trails behind her Papa, a trail regular and one of the many volunteers who have been working this past year moving muscle and mud to shape the rolling hills of Southeast Louisiana into a world-class mountain biking experience. Nestled in the loess hills along Washington Parish’s Bogue Chitto River, the original four miles of singletrack mountain bike trails were developed in 2018 through a partnership between the state park and the Northshore Off-Road Bicycling Association (NORBA). Winding through forests with exhilarating ups and downs—mostly at an intermediate blue level of difficulty—these trails created an adrenaline-fueled momentum among local mountain bikers, keeping them coming back not only to ride but to also volunteer. Over the past few years, this group has worked together
to add more trails, create new technical challenges, and build a variety of opportunities for riders of all skill levels. Guiding this expansion of the trail system is Mountain Bike Park Developr Toby Cortez and his team of ten trail captains, who each volunteer their time building and maintaining trails. Cortez’s enthusiasm is infectious. On my recent visit, I followed him on a ride throughout the park. Along the way, he checked on volunteers and attracted a small train of mountain bikers trailing behind him. We all followed along as he gave an impromptu tour and shared NORBA’s vision of the Bogue Chitto becoming an International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) Ride Center—a designation earned by destinations offering an array of high-quality mountain biking trails. Ride Centers attract cyclists from all over the world; they are places where local economies flourish as communities embrace their role in welcoming mountain bike enthusiasts to their trails. With support from local, state, and private funding, Cortez was able to hire professional trail builder Preston York from Flowmotion Trail Builders, whose extensive experience includes work on trails that have achieved
IMBA Ride Center status. When deciding to accept the job, which would require living in the campground with his crew for three months, York recalled, “I was excited for the opportunity to create trails in this unique hill country in the middle of the swamplands.” Capitalizing on the natural elevation of the land and the gorge running through the park, his crew, alongside NORBA volunteers, expanded the trail system to almost fourteen miles of trails, each aptly named after once-famous Louisiana roller coasters. These earthen counterparts offer the same stomach-flipping, adrenaline-pumping experience of a roller coaster ride, except that the biker is in full control of their experience, determining speed, jump, drop, and flight. The Ghost Train offers over two miles of green beginner level switchbacks, ups, and downs through a grove of tall pine trees. Zydeco Scream and Muskrat Scrambler provide three more miles of green trails for those who prefer a more mellow ride. Zephyr, which includes some of the original trail network, sends riders along 5.6 miles of intermediate blue level climbs and descents. For downhill fun—coming and going—ride the 1.25 miles of Jump Trail, which was carefully designed // A P R 2 1
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