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New, accessible mountain biking pump track and skills trail opens in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A new, accessible bike trail in southwest Colorado Springs opened Tuesday, August 2.

The Cresta Open Space mountain bike pump track and skills trail is meant for people of all ages, from beginner riders to advanced mountain bikers.

According to the city, the skills trail provides options with varying degrees of difficulty and obstacles that replicate what a rider would find on a mountain trail such as 'Captain Jack.' This allows new riders to progress their skills and seasoned riders to add some technical moves into their skill set. Some examples consist of rocks, logs, roots, gravel, changes in elevation, and some jumps depending on the route.

"This will serve the Cheyenne Mountain area," said Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers. "The kids can ride their bikes down here, they don't have to get in a car and drive across town. This is meeting a real community need and we're continuing to develop those as we can."

Being near the Ivywild and Skyway neighborhoods, officials say it makes an ideal location for youth in the area. With the trail nestled within residential areas, people can reach it without getting on a major road or driving.

"This is an amazing open space that's accessible to so much of the community," said Tom Kimmell, a resident with grandchildren. "This is such a great asset that is gonna teach kids amazing skills so they can go out and ride the beautiful network of trails that we have in our city."

Colorado Springs has a large community of bicyclists, including mountain bikers. Mayor Suthers says the mountain biking attractions here are attracting more people to move here and visit.

"It's not only our own residents. But more and more people are either moving here because of availability of biking opportunities or visiting here," said Suthers. "We now have a couple hotels that cater largely to bicycle tourism. We're a couple years away from opening what could be one of the most dramatic bike parks in America, the Pikes Peak Query. Which is now being recommitted in a way that we can turn it into a very large bike park."

This project has been in the works for more than two years, so the mountain bike community is very excited it's open and complete.

"It's so cool because you can kind of come from everywhere," said youth mountain bike rider and coach Kylie Moerk. "I'll be able to ride over here from my house so I'm excited about that."

The new trail also connects two popular trails, Stratton and Bear Creek. It's located at 1100 Mercury Drive.

To learn more about what a pump track and skills trail is, click here.

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