The gravity lines at Gateway Green, built during the park’s Phase 2 construction, were very popular amongst mountain bikers of all skill levels. Once the news of the impending closure of ⅔ of the lines, the feedback was swift and not kind. Trimet’s A Better Red project has been in the works since the inception of the park. The benefits to the entire community from this project far outweigh our inconvenience of not having access to the south area of the park for a few years.
Understanding how this would negatively impact the mountain bike community, our partners at Portland Parks & Recreation went back to the drawing board to see how they could optimize the remaining 3rd of the line that will remain open. They brought back the original line builder Sasquatch Trails to create a new start hill and build features on Linda’s Line (blue) and fun banked corners on the Rebar Ridge (green) line.
Anytime heavy machinery is used on a trail, there is a significant amount of handwork to get the remaining 20% of the trail completed. As the parks stewardship partner, 23 NWTA volunteers came out to do just that on Sunday, October 3rd. For most, this was their first look at this revamped line, and the stoke was high! From the elevation of the start pad to the thoughtfully crafted nine tabletops, the excitement hit the roof. Our Gateway Green Local Stewardship Team members Jay Baird, Tim Copeman & Julie Larson guided volunteers of all skill levels.
We are very close to finishing the work on both of these lines. We have another Dig Day this Saturday, 10/9. This will be our final push to get everything ready to open the trails. Please join us. Due to COVID restrictions, please pre-register and follow all of the instructions detailed. The registration link can be found HERE.
Have questions, please email [email protected]