Matt Blossom grew up on a simpler island, in a simpler time.
It was the 1980s, and on Bainbridge Island the people were fewer, the houses farther apart, the property lines less distinct. Blossom could ride his Yamaha dirt bike from his parents’ house in Eagledale to Walt’s Market in Lynwood Center, or wherever else, and nobody really seemed to mind.
“Bainbridge was a great place to grow up,” says Blossom, a fifth generation islander on both sides. “As a kid you feel isolated, but once you leave and come back, you realize what a special community it is.”
Knowing island back roads and byways as well as anyone and better than most, even Blossom was surprised when, last year, he first set foot on the former Hayashida property northwest of Strawberry Hill Park.
The historic strawberry farm was now a rolling hillside of scrubby firs. Blossom too had changed, having long since put aside the motorcycle of youth, and came now as a designer and builder of bike parks with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance.
It was a moment.
“I was blown away by how perfect a small parcel it is for a bike park,” Blossom says. “The western slope for afternoon sun, the topography and the undulations east-west and north-south are just killer. It’s going to make a great, great community bike park.”
The Strawberry Hill Bike Park plan will be presented to the Bainbridge Metro Parks board at its regular meeting, 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15 at the Bainbridge Island Recreation Center. Island mountain bikers have worked with Blossom and Seattle-based Evergreen for months to craft a park for riders of all skill levels on approximately 8 acres.
The bike park will be much like a ski slope: a series of downhill trails color-rated by degree of difficulty, from Green (beginner) to Blue (intermediate) to Black (advanced), with several dedicated uphill paths to chug your way back to the top. Shaped earthen jumps, rollers and berms will challenge riders flying down the hill, with special open, skill-building areas and platforms at top and bottom.
Key to the proposed design is a series of “flyovers,” wooden overpasses that allow downhill riders to cross above others where two trails intersect. Serving both safety and space, the flyovers let the designers eke out 1.5 miles of trails on the modest parcel.
“I would say it’s a small bike park, but the flyovers allow us to utilize the whole terrain,” Blossom says. “It’s a great stepping stone for riders who are wanting to get in and progress to bigger regional parks.”
CLOSE TO NEIGHBORHOODS, SCHOOLS
An anonymous donor last year gave $1 million to the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation to purchase the 10-acre former strawberry farm for a bike park, expanded dog park and conservation.
Bike park development dovetails with the Park District’s healthy forests initiative. Volunteers from Gear Grinders, Bainbridge Island Mountain Biking Club, Bainbridge Island Ultimate and other groups have spent months grubbing bushels of invasives like holly and ivy off the property. This winter, hundreds of weak and underperforming trees will be felled and areas replanted.
The Park District is now looking at a broader revamp of greater Strawberry Hill Park, with improved lighting for sports fields, and new features like an expanded skatepark. One of Bainbridge Island’s oldest parks – built 1966 on a former Nike missile site – may soon become one of the most vital.
“One of the great things about the bike park project, and this is true of the skatepark plan too, is just how central it is to so many people on the island,” says Mary Meier, Parks & Trails Foundation executive director. “Strawberry Hill Park is close to Winslow neighborhoods, the main school campus is just up the road, and kids are going to have an easy time getting here after school to ride.”
The Parks & Trails Foundation expects to begin fundraising for Strawberry Hill Bike Park early in the new year, as designs and costs are finalized.
Response at a Bike Park site tour this month was enthusiastic, as visitors tromped around the expansive woodland for the first time and kicked around routes and features. The parcel is
Eli Glosser, who built a bike course in his backyard and is at an age where speed and technical challenge trump all, mountain bikes with his dad and brother most weekends. He praised the Strawberry Hill site as “perfect” and looks forward to the toughest features. But he’s cool with the park serving a broad range of riders.
“It’s a thrill when you get into the more advanced stuff. I like going fast,” he says. “I enjoy stuff that’s a little more advanced, but obviously, it’s designed to be more family friendly.”
Many asked whether there will be volunteer opportunities when the park gets to construction. Answer: yes.
Blossom said only two of the trails will be fully machine-built, with the rest relying on hand labor. Volunteers may also help with the post-and-beam work on flyovers and other built features, which will be custom designed to suit the trails and terrain.
Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance’s West Sound chapter has a growing portfolio of some 70 miles of public mountain bike trails, from regional facilities like the new Port Gamble mountain bike park to Heritage Forest near Silverdale and Port Orchard’s Banner Forest.
Blossom said Evergreen will be expanding its “trails schools” (mountain bike education programs) here, as new bike parks come online and new riders join.
“For the gracious donor to step up and buy this (property) for the community is just unbelievable,” he says. “This is going to provide something I wish I would have had as a youth on Bainbridge, giving kids the opportunity to get out and recreate with their friends in a safe manner and a clean manner. It’s great.”
SEE THE BIKE PARK PLAN: Preliminary plans for the Strawberry Hill Bike Park will be presented at the Bainbridge Metro Parks board meeting, 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15 at Bainbridge Island Recreation Center. See the bike park preliminary plans at www.biparksfoundation.org/bikepark.
