The inaugural Prairie Rock Trails Bike Festival opens today in Mason City, capping off with the official opening of the Prairie Rock Trails Bike Park.
The new park is a world-class facility featuring wood boardwalks, jumps, and multiple single-track routes for riders of varying ages and skill levels.
Brian Pauly, Mason City’s director of parks and recreation, says professional cyclists will compete through the weekend.
“We have Trek and Red Bull coming in, and we have people that can do things beyond my imagination when it comes to doing flips, tricks, jumps, and all that fun stuff. We’re having professional riders down,” Pauly says. “They have decent size money for the purse that they’re giving out, I think five different categories.”
Pauly says the weekend will mark the completion of the bike park’s professionally-crafted terrain including flowing lines, technical elements, a kid-friendly pump track, and progressive jump features.
“Even if you aren’t going to go down the most expert thing, or you’re going to have to do jumps and everything else, there’s different things between the pump track and the kids’ track for the younger kids,” Pauly says. “The beautiful thing, it’s all asphalted now, so no matter rain, shine, as long as there’s not snow on it, it can be used year-round, and that’s one of the main reasons why we chose to do that.”
The park is located adjacent to the Lime Creek Conservation Area and connects riders to more than 20 miles of trails and 600 acres of scenic parkland.
“To have those trails throughout, like those mountain bike trails itself in our community, it is fantastic,” he says, “plus, the number of trails that have been created by volunteers, pretty much going north from the bike park into Lime Creek Nature Center.”
The weekend also features group rides for intermediate to advanced riders as well as a women’s clinic designed for beginners and first-time mountain bikers.
