Future of Mountain Biking in the Front Range?

Found this interesting article on how freeriding might become the future of MTB. Here are some quotes from the article..

"Freeriding is also accessible. With the US and Canada seeing increasing urbanization (and suburbanization) it’s becoming more and more difficult to site and build large scale mountain bike trail networks. Freeride courses, on the other hand, can be much more compact since stunts can be combined in different ways each time around the course. Freeride stunts can even be found indoors at places like Rays Indoor MTB Park and kids who live in cities can use urban or trials rides to hone freeriding skills."

Yes, that is true, even with the ever powerful IMBA and BMA Boulder still has to fight HARD to get more trail access however finding spots like the CU Research Park are popping up more often(east boulder, gunbarrel, Denver, etc). The Boulder Velodrome just recently opened up their mountain bike terrain section. The Valmont Park IS getting built and then there is a rumored Denver Mountain Bike Park

"Finally, freeriding just might be the future of mountain biking because it can be a little dangerous and that makes it cool. The stunts and jumps themselves are dangerous but there’s also a sense of anti-establishment running through freeride culture, much like in the sport of skateboarding. In a time when IMBA an others preach sustainable trails and professional stunt construction, freeriding is attractive because it’s so free. Riders are free to ride where they want, however they want, whenever they want - like in the early days of mountain biking. Just think: the opposites of free riding would be called “restrained riding” or “expensive riding” - and neither of those sound like any fun :)"

Have you been out to the Short Track recently? It is WAY different then it was this summer, tons of jumps and even a cave that someone built!

There has been a trend to move back to dirt like Short Track, Cyclocross and Freeriding and IMO this trend will continue for a few more years. Just look at the rider participation in Short Track over the past few years and in cyclocross

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