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NPS Hosts Sope Creek Mountain Bike Trail Ribbon Cutting |
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Thursday, 06 August 2009 |
 The National Parks Service Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area hosted a Ribbon Cutting on August 1, 2009 to honor the volunteers and supporters that made the Sope Creek Mountian Bike Trail improvements possible. SORBA (Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association), Crossroads Alternative School, and 3 REI stores contributed much time on multiple work days to work on the mountain bike trail to implement the improvements. Over 4000 volunteer hours were donated on this project, with SORBA alone donating 1100 hours. Coca-Cola Scholars and 5 local businesses and organizations were also involved. Thanks to their efforts, the CRNRA now has 4 new sustainable trail sections that have by-passed problem areas that had major resource damage and were safety hazards for park users. Although the work was completed and the new sections were opened in June, the Ribbon Cutting ceremony officially opened the new trail re-alignments to the public.
The celebration began at the Sope Creek unit parking lot at 9 a.m. and included the ribbon cutting, a guided nature tour, fishing in Sibley Pond, and a mountain bike ride on the new trail. FreeFlite Bicycles of Marietta and Outback Bikes of Atlanta provided demo bikes for the event. The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance and West Atlanta Mountain Biking Association hosted the youth mountain bike ride.
 Speeches were made, but because the event was a celebration focused on fun, they were sincere yet brief. Dan Brown and Dave Thomas of the National Parks Service thanked the volunteers and reminded them what a precious resource they created. Ivan Levin of the National Parks Foundation spoke of their commitment to the CRNRA and the Active Trails Program and how they see this multi-use trail as a great example of how trails lead to a healthy, active lifestyle while enhancing the park’s natural resources. Bob Grieco of SORBA spoke of how mountain biking is beneficial to its participants, the community, and how sustainable trails enrich and protect the park. Bruce Morton of the West Atlanta Mountain Biking Association shared how his group was honored to participate in the ceremony and how Atlanta’s youth benefit from trail riding.
After the speeches, the golden loppers came out, the ribbon was cut, and the serious fun began! Dan Brown, CRNRA Superintendent said, “National Parks are special places, and I am pleased to see this trail project complete, as it adds to the resources available to those who visit the CRNRA. It’s uplifting to see the community pull together for their park. This is a fun trail, built to last, and now we can all enjoy it.” And so we did.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 07 August 2009 )
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