ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – “All right guys. You guys are going to love this place,” Royal Reynolds said as he pedaled his bike on the brand-new trail at Green Hill Park in Roanoke County. The youngster is new to mountain biking, having just received his bike as a Christmas gift.
That’s exactly the reaction Dick Howard was looking for when he and his friend Hank Ebert set out to build the trail.
“You could call me the grandfather of mountain biking,” Howard said.
It would be hard to disagree. In the 1970s, Howard was the first to mountain bike in the Roanoke Valley. Long before mountain biking was even a term.
Decades later, now with a bit of wear on his tires, he created a place for today’s generation.
“I started thinking that perhaps this would be a good place for a beginner trail because there are no other places here in the valley,” he said, affirming a commonly known fact about off-road riding in the region, which tends to be a bit tough on the newest riders.
Howard enlisted the help of Board of Supervisors member Martha Hooker, who got the idea approved and paved the way for a small amount of signage.
“It’s in a small wooded area that is in the floodway and the flood plain. So it just made sense that this was a good use for this type of project,” Hooker said.
“And you know, it’s ready to go. Today’s sort of the grand opening,” Howard said.
The trail can be found off the parking lot on the immediate right, just after the park entrance.
On the night of the trail’s christening, Roanoke College cycling coach and former Olympian Shelly Olds gathered members of Roanoke Star Cycling to give them directions before they headed into the woods.
“Okay, first lap. It’s to see where the roots are [and] where the corners are. And then we’ll stop, and we’ll talk about the types of things we’re going to work on this trail, which will be cornering, braking, looking through the corners, level pedals over the roots, okay, it’s gonna be fun,” Olds said.
The trail is about a half mile of level, twisty track, and relatively free of rocks and roots – perfect for beginners, once they have mastered pavement.
“They love life. They love learning. They love being outside with each other, riding bikes in nature,” Olds said. “If you are standing here, you can hear them in the forest yelling screaming, laughing.”
Olds gets plenty of support from parents, who help shepherd the groups through the woods. Even here on this short trail. No easy task.
“Honestly, the fact that we have Roanoke Star Cycling to create mountain biking opportunities for youth here in Roanoke, where mountain biking is such an integral part of the community. I think it’s so important. So, so many young people on bikes, and yes, keep them off the phone,” said Ruth Cassell, a mother with two sons on the team. Cassell is here to ride her own bike, helping keep track of the riders.
“Well, I think it’s a lot of fun for like learning how to corner and the curves are fun,” said rider Lily Ackerman who is 13 years old.
“It’s a little bit easy,” said 8-year-old Ashby Cochran.
“There’s a lot of cool turns. There’s a lot of good, um roots you can go ahead and learn to ride over,” said Royal Reynolds.
“It’s turny,” said 8-year-old John Arney.
”They’re pretty hard, but I can still do it,” said Judd Copeland of the trails’ twists and turns. “That’s thankful so I don’t hit a tree,” he said.
“It’s just been a win, win situation for a bunch of people who have been involved in this thing. It was all free,” said Howard who donated his time and expertise.
A new generation – and a new trail, just as spring presents a new season.