Central Iowa Trail Association (CITA) announces the completion of Des Moines’ Ewing Park Flow Trail
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 6/13/2017
Contact: Aaron Vance
Email: info@centraliowatrails.com
Website: www.centraliowatrails.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/centraliowatrails
Des Moines: June 13, 2017: The Central Iowa Trail Association (CITA), a local chapter of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is pleased to announce the completion of the Ewing Park flow trails Wednesday, June 21st. The new trails, located west of the Ashley Okland Star Playground, is the culmination of seven years of fundraising and planning. Construction was done by Singletrack Trails, Inc. from Fraser, Colorado. CITA partnered with City of Des Moines Parks and Recreation to realize the vision of a new purpose-built trail for mountain bikers of all skill levels.
Brian Sheesley, long-time trail steward at Ewing Park, and a former CITA Board President has been an advocate of this project over the years. When asked what a flow trail adds to Des Moines he said, “this project brings a unique riding experience to the central Iowa area. The public/private partnership that created the trail will hopefully serve as a model for similar projects in the future.”
A flow trail takes a mountain biker on a gravity-fed, rollercoaster-like ride, with little pedaling and braking needed. These trails feature banked turns or berms, rolling terrain, and various jumps. As a rider descends and rolls up and down and side to side, they “flow” down the trail.
In addition, the new flow trails connect to the almost 5 miles of existing natural surface singletrack trails at Ewing Park. The existing trails are already enjoyed by mountain bikers, hikers, walkers, and trail runners.
This project was funded by grants from REI, Scheels, and Prairie Meadows. Rasmussen Bike Shop, Vanderpool Construction and 60 other individuals and organizations also sponsored the project. CITA is donating the flow trail to the City of Des Moines as part of its ongoing partnership with Des Moines City Parks.
Come and join us at Ewing Park, 1701 E McKinley Ave, Des Moines, IA 50320 for the trail’s opening night (weather permitting) on Wednesday, June 21, 6:30pm - 9pm. Join us for a ride, meet the builders, other riders, and help us celebrate the completion of Des Moines’ newest mountain biking-focused trail.
Central Iowa Trail Association (CITA) is a non-profit chapter of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) whose mission is to build and maintain dirt trails in Central Iowa. Formed in 1996, CITA works with local land managers to represent the mountain biking community for land access and building and maintaining trails. CITA builds and maintains single track trails, hosts group rides, skills development clinics & programs, and more.