Vehicle causes damage to new Lake Country bike park

Truck damages bike park

Photo: Contributed

The park wasn’t even officially open when Lake Country parks department staff were forced to make repairs.

Parks crews discovered one of the trails at the new Lake Country Bike Park on Okanagan Centre Road West had been damaged when someone in a pickup truck decided it was a good idea to drive their vehicle on it.

The vehicle slid off the path and down a small embankment.

Crews made the necessary repairs to the trail Wednesday morning.

Lake Country spokesperson Karen Miller says the incident occurred sometime Tuesday night after members of the Mountain Bikers of the Central Okanagan conducted final testing at the park.

“We just took all the fencing down. The final bit of maintenance was done yesterday and we tested it out last night,” Miller told Castanet News.

“My understanding is someone accessed it from the west side, beyond the park.

“Because it is an open park, I guess someone could drive and four-by-four up the side of a mountain if they wanted to.”

RCMP were called and are investigating.

Ironically, most of the bike park opened Wednesday, although an official grand opening isn’t scheduled until May 3.

Much of the construction within the six-hectare park took place last fall.

The bike park includes:

• Beginner and intermediate pump tracks
• A dirt jump zone with progression-focused jump lines for all levels, from beginner to expert
• A drop zone with three lines for intermediate to expert riders
• An intermediate technical skills loop
• Multi-use and gravity trails ranging from beginner to intermediate
• A mulch jump for practicing big air
• An adaptive mountain bike trail for greater inclusivity

Castanet has reached out to the RCMP for further information.

Photo: Karen Miller