Since 2008, two local mountain biking enthusiasts have had a dream.
After spending the day mountain biking on the North Shore a few years ago, Derek Kost and friend Jason Proctor were on their way home talking about how convenient it would be to have a place to ride in and around the Surrey area that could rival some of the great riding terrain found in other parts of Metro Vancouver.
Kost remembered a large wooded area he had ridden through in the past and suggested he take Proctor on a tour of the overgrown green space located north of 108 Avenue between Surrey Drive (148 Street) and 143A Street. The space was known as Invergarry Park.
The area was once used as a dump site for construction materials and had been largely left in disrepair – essentially a collection of walking trails covered in blackberry bushes and fast-growing weeds.
But the two men knew they had found a diamond in the rough, and with the help from a group of volunteers under the banner of Dirt West, began to upgrade Invergarry Park and various other locations nearby.
After partnering with the local mountain biking organization SORCE (Surrey Off Road Cycling Enthusiasts), Kost and Proctor approached the City of Surrey about the possibility of turning a portion of Invergarry Park into a haven for mountain bikers.
With help from people in the riding community, the pair began to turn their vision into reality.
“We brought in shovels and pick axes and a lot of sore backs later we started to see the park come together,” said Proctor, 31.
“And we tried to pattern this park after what everybody wants in free riding, and that’s trails like they have in Whistler.”
Once the city came on board, the legitimacy of their work began to take shape.
“We all of a sudden had a maintenance budget and we were able to guide the construction here,” said Kost, 30.
“Prior to the city making it an official bike park, everything was hand-built, but we soon realized that two guys were far less-effective than joining forces with the city.”
The park now has between 50 and 100 feet of vertical drop and features terrain for all mountain biking skill levels, including a pump track, free ride trails with intermediate table top jumps, and a high-speed advanced gap jump trail.
An official opening for the Invergarry Bike Park is set for Sept. 1 between 11-2 p.m. at Wallace Drive and Surrey Road.
For more information visit http://www.sorcebikeclub.org/club-news.html or http://dirtwest.blogspot.ca/search/label/Invergarry