IMBA director to attend Northwoods grand opening
David Wiens, executive director of the International Mountain Bicycling Association, will be a special guest Friday and Saturday for the grand opening ceremonies for the Northwoods Trails.
A ribbon cutting at the trailhead off Pullman Avenue will take place Friday for city officials and staff, ambassadors with The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce, and staff of IMBA and local bike shops.
On Saturday, a full-scale public grand opening featuring an entire day of rides, vendors and demonstrations will take place at the Cedar Glades trailhead.
“The opening of this worldclass trail system is the culmination of several years of cooperation between Hot Springs, Steuart Walton and Tom Walton and the Walton Family Foundation, without whose contributions the Northwoods Trail System never would have gotten off the ground,” Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs, said in a news release.
“We realized that Hot Springs had the opportunity to join Bentonville in providing the state of Arkansas with two trail systems that are the equal of any in America. Invaluable help and advice also was provided by Kalene Griffith, CEO of Visit Bentonville, who brought to us her experience in the creation of Bentonville’s incredible trail system.”
According to the release, Visit Hot Springs began construction in November 2017 on Phase One of the system of mountain biking trails. It has cooperated with Steuart Walton and Tom Walton and the Walton Family Foundation to construct the first 14-mile segment of the project, which will provide Hot Springs with an “important new tourism attraction” aimed at mountain bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
A $648,421 Walton Family Foundation grant for Phase One was matched by Visit Hot Springs.
Phase Two of the trail system will result in a 44.6-mile system of first-class biking trails in the property that incorporates pristine forested hills and three lakes. It is in the Cedar Glades area north of Whittington Avenue.
“David Wiens’ attendance at the dedication of our spectacular new Northwoods Trails System is validation of our dream that Phase One of this 44.6-mile system marks Hot Springs’ membership in the top level of mountain biking destinations in America,” Arrison said in the release. “The opening of Phase One of the Northwoods Trails marks the beginning of a recreational and economic treasure for our city. The fact that David Wiens recognizes the importance of what we intend to create here lends credence to our belief that Hot Springs will attract recreational and competitive mountain bike enthusiasts from across the country.”
Wiens is a former professional cross-country mountain bike racer, known for his six consecutive wins in the Leadville Trail 100 MTB mountain bike race including defeating Tour de France riders Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong, according to a biography provided by Visit
Hot Springs.
Wiens, a 2000 inductee to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, won the Leadville Trail
100 every year from 2003 to
2008. In 2007, he broke the seven-hour mark for the first time at 6:58:46 while holding off Landis by just under two minutes. In 2008, Wiens won again, beating seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong by just under two minutes and setting a new course record of
6:45:45.
Wiens was also the U.S. National Cross-country champion in 1993 and the U.S. National Marathon champion in 2004. He won two UCI World Cup races and numerous NORBA National Series races during his career.
In 2006, Wiens founded Gunnison Trails, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing single-track trails on public lands adjacent to Gunnison, Colo.
In 2012, Wiens created the Mountain Sports program at Western Colorado State University in Gunnison. Mountain Sports is a sports marketing brand unique to the higher education landscape and offers training and competition in multiple disciplines of skiing, cycling, snowboarding and trail running, the biography said.
Wiens joined the board of directors for IMBA in January
2016 and was appointed to the position of board chairman in November 2016.
On Friday, opening remarks will be given at 3 p.m. by Traci Berry, trails coordinator for Visit Hot Springs, Hot Springs Mayor Pat McCabe, Wiens, Gary Vernon of the Walton Family Foundation, and Arrison. The ribbon cutting will follow at
3:15 p.m.
A celebration will take place at 6 p.m. at Low Key Arts, 118 Arbor St.
The public ribbon cutting will take place at noon Saturday, along with demonstrations by Orbea and Rocky Mountain Bikes and a skills track courtesy of Fasttrack. From
1-3 p.m., the climbing wall at Cedar Glades will be open, and the SHAM Cyclocross event begins at 1 p.m.
At 2 p.m., timed competitions will challenge people to build a bike, fix a flat and toss a bike, with the grand opening ending at 5 p.m.
Vendors on site Saturday include Orbea Bikes, Rocky Mountain Bikes, Lost 40 Brewing, the Red Bull Land Rover LD Taurus mobile DJ vehicle, Itz Gud Fud food truck, Brandos Food Truck, a live performance by Brian Martin, Ouachita Rides and Guides, IMBA, Central Arkansas Trail Alliance, Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism, Parkside Cycle, Spa City Cycling, Vandoit, Hot Springs Thoroughbreds NICA Team, DOME Life, and Raid the Rock AR.
The weekend’s events will wrap up Sunday with the annual Attila the Hun Bike Race in Cedar Glades Park.