Cycle
The city of Golden, Colorado is considering building small sections of natural surface trail adjacent to existing bike paths. Called SingleTrack Sidewalks (STS), the program is being led by The Golden Giddyup, a local non-profit focused on trail development in the area.
The six proposed sections of trail would add up to only about 1.26 miles. The trails would be aimed at beginner level riders but sound like they’d be a fun addition for just about anyone. The first step would be the construction of a pilot trail from Apex Park to 6th Avenue next to the existing bike path. The Golden Giddyup is collecting comments from the community on its website before a public meeting on the topic August 28th.
Bentonville, Arkansas and Eagle, Colorado have already built singletrack sidewalks to encourage kids to ride their bikes to school. The programs have seen great success in both communities with widespread praise coming from both kids and adults. Eagle has continued to expand its system with fun new sections that include manmade berms and rollers. The city sees the trails as a great way to encourage a healthy lifestyle and a stepping stone for people to do more advanced riding in the future.
In Bentonville kids have truly caught the cycling bug. Cycling programs have been added the school curriculum and the junior categories at the local race leagues often pull the highest numbers. It’s amazing what a few small segments of trail can do!
