Sheffield Bike Park announce plans to create an indoor mountain bike park somewhere in or around Sheffield.

>>> More trails for Sheffield Parkwood Springs?

Indoor bike parks were in the news round about this time last year. That time it was the Dirt Factory bike park project based in the Manchester area.

The Manchester Dirt Factory is a grand project still on the lookout for premises. This new Sheffield Bike Park project is claiming that it may even be up and running before the end of this year; “Well before October” it what the organisers are saying.

What are they trying to do?

Sheffield Bike Park: “A big cavernous space full to the rafters with fun stuff to ride silly bikes on. A place where you could learn skills, get even fitter, meet friends, have a laugh, take a break in a cafe and not worry about weather or access rights or walkers or cars or horses or landowners.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if it was a community enterprise and not for profit so it could apply for grants and all the riders could get involved and feel like it was theirs.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a range of terrain including climbs and descents, pump track and trails, big jumps and little jumps, and even a wooden bowl. A cafe. Bike hire. Video screenings. Barbecues.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if you could explore lines and link terrain, build new stuff, challenge yourself and others and progress.

“We think so, and we’re going to try to make it happen.”

How will it differ to the Dirt Factory?

The two indoor parks sound like they’ll be sort of similar to each other.

Manchester Dirt Factory will have a number of bike trails, pump tracks and jump lines sculpted from shipping containers and recycled dirt.

And Sheffield Bike Park?

“We will have little indoor hills with challenging technical climbs and fun little descents.

“We will have twisty trails with berms and drops and gaps and hips.

“We will have pump tracks with endless scope to improve your technique.

“We will have lumps for trials type stuff.

“We will have a wooden bowl to swoop and carve around.

“And we will have jumps, oh man we will have jumps, and not just big intimidating stomach churning jumps only for the heavy of testicle, but fun little jumps to start anyone off, and hips to left and right, and medium jumps that just flow and flow, jumps that get you high in every sense.”

The folk at Sheffield Bike Park are a non-profit social enterprise founded to provide all-weather facilities for the practice and promotion of non-traditional cycle sports.

Sheffield Bike Park: “A business model and viable plan is in place and they currently negotiating a lease on a suitable ex-industrial building in Sheffield.”

As is the way with these things, they will be launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds once the lease stuff has been agreed.