My next trip

Today's post is about a place I will visit next year. It is Ray's MTB indoor park and it is situated in Cleveland, Ohio. This place is the first multi-terrain indoor bike park in the world. I will explain you how I'll get there, what I'll bring with me and why I chose that location for my next trip.

Though it is very long to travel by car from Quebec to Cleveland, it is not very complicated. From Riviere-du-Loup, I will drive on the highway 20 until Quebec city to cross the St-Laurent river. Then, I will exit on highway 40 West to drive through Montreal until Vaudreuil-Dorion. After that, highway 540 South will bring me back to highway 20. It ends at Quebec/Ontario line where it changes for 401 West. This highway will get me to the border of Canada and United States. I will then drive on highway 81 South and the 90 West to get to Cleveland. This trip takes about 16 hours by car, including some breaks to refresh and move. It seems very long but it is nothing when you're in good company (so are my friends!). We all speak English well so it won't be a problem if we need some help on the way.

What will I bring with me? Off course, my bike is the most important thing I need. I will bring my tools to work on my bike, to fix things up or just to make some adjustments while riding. The fact that I will ride there for three days will help me to know more about the park, my bike and my abilities. There is a technical assistance service there at the park so that I'll get some help if I break something on the bike or if I need advices to improve myself. Another point in preparing the trip is to be healthy and in a good physical condition. Riding there is easy when you simply want to have fun and ride safely, but it can become more difficult and dangerous if you want to get it technical and intense to improve in some parts of the park (jumps room for example). Being in a good physical condition helps to prevent bad injuries. The park in question is very safe, but the ambitions can sometimes lead to injuries... It's part of the sport!

Finally, I totally encourage this kind of park because it is complete. I mean that anyone who knows how to ride a bicycle can have fun in this centre. Plus, the fact that every rider has to respect a long and serious list of rules/behavior to adopt is making it accessible for anyone. The costs are low (around $50 for three days!) and the installations are professionals and well-adapted for kids, youth and adults. The centre is divised in different rooms with a principal path to ride between them. There is a off-bike section which consists in lunch tables, seats to watch the riders and a small cafeteria get some fast foooooooood! I have never seen any other park like this one so it convinced me to travel half a day to get there and make my show-off!! Seriously, as I said in a previous post, bicycle is my favorite sport and I definitly want to improve in it. I'll bring you some videos back from Ohio to show you next year!