Earth Riders Mountain Bike Club Announces the Shawnee Mission Park Mountain Bike Trail Improvement Project

The Shawnee Mission Park Mountain Bike Trail Improvement Project kicks off with a public project meeting and the first of many trail workdays.

Shawnee Mission, Kansas - Nov 10, 2004

Earth Riders Mountain Bike Club, an affiliate club of the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA), announced today the Shawnee Mission Park Mountain Bike Trail Improvement Project. In coordination with Johnson County Park and Recreation District (JCPRD), Earth Riders will lead the improvement and expansion of one of the oldest mountain bike trail systems in the Kansas City metro area. A public meeting will be held to launch the project at 9am Saturday, November 13th at the Boardroom at the JCPRD Office, 7900 Renner Road, Shawnee Mission, Kansas.


Shawnee Mission Park is centrally located in west suburban Kansas City, offering easy access to mountain bike trails for Kansas City residents. The Johnson County Park and Recreation District Master Plan for Shawnee Mission Park calls for the improvement and expansion of the mountain bike trails. Due to their ad hoc design, the current trails have suffered significant deterioration over the years from poor drainage and erosion. The Mountain Bike Trail Improvement Project will address these issues as well as plans to improve and expand the trail system. The improvements include implementing modern trail design to vastly improve drainage and erosion problems, improving trail flow, developing logical signage and maps, and ultimately building more miles of trail.


About Earth Riders Mountain Bike Club.
The Earth Riders Mountain Bike Club is based in Kansas City, MO. The club was founded in 1992 and has grown to over 250 members. The club actively works to acquire and maintain places to ride in the Midwest. They are an affiliate club of the International Mountain Bike Club (IMBA). They are the founders of the Midwest Mountain Bike Patrol - an affiliate of the National Mountain Bike Patrol.

Contact:

Earth Riders Mountain Bike Club

Sean Cairns, Project Coordinator
816-536-2647
<a href="mailto:seancairns@earthriders.org">seancairns@earthriders.org</a>
<a href="www.earthriders.com">www.earthriders.com</a>

Johnson County Park and Recreation District

Bill Maasen, Planning & Development Manager
913-894-3342
<a href="mailto:bill.maasen@jocogov.org">bill.maasen@jocogov.org</a>

Hi. I used to live in Lenexa and rode shawnee mission quite a lot. I now live in Colorado and will be back there for a couple of weeks at christmas and was planning on riding it, weather permitting. Will it be open and ridable at that time, or will it be closed for the work to be done? I was also curious about clinton. I heard a rumor before I moved that they were looking at permanently closing part/all of that trail system. Was that, in fact, just a rumor?

Thanks

Shawnee Mission Park will be open and rideable at all times during the rebuilding process. When a new trail is complete and ready to open the trail it replaces will be closed. The transition process from old trail to new will take less than an hour. It is possible however that the loop may get confusing for those who are familiar with the trail system and suddenly find themselves on an unfamiliar trail. Please bear with us, the final product will be outstanding.

I haven't heard anything about a closure at Clinton...unless you are talking about the proposal several years ago to put a private resort in the middle of the trail. As far as I know that effort was not approved. Clinton is alive and very well, some of the best trail in town.