Volunteers and workers bring new bike park to Cody

Posted 5/11/17

The president of Park County Pedalers, a dedicated group of bikers with no formal membership, Gallagher has spent the past decade working tirelessly through a bureaucratic maze and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to build one of the finest …

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Volunteers and workers bring new bike park to Cody

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If John Gallagher can’t inspire you to go play in the dirt, there might be something wrong with you.

The president of Park County Pedalers, a dedicated group of bikers with no formal membership, Gallagher has spent the past decade working tirelessly through a bureaucratic maze and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to build one of the finest municipal bike parks in the nation. 

It cost $32,000 just to have an archeology study done. Then there were mining withdrawals, environmental assessments, countless meetings with politicians and lawyers and enough paperwork to cause most to forget their goals.

“There were plenty of times I was close to walking away,” Gallagher said.

Now, just days after qualifying for his first senior discount at the local grocery, the end is in sight: The Beck Lake Bike Park is about two weeks from opening to the general public. Free of charge. And Gallagher, who has been riding in the dirt since before mass production mountain bikes were available, is about to realize his dream.

The park, with 10 miles of single track, a pump track and three massive jump lines for all levels of riders including ramps and drops as large as 6 feet, cost about $350,000 — all raised by the local pedalers. Before you think that’s a lot to spend, consider that a similar park in Boulder, Colorado, cost nearly $3 million to build.

Gallagher is the IT manager at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. According to everyone involved with the project, he has worked tirelessly to support biking issues in the area. Yet he’s not the sort to brag. He constantly points to the club’s board of directors, including club treasurer Ward Dominick, who has been on  the board during the entire fight, and volunteers as the impetus behind realizing the goal. They point right back at him.

“John’s the guy that’s making all this happen,” Beverly Perkins said while looking over the new facility. “He’s building world-class recreation for this area.”

Rick Manchester, director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities in Cody, is thrilled to have the additional features at the bike park after the single track trail was built last year.

“It’s getting close to visitors coming to Cody to ride the park, and then maybe going to Yellowstone,” Manchester said.

He’s worked with Gallagher over the years and describes him as “driven.” The two worked through much of the bureaucratic maze together and had many of what Manchester called “discussions.”

Yet in the end, Manchester — who is also the director of the Shoshone Recreation District and sits on the governor’s task force on outdoor recreation — helped Gallagher and Park County Pedalers get their largest funding source of more than $100,000. And you can tell that he admires Gallagher’s tenacity.

“John knows what he wants and how to do it,” Manchester said.

Those wanting to ride can’t wait. Literally. Gallagher is pleading for riders to wait until the construction is finished. The trails are in place but the designer, Shea Ferrell of Flow Ride Concepts, is still working out the kinks to ensure the jumps are safe and the trails ride flawlessly. Heavy equipment is still on site moving some of the 3,300 yards of dirt used to build the park.

While Gallagher works to make the park one of the best public bike parks in the nation, he won’t be taking the jumps.

“Riders will be throwing back flips off the stuff we have. It’s stuff I’ll never do,” he admits.

Having access to trails is important for many in the area. It helped keep the board of directors sane during the long years of struggle.

“We already had so much great riding in the area we could afford to be patient,” Gallagher said.

The Pedalers won’t have to do advertising. Thousands of riders from hundreds of miles away will make the trip to Cody to use the park. 

“This is one of the top municipal bike parks in the nation,” Ferrell said.

Flow Ride Concepts has designed courses internationally. The company put more into the park than it was obligated to do, according to Gallagher.

“They built the park for a set fee. We would’ve been happy with half of what they did,” Gallagher said.

The location and terrain inspired the construction team, according to Ferrell.

The investment made by organizations such as the Shoshone Recreation District, the Park County Parks and Recreation Department, many local businesses and the fundraising efforts by the club, including a sold-out benefit concert, are all about to pay off as thousands of those who like to play in the dirt start pouring into Cody to ride.

There is still work to do. The grand opening is still a month away, even though the park opens earlier. And it will still be six months to a year before all the signage and the entrance are complete.

Gallagher is already talking about his next 10-year project: finding young board members to mentor that won’t take no for an answer.

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