Ray's Indoor MTB Park - Milwaukee Grand Opening

Feb 1, 2011 at 21:53

Pinkbike traveled to the cold Northern U.S. town of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to attend the grand opening of Ray's Indoor MTB Park. Check out all three videos from the event, as well as so many photos that you'll feel like you were actually there!

Why would Pinkbike get on a plane and travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the dead of Winter? For a very good reason, actually: the Grand Opening of Ray's Indoor MTB Park. If you haven't seen what Ray and his crew have done with their Cleavland park, I wouldn't blame you for asking why one would need an indoor park for mountain biking. But delve a little deeper and you'll see the reasons. Firstly, it's all about location. All of the riders out there with year-long golden tans may not understand at first, but those on the East coast don't need it explained to them: riding in freezing temps gets old, fast. Ray's gives riders the opportunity to shed eight of the nine layers required to ride bikes during this time of the year in Wisconsin, and to get on the pedals and keep those handling skills sharp for when spring rolls around. Rider moral in Milwaukee has no doubt reached an all time high for this time of the year. Ray's also allows riders to test their skills on obstacles that they may otherwise never get to ride. From tricky skinny bridges, to teeter totters, elevators, and even a foam pit, Ray's 90,000+ square feet of terrain is an entirely new experience for a large number of riders.


Watch the video to see the action at Ray's



The sprawling park is split up into different sections according to skill level and whether you want to test your luck on bridges and obstacles, or get some air under your tires on a jump line. There is, of course, the surprisingly involved XC loop that also allows you to incorporate many of the more technical lines if you desire, as well as both a foam pit (complete with time delay camera that lets you see how close you came to making the trick) to practice your moves in and a wooden pump track to see how many laps you can do before reaching critical levels of exhaustion. Add in the massive street park that resembles something you'd likely see in a video game, and four different jump lines (from beginner to expert), and you'll begin to see how one could easily spend day after day inside Ray's.

I had seen both photos and video of the first Ray's Indoor park in Cleavland, so I though that I was coming in with an idea of what to expect. Not so much. It became apparent immediately after walking in through the front doors that I was in for total sensory overload. It could be the fact that I had just come in from snow and temperatures as cold as a witch's teat, or maybe the 90,000+ square feet of terrain at my disposal, possibly even the warm controlled climate and music filled interior, but I was floored by what I saw. After rushing through the obligatory signing away of my life, I pulled on my lid and headed out to explore my options.


The first zone that I went to, with probably a bit too much overconfidence, was the Expert section. Being from B.C., people always assume that I must have some sort of innate skill when it comes to anything that happens to be wooden and elevated. The opposite is true, unfortunately. Regardless, I rolled in like I owned the joint and was swiftly put in my place - on the ground and upside down! There are some very difficult skinny sections here that use natural curved logs, but the tricky stuff is the interactive features. Yes, interactive. How does a weight activated elevator sound? Roll on and the floor slowly drops you down by about three feet as you, hopefully, manage to hold a steady trackstand as you lose elevation. You are then dumped into a skinny line that looks like it was pulled straight from the misty and wet forest of North Vancouver. Once you get a handle on that you can move on over to the sliding bridge - this one forces you to combine a bit of momentum with those trackstanding skills that you've been practicing on the elevator. Roll on with a bit of speed, grab a handful of brake, and hope that you make it to the other side before your sense of balance runs out.


After quickly discovering that being from B.C. doesn't necessarily mean that I can successfully navigate a wooden bridge, I sheepishly made my way over to the Sport section where the lines are both longer and lower to the ground. Riders have about fifteen different routes to choose from when dropping in, some diverging from their original direction to cross over other lines, meaning that the possibilities are nearly limitless. Most of the wood in this section starts off quite wide, well over two feet, and tapers down as you get nearer to the end. You'll have to clean gentle 'totters and chain bridges at this point, but also some very cool imported rock and log features. Speaking of rock, to the far left of this area is a massive seventy foot long rock garden. Real rocks, real dirt, and possibly really hard depending on your skill set. While it may look easy in the photo, it was challenging to keep your momentum up through here without getting loose. More than one rider ended up with the bike trying to ride them through the first few rough feet of this very cool section.


Get the word on Ray's from the man himself:



The amount of options available to riders is what really makes Ray's a special place. There are the sections described above for those who want to session lines and progress their skills, but there is also a bigger than expected XC loop laid out in a figure eight format. This isn't some hokey pokey track that was added as an afterthought, it's a full on course that incorporates elevation change by using both the upper and lower levels of the building. At one point on the loop you are on a catwalk high above the park and traversing over the foam pit, watching as kids huck themselves with abandon. On your journey around the building you'll find fast open sections, rollers to pump through, and even a technical rock strewn climb that can easily trip you up if you aren't paying close attention. And just in case that isn't enough, you always have the option of detouring into the Sport section to make the loop more of a challenge. It was very cool to see Lycra-clad XC riders weaving in and out of the course at the same time as a BMX'er was spinning over the spine in the Street Park.



Many riders spent their time doing laps on one of the four jump lines that are intertwined within the park. The beginner line featured mellow lips and long, safe transitions where I spotted even the youngest shredders pushing their luck. But it was the Super Rhythm jumps that saw the most action throughout the weekend, especially by the pros on hand. Proper sized tables, steep lips, as well as step-ups and rollers are all featured on the this line and it was awesome to see Zink, Voreis, and the rest of the crew make their way through the set.


Time lapse of Ray's Milwaukee coming to life:



Are your bags packed yet? Even if you are able to ride outdoors this winter without donning a survival suit, Ray's Indoor MTB park is still worth the trip to the cold Northern town of Milwaukee.

Check out the Ray's website for more information.