It hasn't started snowing yet in Cleveland, but that didn't stop several hundred mountain bikers from flocking to Ray's Indoor MTB Park in Cleveland, Ohio last weekend for the season's grand opening celebration. In addition to checking out many new trail modifications, the weekend was also a chance to watch and ride with professionals including Fisher's Nat Ross and Greg Watts, Mongoose's Chris Smith and Chris Akrigg, Giant's Jeff Lenosky, Black Market's Adam Hauk, Brooklyn's Anson Wellington and Cannondale's George Ryan and Aaron Chase.
So far, Ray's Indoor MTB Park is still the only of its kind in the world, attracting riders from as far away as Canada on a regular basis, but primarily serves the Ohio and midwest-area states once the freeze sets in and trails turn to mush or frozen mush, as the case may be. The park is seasonal, so it's open in the winter time only; during the summer they build new trails and make improvements to old trails.
Ray's expanded to 97,000 square feet this year by adding a new room for beginner riders. The trails focus on building basic skills including riding off small ledges, off-camber turns, logs, rock gardens and skinnies, but everything is kept really close to the ground and safe for a good introduction to the MTB world without any bad crashes. All the trail areas are interconnected by the XC loop that circumnavigates the entire riding area, including hills that climb into the rafters, and can be combined with the beginner and sport riding areas to create a 10-mile ride that takes over an hour for an average rider to complete.
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For intermediate riders, the Moen speed-trials course has been rebuilt. Instead of a one long interconnected trail, it's comprised of a big deck with more than a dozen small trails that you can hit to improve you technical skill. They range from fairly easy ladder bridges to super skinny balance beams to a baby six-pack for jumping.
There's still plenty for advanced riders including the Subaru Street Park, the GT Jump Camp and foam pit, the Gary Fisher Pump track, several different jump lines and the Mongoose Expert area with several North Shore-style skills trails.
Ray's is located just over 5 miles west of Downtown Cleveland with affordable hotels nearby and convenient shuttles that eliminate the need to rent a car. For more information go to Raysmtb.com.
The crowd at Ray's anxiously awaits a volley of swag that Aaron Chase was getting ready to hand out.
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