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WINONA LAKE - Wanting to promote the town of Winona Lake, as well as hiking and mountain biking, the Winona Lake Chapter of the Northern Indiana Mountain Biking Association is working on a trail system it hopes will do both.
"What we have is a hiking/biking trail that has multiple purposes," Eric Graves, president of NIMBA-WLC, said. "High schools can use it for cross country. The mountain biking organization is taking over responsibility of upkeep on the trail. We're trying to expand it and get more mileage out of it."
The trail system begins on Boys City Dr. in Winona Lake and is open to the public once an individual pays a one-time fee of $20. The trail is open seven days a week and will be open for cross country skiing in the winter. The trail will only be closed for extreme conditions, said Graves.
According to Graves, a group of bikers interested in training for racing approached Biomet president/CEO Dane Miller about access to the land. Miller gave it the OK in the spring. The town of Winona Lake owns 15 acres of the land, while Miller owns 98.
When the the trail first started it was just under three miles, it has now stretched to 7.5 miles.
"Ideally, we want a 10-12-mile trail system that could be used for hiking and biking," Graves said. "There's not a hiking/biking trail around here, that's the problem with Indiana. We want to try and open up the trail for both groups. We have a well organized team."
Just after this interview was conducted, Graves and friends went out and rode on the trail - it was 8 p.m. and dark.
During the phone conversation, Graves spoke of the beauty of the trail.
The Winona Lake Chapter of NIMBA was started in June, since then the organization has built a new bridge for one of the trails. The group would like to place a plaque or sign at the entrance of the trail.
The group meets to discuss the trail the last Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m.
NIMBA-WLC has already seen positive feedback from the community and various organizations.
Three different organizations have donated money to be used for the trail. A group of bikers called the Area Wheelers donated $500, while Power Bar and Sun Ringle each donated $1,000.
Power Bar - a nutrition bar company - donated the $1,000 check in the name of its DIRT program - Direct Impact on Rivers and Trails.
As for Sun Ringle, marketing director Greg Demopoulos said: "The way we looked at it, as far as us, it's our industry. It's a huge advantage to us. We can utilize it for our products. It's an advantage that it's so close. It's an investment for us."
The cycle division at Sun Ringle is made entirely of avid bikers themselves, according to Demopoulos.
The trail will see two races per year, where riders will race against the clock.
