A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Sweetwater Bike Park on Bonita’s San Miguel Road was held May 9.
The bike park will be on a 4.2- acre site in Sweetwater Regional Park between San Miguel Road and SR-125. Park visitors can bike straight from existing trails directly to the site or from the adjacent campground.
The bike park will be the county’s first bike skills park.
“I have two kids who are super excited about this,” said Chula Vista resident Skii Fleeton.
According to Fleeton, her son, 15-year-old Ryjer, checks to see if work on the bike park is started every time they drive by. He is on the Eastlake High School mountain bike team.
“It will be completed by the end of 2019,” said trails coordinator with the San Diego Mountain Bike Association Ben Stone.
“We had three different public meetings, we reached out to local businesses,” said park project manager with the county of San Diego Chelsea Sanders regarding the input on the park.
“It’s a nice complement to what we’re doing in the Sweetwater Valley. I’m grateful for the blessing of the Sweetwater Valley Civic Association,” said County of San Diego Supervisor Greg Cox. “We’re working on plans for the Otay Valley Regional Park — hopefully next year.”
A San Diego Composite student, 15-year-old Tyson Lennard said, “I’m excited about the pump trails and jump lines because there are not many trails that have that.” Lennard is on a cycling team.
The bike park will cost almost $1.9 million and the funds come from the county’s general fund and from various parks and recreation funds, according to director of communications for Supervisor Greg Cox Luis Monteagudo Jr.
The groundbreaking took place during May as it is National Bike Month.
“National Bike Month is an opportunity to bring awareness to cycling,” said Fleeton, who is a member of the San Diego Mountain Biking Association and Chula Vista resident. The association had a table with information at the groundbreaking.
