Mountain biking coming to Prairie Creek?

MUNCIE -- Eric Roberson frequently drives to Brown County State Park to mountain bike on the scenic, roller-coaster-like trails.

If the Muncie Parks Board approves a plan to be presented on Tuesday, Roberson won't have to drive his knobby-tired bike to Brown County, New Castle or Anderson to find a wooded, off-road trail.

A 15-mile mountain bike trail is being proposed on the southeast side of Prairie Creek Reservoir.

"It'd be better for the local economy to have people come here," said Roberson, 35, a mechanic at Kirk's Bike Shop. "It's great outdoor exercise, and it teaches environmental preservation as people become more familiar with nature. I like the freedom and enjoyment of being in the woods, away from traffic, away from people beeping at you."

Muncie is already a destination for road bikes because of the Cardinal Greenway, the longest rail-to-trail project in the state.

The mountain bike trail is being proposed by Bobby Patterson, superintendent of the reservoir; Layne Cameron, an associate director of communications at Ball State University; Kyle Johnson, Geographic Information Systems coordinator for Delaware County; and Greg Bauer, plant manager at Spartech Plastics.

Patterson will present the plan to the park board at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday in city hall.

Bike trails have less impact on natural areas than horse trails and dirt bike/all-terrain vehicle trails, both of which already exist at the reservoir, Roberson said.

A mountain bike weighs 25-30 pounds, an ATV weighs 300-800 pounds, and a riding horse weighs 1,100-1,300 pounds.

"Hiking and biking trails are the least damaging," Roberson said. "Horses can rip the ground apart, and ATVs cause noise pollution and exhaust pollution because they have little emission control."
Patterson said the area of the reservoir being proposed for the bike trail is under-utilized. The only current use is to train and exercise hunting dogs.

"It would bring more people to the park and actually have a positive environmental impact," Patterson said.

"We have a group of volunteers willing to jump in and do it, and it creates the possibility of bringing in outside financial resources. Anything we can do to improve the health and lifestyle of Delaware County residents is a positive."

Most of the proposed site is wooded, while the rest has been taken over by bush honeysuckle (introduced from Europe), one of the 10 most invasive plants in Indiana.

Bush honeysuckle grows so densely it shades out everything on the forest floor, often leaving nothing but dirt, according to the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society. Some species release chemicals into the soil to inhibit other plant growth, effectively poisoning the soil.

"There is plenty of honeysuckle out there," said Cameron, whose group would attack the honeysuckle infestation if the trail is built. "That ought to make the Audubon folks happy."

While there are no mountains at the reservoir, it's not entirely flat, Patterson said. There would be some small climbs and descents on the trail, plus the mountain bikers would add some logs to jump over.

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Source: http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20100426/NEWS01/4260314/Mountain-biking-coming-to-Prairie-Creek

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