NEDERLAND — With water splashing and mud splattering, the Vortex Bike Park in Nederland was giving the Nederland Middle School Mountain Bike Team a great practice and challenge after a September rain. 

One sentence summed up the experience: The kids were loving it!

The Vortex Bike Park is on East 1st Street in Nederland. It was built by a few dads in the Nederland area who are mountain biking advocates. The land is owned by Ron Mitchell. 

Rex Madden, a mountain biking advocate dad, said, “It’s a free, community-built park. It’s a great example of a volunteer project directly benefiting the community.”

A Nederland Middle School Mountain Bike Team member gets some air at the start on the Vortex Bike Track.

Photo by Sara Sandstrom

The park is open for anyone to use. 

Jesse Seavers, another one of the dads, brought his equipment from his business, High Performance Earthworks, and helped build the track. 

Now the kids can jump over “The Hip” and fly off the bridge. They are developing skills on this track that they can use on other trails and parks they go to. 

Arthur Nelson has been coaching the middle school team for two years. This year there are 27 boys and girls on the team. Pausing and looking at the kids going around and around on the track, Nelson smiled and said, “It is hard not to enjoy this.”

He said that the team rides on trails near Nederland Elementary School, on Magnolia, and now have been able to enjoy and learn on this great track in town. 

One of the sixth graders on the team said he couldn’t ride all the elements on the track two weeks ago. Now he can. 

Members of the of Nederland Middle School Mountain Bike Team ride in the mud and through the puddles during practice.

Photo courtesy of Rachel Kobi

Another sixth grader said this was her first time at the Vortex Park and she was liking it.

Thanks to some determined parents, and some generosity from a landowner, the Vortex Bike Park is a great resource for youth and anyone who want to take a ride on the track.