A mountain biking jump course at Graham Hills Park in Pleasantville remains off limits as a consultant deemed it unsafe in a recent report submitted to Westchester County.
Westchester officials and local mountain bikers are working to get the course's safety standards up to snuff in hopes of reopening it this summer. The collaboration comes after consultant Jim Dellavalle, of Dellavalle Designs in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, found several problems with the course.
Some of the jumps at a short track are not constructed properly, and there are no signs to inform bikers of the level of difficulty for the trail, according to Dellavalle's June 9 report.
The easier tracks on the course are combined with more advanced tracks, “meaning these short track trails are learn at your own risk with no guidelines for your direction, progression or safety,” Dellavalle wrote.
The entrance to the park, which is off of the Saw Mill River Parkway near Marble Avenue in the village, could be hazardous, he wrote. Sediment is flowing into wetlands that needs to be rectified.
Dellavalle also detailed how riders could collide with each other on different parts of the course.
“Without any information on the trail head a rider could get seriously injured on this feature,” he wrote. “With proper signage and identification markers ahead of the features would make this design much more safe to utilize.”
County Attorney John Nonna said the park in its current condition shouldn’t be used, and that bikers who use it do so at their own risk. The county taped off the dangerous part of the mountain bike trail, Nonna said, only for the tape to be ripped down.
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“There are signs that say it shouldn’t be used, it’s closed,” Nonna said. “But people are using it anyway so we’re looking to put up more stringent signs.”
To reopen the course, the mountain biking community is working with the county to create safer tracks and put up signage. Bob Dillon, a coach with a boys mountain biking team in Pleasantville that is affiliated with the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, said those issues can be easily fixed.
Both Dillon and Jaymeson Leo, a coach for a Pleasantville girls mountain biking team, said they'd like the course back on track this summer.
"I think the county wants to find a solution that everyone can feel comfortable with as does the riding community," Dillon said. "I'm hopeful."
Concerns arose in May when it was discovered that jumps and plateaus had been altered with more dirt or logs to make them more difficult. County Executive George Latimer, along with Director of Park Facilities David DeLucia and Nonna, inspected the course, concerned that the county could be sued if a biker was injured.
While Dillon and Leo understood why the course was shut down, they called it a big loss. It's the only jump course in the area, Leo noted.
"There's not a lot for people and kids to be doing safely right now," Dillon said. "Mountain biking out in the woods is something that can comply with social distancing, [and] lets people get outside and exercise."
David Propper covers New Rochelle and the shore towns. Reach him at dpropper@lohud.com and follow him on Twitter: dg_props. Our local coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up for a digital subscription here.
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