Rogate mountain bike park set to reopen following redevelopment

Rogate mountain bike park has undergone extensive redevelopment following a takeover by new owners.
Richard Kelly and Sam Bowell at Rogate B1KE ParkRichard Kelly and Sam Bowell at Rogate B1KE Park
Richard Kelly and Sam Bowell at Rogate B1KE Park

In late 2017 the running of the park, near Midhurst, was taken on by B1KE.

Following the change of management Richard Kelly, owner of B1KE, has been working with site manager Sam Bowell to improve both the safety and appeal of the site.

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The site has been closed 2 weeks for the work to be carried out but is set to reopen today.

The park has been closed for two weeks for redevelopmentThe park has been closed for two weeks for redevelopment
The park has been closed for two weeks for redevelopment

Richard brought in diggers to work alongside the trail builders to extensively redesign the lower part of the hill while making tweaks and doing maintenance on the top section.

The team has focused on keeping the fun and challenging aspects of the existing features while making sure the trails are both safe and integrated into the environment.

Richard said: “It’s all about being a known risk.

“It’s not sanitisation.

The trails are clearly marked and designed to integrate into the environmentThe trails are clearly marked and designed to integrate into the environment
The trails are clearly marked and designed to integrate into the environment

“Key features are maintained, I don’t think we’ve removed any features but we’ve added some.

“It’s just about making sense of it [the trails].”

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Rogate B1KE Park sees up to 150 riders on a busy day and has been a mountain bike destination since the 90s.

Olly Wilkins, professional mountain biker, said: “Rogate is a legendary spot for me.

Rogate is built with progression and fun in mindRogate is built with progression and fun in mind
Rogate is built with progression and fun in mind

“I rode and raced there as a kid and still ride there as an adult.

“To see it get an overhaul is amazing.

“I got a chance to sneak preview the new trails and they’re something special.

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“The mountain bike riding in our area just goes from strength to strength.”

The trails are clearly graded for difficultyThe trails are clearly graded for difficulty
The trails are clearly graded for difficulty

Since taking it over last year B1KE have worked hard to build on the existing trail grading system to ensure riders understand the difficulty of each of the trails and features.

Sam said: “[I want to] make it recognisable as a bike park.

“That beach bum vibe on bikes”

Richard said: “It’s that third place: home, pub and bike park”

He added it was somewhere riders could ‘meet like minded people and have fun on bikes’.

Rogate B1KE Park is open seven days a week from 9am to 8pm.

To ride the venue visitors must be a B1KE member.

Free or paid for memberships are available but free members must buy a day pass for £5 to ride.

For more information visit www.rogatedh.co.uk/ or www.b1ke.com/

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