By the end of the year, University of Canberra Stromlo Forest Park will have a new BMX freestyle jump facility. Currently, the site is a construction area, covered in bulldozers and wire fences; but the ACT Government intends the site to be ready come November, in time to host Australia’s biggest BMX event.

The $70,000 facility will have 10 tracks with jumps, rollers, and berms – for the uninitiated, constructed mounds of dirt that riders use to gain air and perform tricks; a series of small hills and valleys that riders use to generate speed without pedalling; and curved embankments that help riders maintain speed while navigating turns, respectively.

The facility will be suitable for both beginners and elite cyclists, and was designed in consultation with user groups, Yvette Berry, ACT Minister for Sport and Recreation, and Chris Steel, Special Minister of State, said.

Bike riding had significantly increased since COVID, Ms Berry said. The new facility would be “a wonderful place” for bike riders young and old.

Tyson Jones-Peni, co-founder of the Freestyle ACT BMX Club, said he was excited the facility is going ahead. It will allow the biking community to run events and for young riders to enjoy BMX as a lifetime pursuit.

“It’s going to be massive for the community and for BMX as a sport, not only Australia-wide but worldwide,” Mr Jones-Peni said.

“It’s pretty forward-thinking of Stromlo Forest Park to include freestyle BMX when it is still an emerging sport.”

Rhys Williams, his fellow co-founder, believes BMX gives kids a focus, and something to aim for, whether it be learning a new trick or how to do a particular jump. Putting in that effort is a life lesson, applicable in other areas of life, like schoolwork, he thinks.

“As soon as you hop on a BMX bike, you try to figure out how to jump further or higher, and we’re going to have a facility that allows us to do it.”

The first major event held at the new facility will be the ACT Jam, Australia’s biggest BMX freestyle event.

“Every year, we have the world’s best riders come, so to be able to unveil a brand-new facility, and then have the world’s best riders be on that facility, will be just as powerful as watching the Olympics on TV,” Mr Jones-Peni said. “Kids are going to be able to rub shoulders with the best of the best riding and doing the best tricks.”

Mr Steel’s vision is that Stromlo Forest Park be a world-class facility attracting riders from all around Australia, as well as Canberra’s premier mountain biking, cycling, and recreational facility.

The government and the University of Canberra recently invested $2.8 million in the park to create a new flow trail from Stromlo to the Cotter; and to develop a five-year Tracks and Trails Plan (public consultation later this year).

The government is also building a new car park, which will open by the end of the year. Eventually, Mr Steel hopes, the park will have a hotel and recreation facilities to attract larger events.