North Shore Bike Park reopens in Maple Ridge

The new North Shore Bike Park opened the way most good riding stories start: a little chaotic.

“Friday we got through our final inspections and it was about 4:30 and Mike Upton was like, OK, we’re opening tomorrow,” says general manager, builder and now co-owner Josh Strat. “Jumped right into it, man.”

They opened 12 hours later.

“We hit about 100 people on Saturday and just over 150 on Sunday,” Strat says. “Considering it was literally hours before that we didn’t even know if we were gonna open, that’s impressive.”

After closing the Capilano Mall location in North Vancouver earlier this year, many assumed the park was gone for good. Instead, the crew rebuilt quietly in Maple Ridge, in the same building that once housed Air Rec Centre, and opened with almost no promotion other than an Instagram post.

A new home, a new scale

The old North Shore Bike Park was big. The Maple Ridge space is not. And that’s proving to be an advantage.

“It’s 28,000 square feet,” Strat says. “Half the size we had in North Van.”

But without mall walls, pillars or low ceilings, the room feels bigger than the footprint.

“People come in here and they’re like, this seems bigger. Like no, it’s half the size. It’s just the height and openness.”

The building is raw. It can get freezing or roasting. But the extra headroom let Strat build terrain that looks and rides bigger than before. Riders finally have a place to ride indoors again.

What’s riding now: Phase one

Strat calls the current layout “phase one,” a mix of familiar features and new terrain.

“We have a pump track, a smaller street zone, an intermediate jump line and a foam pit that’s bigger than what we had in North Van,” he says. “And then we’ve got our big jump line.”

Those big jumps, inspired by Adrenaline Alley in the UK. BMX legend Corey Walsh helped build some of the line. But the consensus after opening weekend was clear: the big line hits the mark, but the park needs more beginner terrain.

“We don’t have enough smaller terrain for that 12-and-under demographic,” he says. “So phase two will probably have a mini ramp, a flex zone with movable features, and almost like a ground-level track kids can follow.”

Built for families and lifers

Like Joyride 150 or Ray’s MTB, North Shore Bike Park succeeds when it serves beginners, families and advanced riders equally. Maple Ridge is…