Bike star Danny MacAskill backs Boat of Garten pump track bid
Mountain bike sensation Danny MacAskill is backing a campaign to create a top-class pump track in the strath for would be stars – and anyone else who just loves to sit in the saddle and do their stuff.
Danny, who used to live and work in Aviemore, has gone online to plug the Woodland Wheels quest at Boat of Garten’s old curling pond.
He is calling for people to donate on the crowdfunding page which has a £15,000 target.
Campaign spokesman Pete Wright told the Strathy: “Woodland Wheels is based upon the principles of bringing people together and building strong relationships within the beautiful nature on our doorstep.
“Effectively, our project will bring a disused, neglected public open space back into use as a much-needed community asset. By creating local facilities we will be able to improve the current space, enabling it to be used for a wider range of community use for example for youth groups and sports clubs.
“Development of such facilities is believed to be key in areas where rural deprivation impacts access to services and activities, thereby restricting the development of young people.
“It is well documented that provision of free-for-all sports facilities
drastically reduce instances of anti-social behaviour, as well as providing excellent mental health benefits.”
There are no other pump track facilities within the strath for free of charge cycle training in a safe environment or to act as a competition venue.
Mr Wright said the pump track plan is entirely community driven.
He added there was “significant community support” for the project following discussions within Boat of Garten over the past 12 months.
Mr Wright said: “The first activity was the “Boat of Garten – Big Conversation Action Plan”, where the whole community was invited to register what they would like to see in the village.
“During this consultation, of all 18 registered projects, the pump track was the most popular scoring 73 per cent. The second event involved a survey to agree the future use of a particular piece of open space.
“The pump track scored 109 votes overall, with a further 16 votes registered for an open meeting space and 11 for a basketball court.”
