The Southwest Idaho Mountain Biking Association invited people out to ride a new trail system in Avimor in honor of the late Kevin Pavlis, who was an avid mountain biker and adaptive coach.
This 5.5-mile trail system climbs 800 feet up 'Stairway to Kevin', and riders have the option of three different loops along the way.
Bikers have the choice of beginner, intermediate and expert on the first trail system, built specifically for adaptive athletes.
WATCH: Riders from the Idaho Challenged Athletes Foundation try out the new trail system
“I actually love it, there is a lot of climbing, which I enjoy, and there is also a lot of downhill flowy flowy stuff," said C.J. Brown, an adaptive rider on a trike that was taking on the expert loop, "That’s the thing if anything is wide enough for us, most of the stuff we can ride."
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Kevin Pavlis died in 2009 when he was hit by a car while riding his bike. Kevin's friends and family had a vision for a trail system in his honor after his tragic death. The grand opening ceremony has been years in the making.
"It just warms my heart," said Raymond Anderson, who was one of Kevin's best friends. "It has been over 10 years since this project was an idea, and now it is real. It is here, and it just means a lot; it is really special."
This inclusive trail system is all about accessibility, not only for adaptive athletes, but it is also one of the few trails in southwest Boise where people can ride on E-bikes. However, the wider trails, the grade and the turning radius were all built with adaptive athletes in mind.
"Lots of work and engineering went into cutting the trails," Anderson explained, "Whether it's the width, the corners, berms and where those berms start, all of those things were engineered to make sure it works for the athletes."
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C.J Brown is an adaptive athlete with the Idaho Challenged Athletes Foundation. They had a large group at the grand opening ceremony as this project was supported by SWIMBA, the J.A. & Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation, Avimor, REI, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Idaho and Titus Trails.
"I’m super honored to be able to ride something like this and have foundations behind us to help support these things to make it happen," said Brown.
Anderson told us the next step will be to develop the park at the trailhead with more parking, a changing room and a barn for storage. He says this will cost upwards of $250,000, so there will be many more opportunities to help with this first-of-its-kind project in Avimor.
