RideBHM — Local services in Birmingham

1 star for zero ADA accommodation for adaptive riders or those with adaptive bikes. I've been to dozens of mountain bike parks and trails, mostly gravity-fed downhill MTB parks with ski lifts where my ADA accommodation is that the lift operators need to assist in putting my bike on the rack. Other parks will help those with adaptive bikes by driving them up to the top of the trailhead via an ATV or jeep. Ride BHM has been open over a year, and there is no accommodation to enable mobility-assisted riders. I have a spine disability but am an adaptive adventurer, and I do travel research to make the world more accessible to veterans, those with PTSD, DV survivors, hearing and vision impaired, and those with structural issues or who have paralysis or prosthetics. E-bikes are not an option for me as they are too heavy for me to safely lift and maneuver, plus as a van lifer, I do not have the electrical power full time on the road to keep one charged. My disability affects my upper body; my legs work, however after 5-6 times pushing my bike up to the top of Muscadine Climb, I realized that this was not accessible. I addressed this with the guy who was opening the bike shop on site and he said "well, it's an insurance thing; disabled people are a liability." Excuse me? Actually there are millions of us who participate in sports and outdoor recreation, and hundreds of places who assist in enabling us to enjoy a facility or location. But Ride BHM has had a year to create a welcoming space for adaptive riders and they won't. When I called the main phone number, the guy on the line again said disabled riders are a liability and then hung up. According to other riders I spoke to, Ride BHM is struggling with their customer numbers, and I can tell you that $29 was incredibly steep (pun intended) for a one-day pass with zero amenities or ADA assistance. I have ridden Angel Fire, Mountain Creek, Killington, Big Sky, Silver Mountain, Spider Mountain, Snowshoe plus ridden all 89 Texas state parks and over 10,000 miles on my mountain bike since the pandemic started, and I can tell you this was the first place that has flat out said adaptive and disabled riders are an insurance liability. That's absolutely appalling (not to mention discriminatory and illegal). I...

This park is a fun venue and has well built trails. They have and continue to make some super fun descents with some great features for every rider’s ability.

The owners and creators are very appreciative of their patrons. One thing that has impressed me is that they seek the input of the riders that have experienced the park and take it to heart as I have personally seen them implement some of the suggestions to make the park even better.

There are trails at the park every level of experience can enjoy from the green trails for those new to downhill riding to the double black diamond trails for the experienced to expert riders that wanna notch it up to the max. I would be surprised to hear that any rider was not able to have a great experience on terrain that was designed for their skill set.

I would encourage purchasing the Beta pass which is the annual pass. Riders that go with this option will have access to the park from sun up to sun down seven days a week. I will be taking advantage of my Beta pass and making frequent visits.

While any bike with a travel in 140mm/140mm range could be enjoyed at this park, I would personally recommend bringing an e-bike or renting one from the fleet that I am hearing will be available @ridebhm. The descent is a blast on non ebikes but the ascent would be much more enjoyable ( unless you are one of those riders that likes the climbing;) and quicker to get to the top to descend again.😎👏👏👏

One a side note, overall the runs are somewhat shorter compared to other bike parks but on the flip side is how the well developed and designed the trails are to get the very most out of the available space. This speaks volumes and would not be a deterrent to my...

We had our 1st real taste of RideBHM last weekend. We can say without a doubt that the trails were as advertised and more! One thing that we realized is that are trails for everyone at RideBHM. Of course there are the big jumps for those who want to send it, but there are also plenty of other trails that are super flowy and really fun! You can grab some air if you like on these trails..or not. They are super smooth with lots of fun features. There are 2 climbs (Muscadine and Callie's) to the top..the muscadine climb is the steeper of the two. Callie is quite a bit more gentle. We had a couple e-bikes so we towed each other up the climbs which allowed for many more runs than if we didn't have e-bikes. The crew at RideBHM were super friendly and helpful and there are plans for some really nice facilities and rental bikes! Our ride got cut short with some rain, but we will be back out very soon! Looking forward to Grand Opening! We highly recommend...