Words and photos by Colin Field With over 90,000 square feet of entertainment for two wheels, the owners are not messing around. They’ve got terrain to appease just about every level of rider.
"We wanted to make it really accessible to people,” says Shannon Bentley, one of the owner’s wives.
And accessible it is. The Markham, Ontario warehouse has skinnies, pump tracks, rollers, a cross-country ‘trail,’ a spin studio, a skatepark, a foam pit and a resi ramp. And if that didn’t mean anything to you, well, after one visit to this place, it will. One visit will have you riding at least some of these features, since the place is geared to the complete beginner upwards. And that’s obviously the way you build a great clientele.
The GTA has seen its share of skateparks before, albeit of differing quality and success. From Launch Pad, to Grassroots, to The Warehouse and beyond, one skatepark after another has failed as a business, even with both skateboarders and bike riders as clientele. And while Joyride will exclude skateboarders, the variety of terrain is Joyride’s strength. Sure it will only be bike riders in here, but nearly every genre of the sport – from spandex-wearing, clipless shoes, cross-country guys, to baggy-short full-face downhill types and girl-jean wearing BMX kids – is represented. Hell, they may even manage to attract a girl or two here and there.
The owners aren’t shy to admit that Ray’s MTB was a big inspiration. And it’s not surprising. If you’ve opened a bike magazine within the last five years, you’ve read a story about Ray’s. The 130,000-square-foot park has been wildly successful. It’s a bike industry leader in the US and worldwide. Few have managed to create the indoor riding facility like Ray’s while also managing to make the financial side of it feasible.
But the owners of Joyride seem confident. “There are a couple investors,” says one of the owners, Scott Bentley. “Hopefully it’s a solid business plan.”
Check out this exclusive video from Mountain Life from a pre-opening press day:
Who knows what it costs to rent 90,000 square feet of warehouse space, but it can’t be cheap, let alone the tens of thousands of dollars of wood used to create the terrain. But the general vibe within the building is that it will succeed. You don’t open a bike park to make money; you do it because you love bikes. And the owners have their hearts in the right places.
“We’re cycling advocates,” says Scott Bentley. “I ride all kinds of stuff. I race mountain bikes, I race road bikes, I dirt jump. Anything on two wheels is good by me.”
So if you too are a cycling advocate, you owe yourself a visit to Joyride 150 this winter. You won’t be disappointed.
For all the important details head over to
joyride150.com
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