I have to giggle at Pete's previous blog about the uproar over dogs in the Foothills. While people are clashing over dogs in Hulls Gulch and other popular trails, I am having a blast at the new Eagle cycle park.

The park has a fun mountain bike trail network that's just going to get better with age. It's a little rough now because it's new, and some people hiked and biked on it while it was wet, which makes it ride like cobblestone in some stretches. But there's also tight, twisty singletrack with mellow climbing, which is a refreshing change from other Foothills trails.

What really makes the park rock are the jump lines, pump track and mountain cross course. Before they were built, I didn't know a jump line from a jumping jack. Heck, I barely I knew what "velopark" meant. But I've watched as it progressed and was itching to ride there after it opened.

I still haven't ridden the mountain cross course, but the pump track and beginner jump line gave me giggle fits. The pump track is a condensed course of banked corners and steep bumps. The objective is to ride the entire thing without pedaling by using your body and gravity to push yourself over the bumps and maintain your momentum through the corners. I couldn't ride the whole thing without pedaling, but I had fun trying.

Then I hit the easiest of the three jumplines. Maybe hit is the wrong verb, because it implies that I actually jumped. Nope. I'm too old and chicken, so I rolled through it and did my best to keep my tires on the terra. But it was still a blast swooping through the high-banked corners and sucking up the bumps to keep my bike from launching into space. After the first ride, I pedaled to the top and did it again. I probably could have gone a third time, but it was getting late and I was winded.

As I loaded my bike, I watched the kids in the skate park and marveled at their skill. It brought back memories of my skateboarding days when the coolest kid on the block was the one who could do a 360 and jump a curb. Skateboarding has a come a long ways since then.

The whole park has a great vibe, whether you're riding, skating or just watching. I can't wait to go back.