England’s first fully electric indoor motocross track has opened its doors in Cumbria.
Wigton’s new Cumbria Moto Park – owned by farmers Greg Hall and Stephen Biggin – formerly housed poultry before it was transformed into a large indoor dirt track arena for electric motorbikes.
Greg, 36, said the duo decided to make the leap from poultry farming to running the new business after their farming work had become not profitable.
He said: “My passion has always been motorbikes but mainly just as a fan. So I just had an idea and thought what about using this shed to give the general public an opportunity to have a go on a motorbike, and that was it.”
After researching the idea, Greg and Stephen initially wanted to use normal petrol engine motorbikes but ended up changing their plans.
Greg said: “After speaking to Allerdale Council, using petrol engines wasn’t quite favourable, so we brainstormed again and travelled to Northern Ireland and Glasgow where they have motocross tracks with electric bikes.
“I gave it a go and thought, there’s definitely got to be a market for this and we started putting things together and it’s turned into what we’ve got now.”
Catering for all abilities from seasoned pros to complete beginners, the new venue welcomes both children from age three upwards and adults.
Described as similar to go karting in premise, customers are kitted up and briefed on safety and the bike’s settings before they can take to the track.
Adults can book for up to three 10 minute sessions at once where four bikes can be active on the track.
Greg added: “People have so far been coming and really enjoying it. It has been very full on and obviously we have properly planned for it all but we’ve kind of just opened the doors and gone for it and it has been really busy.
“It’s been a really positive environment. We’ve almost been a bit overwhelmed because we get some people telling us we’ve put a smile on their face and that with all the doom and gloom it’s fantastic to come somewhere and have a bit of fun, so it’s been really great.
“You get 65-year-old men who are quite reserved and they jump on a bike have a go around, get off and then they’re talking to you like little kids all giddy and excited. We’ve also had people visit from all over including Barrow, Newcastle and Nottingham.”
Greg added that the use of electric bikes has opened up more doors for a wide range of people to have a go due to their quiet, no noise and no heat nature.
The bikes don’t have gears, a clutch or kickstart which makes riding more effortless and they also require no fuel or oil, making them quiet and green to ride.
Greg added: “It’s a good atmosphere because there is no loud noises and just music in the background, so people can chat and spectate. It’s also very friendly for children because there is no hot exhaust, you basically just have to rev and go and that suits a lot of people.
“But it’s just a case of you can switch off for half an hour where nothing matters and you can just have a bit of fun and its rare you get that opportunity.”
Greg said that the arena had taken two years to build and that the planning process had been lengthy, but worth it, for the end result.
He added: “There’s a couple of other indoor petrol tracks in the UK but we are the first in England to solely just have electric bikes.
“Our opening has been insane to be honest, it has definitely been a whirlwind.”
