Seizing a rare moment to catch his breath atop a low stone wall in the shade of Horns Hill Park’s towering canopy of foliage, Bob Bevard is the seasoned adventurer you have yet to read about in your history books.
Bevard knows the contours of these Licking County hills like the back of his hand. In part, because he helped craft them — honed them, occasionally with his bare hands, over the course of 15 years into the 18-trail mountain bike mecca known as Horns Hill Park that draws visitors from across the continent.
Bevard fell in love with mountain biking during a time in his life when many are looking to upgrade their family car or renovate the kitchen. Previously he spent a couple decades as a high school English teacher, shepherding young minds into the world of literature and, in his spare time, overseeing the Newark High School ski club.
It was a former student, in fact, who introduced Bevard to mountain biking at the ripe age of 44.
“(The student) came back from college and said, ‘You’ve got to try mountain biking,’” Bevard recalls. “And I was like, ‘Seriously? No.’”
But, because Bevard is a good sport, he did.
And it was love at first ride.
Bevard has been active his whole life, picking up various types of sports for the intrinsic love of recreation. But there was something about mountain biking that left him hungry for more. He loved the cardio workout and the challenge; the fact that it was a healthy way to get his adrenaline pumping and expend energy.
After that first fateful day, Bevard immersed himself into the world of mountain biking. He began building trails in the woods in his backyard — experimenting with grades and jumps, practicing every chance he got.
“It totally takes your mind off of everything. So it's kind of like meditation, in that you are in the present moment — if you're not, there's a good chance you're going to crash,” he says with a laugh. “So I would teach school, and then I would come home and jump on a mountain bike and get rid of all that stress, just because you're draining yourself physically and emotionally. So it's just a very healthy outlet for me.”
Having spent a lifetime in Licking County, Bevard was familiar with Horns Hill, the 200-foot swell on the north end of Newark atop of which the city’s water supply resides in colossal tanks.
Bevard was confident the spot would be ideal for mountain biking — to the extent that, after an inspiring trip down a mountain bike flow trail at Snowshoe, West Virginia, he rented a machine to replicate the trail in his backyard. At the time he told a friend that “This is just my prototype for what I want to do at Horns Hill one day.”
A few weeks later, the parks director happened to mention at Heath bike shop The Bike Doctor that his department was looking for someone to turn Horns Hill into a mountain bike park.
“‘The Bike Doctor said, ‘I know just the guy for you,’” Bevard recalls. “And that’s how it started.”
The year was 2006, and Horns Hill was little more than a gravel road winding up a heavily forested slope.
A rustic WPA-era sandstone picnic shelter was — and is — the closest thing to a “facility” that existed at the top, but it tended to attract the wrong clientele, at best serving as a catch-all for litter by irresponsible visitors.
Bevard, however, saw nothing but potential.
“It has about 200 feet of elevation, which for Licking County is good. Very good for Ohio, in fact. Secondly, the paved road allows for a shuttle…plus the fact that it's a city park — I'm not paying for the land,” he says.
Bevard had been renting the machinery he needed to build trails in his backyard, but in the process he connected with a man who knew how to run an excavator and enlisted his help. The man — who has since gone into the professional trail-building business — would come from Kentucky and spend the weekends at Bevard’s house while they worked to build the trails at Horns Hill.
In that manner, they completed four trails, finishing off the fourth in the spring of 2008. And for a while, that was it.
But Bevard wasn’t ready to be done.
After an administration change and seeing other recreational opportunities being developed across the city — he cites Newark’s 21st Street jump park specifically — Bevard approached city officials about adding more trails to Horns Hill. To his delight, the suggestion was well received, even if it took longer than he would have liked to translate into action.
Eventually, however, the original four trails were rebranded, joining the likes of catchy names like “Slim Shady” and “The Gauntlet,” and joined by ten more. Thanks to the eager help of volunteers who loved the sport, Horns Hill grew from a neglected hilltop to a place that draws mountain bikers from across the state and beyond — for its friendly atmosphere as much as its challenging courses.
“What is unique about Horns Hill is that people park (in the lot), but then they walk back and forth and talk to each other. It's real social,” Bevard says. “And when you ride up the hill on the shuttle, which holds 20 bikes and 20 riders, you're sitting there next to somebody, and you have the opportunity to talk to them — find out where they're from, what kind of riding they do. And people just love this place because that is the vibe. They say the vibe is just very special here.”
It’s been rewarding for Bevard to watch his dream grow from infancy to childhood, but he has plans to see it thrive well past middle age.
And if his dreams are anything like Bevard himself, the possibilities are limitless.
At 54, Bevard began downhill racing — “the extreme stuff” — for the first time, winning nationals in his age group on more than one occasion.
At 71, he continues to mountain bike in addition to skiing and, one of his latest favorite ventures, the eFoil, hovering above the waters of Alum Creek on a surfboard-like contraption with a motor under the water.
“I just don't put an age limit on it. As long as I'm healthy and as long as I'm able to, I would rather wear out than rust out,” he says. “When I see some of the folks that are my age that have kind of quit, I kind of feel sorry for them because they're missing out on a lot.”
The key, he says, is to play.
“Every day is exciting to me, but my theory is you play a little bit every day and it just brings so much joy into you,” he adds. “I think it's just something we all need to do, even if it's just 15 minutes — play a little bit.”
To that end, Bevard hopes to continue expanding Horns Hill, adding restrooms with toilets and showers, plus some pads for primitive camping.
He also has his eye on other properties within the county.
“I would love to see Licking County be famous for being the mountain biking center of Ohio. I'm kind of a visionary person,” he says.
Bevard is quick to point out he isn’t alone in this venture. Whether it’s help from volunteers tamping down dirt on trails or driving shuttles up and down the hill or posting on the park’s Facebook page, its success has come as a result of partnerships. He’s also thankful to the city of Newark for its willingness to let him push Horns Hill to its full potential.
It seems people are noticing — earlier this year he spoke with a representative from major action sports retailer Fox Racing who said he’d traveled across the country, and everywhere he’s gone, he’s spoken with people who “either been here or they want to get here because they've heard so many good things about it,” he says.
And that gives Bevard a sense of fulfillment.
He may not have achieved Magellan-scale fame (yet), but this explorer is blazing trails across Licking County — and mountain bike enthusiasts across the country are taking notice.
“I feel like it's kind of my legacy, and I hope to continue to contribute to that,” he says. “After teaching, it's kind of become my mission to add to the recreational side of things.”