Posts Tagged ‘Bike Park’

An Open Letter to the City of Glendale

Wednesday, September 30th, 2015

The Los Angeles Bike Park Collective

Earlier this year CORBA joined the Los Angeles Bike Park Collective, a small and dedicated group of bike park advocates whose mission is to bring Bike Skills Parks to the mainstream. CORBA and the Collective are currently working with the City of Los Angeles to identify bike park opportunities in the San Fernando Valley at Sepulveda Basin, as well as a larger regional facility in the Castaic area with Los Angeles County. We have gathered over 2300 signatures on paper and online in general support of bike parks in the Greater Los Angeles area, and have close to 2000 followers on Facebook.

The Collective has produced two videos. The first demonstrates the need and rationale for bike skills parks in the greater Los Angeles area, and encouranges public support of our efforts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4jxi_ndCN8

The second video is entitled “What is a Bike Park?” and explains the features found in such facilities for those who might not fully understand what a bike park is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbj87v_ZQMw

Bike Skills Parks in City of Glendale Plans

CORBA volunteers provided significant input on missing bikeway connections and new opportunities during the development of the City of Glendale Bicycle Transportation Plan in 2010-2012. The City Planning Commission reviewed and recommended approval of the plan in April 2012. This plan includes a recommendation for Bike Skills Park/Pump Track (Page 6-76, Programs and Promotions, Education element).

We also worked with the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition to include a Bike Skills Park in the Glendale Safe and Healthy Streets Plan. A Bike Skills Park and novice mountain bike trails are included as item 3.1b, under “Encouragement,” as well as under item 2.1e under “Education.” CORBA’s then V.P. Steve Messer testified before City Council in support of the plan on April 11, 2011. I testified before City Council in support of the plan on April 19, 2011. Archived video of that testimony is available at https://youtu.be/YsKdN-oHFlw?t=1h7m25s

In January 2008 the City Council adopted the Glendale Trails Master Plan, for which CORBA provided significant input. Within the Trails Master Plan a Bike Skills Park is included for the San Rafael Hills.

The Trails Master Plan and Safe and Healthy Streets Plan both call for more beginner-friendly trails, to help lower the barrier to entry to outdoor recreation for Glendale residents.

On April 18 2011, I introduced a Bike Skills Park proposal to the Parks and Recreation Commission during public comment period. We also presented a petition of over 1000 signatures gathered in person and online (separate from the Collective’s current petition), in support of a Glendale Bike Park. Archived video of that presentation is available on Youtube .  The direction given to staff at the time was to initiate a feasibility study for such a project. However, not long thereafter, staffing cutbacks put our efforts on hold.

A Bike Skills Park and/or Pump Track is therefore consistent with these three important City planning documents.

Current and Ongoing Bike Park Projects

Bike Skills Parks can no longer be considered “new” or unusual. Since 2011, the Bike Park landscape has changed significantly. CORBA was instrumental in getting a bike park facility planned, constructed and open to the public earlier this year in the City of Fillmore (Ventura County), and another approved in the park plan for the Sapwi Trails Regional Park in Thousand Oaks.

BIke Parks have recently opened in Lompoc, Tehachapi, Kernville, South Lake Tahoe and several other locations around the state. Orange County, San Diego County and Riverside County each have regional bike park facilities in the planning or construction stages.  There are now over 30 such parks in California in various stages of development or operation.

To meet increasing demand, IMBA, our parent organization, has published a reference book specifically about Bike Parks. https://www.imba.com/news/pre-order-book  There are now more than a dozen companies specializing in the planning, design and construction of bike skills parks.

Recently a pump track opened in Brooklyn, New York. This pump track was constructed of asphalt instead of dirt. This increases initial cost, but greatly enhances the longevity of the project and substantially reduces the maintenance needs of a comparable dirt pump track. It also allows for a broader user-base; asphalt pump tracks can be enjoyed by bicyclists, skateboarders, rollerbladers, and even mom’s pushing strollers over the undulations of the pump track. More information about the Brooklyn Pump Track is at http://www.pinkbike.com/news/velosolutions-asphalt-pump-track-new-york-city-2015.html

Current Opportunities

Given the current opportunities afforded by the influx of Development Impact Fee funds, we’d like to propose a small pump track facility in an existing park, or on a new parcel, in South Glendale. It may even be a temporary park on a future development lot. This could serve as a pilot project to gauge interest and demand for our larger skills park proposal for site A, between Mayor’s Bicentennial Park and the Sports Complex.

A small pump track facility does not need to be expensive.  The Fillmore Bike Park was constructed by Bellfree Contractors, overseeing an army of volunteers. Prefabricated pump tracks are available in the $25k to $50k price range from companies such as Progressive Bike Ramps.

To summarize, we respectfully ask the City of Glendale to consider the following, all of which exist in previously City-approved plans: 

  • A small community pump track in Central or South Glendale.
  • Improved trailhead facilities at Sunshine Drive/Las Flores Motorway
  • A beginner-friendly trail (little or no net elevation gain) from Sunshine Drive/Las Flores to South Beaudry and/or Brand Library.
  • Our larger regional bike park proposal for Site A.

 

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Posted in Advocacy, Bike Skills Park, Verdugo Mountains | Comments Closed

Thousand Oaks Needs a Bike Park

Sunday, April 24th, 2011

By Mark Langton

If a demonstrated need in the community is the main criteria for building a bike park (pump track, jumps, skills area), then the City of Thousand Oaks should be at the top of the list. Jumps and mini-pump tracks are all over the place, yet they keep getting bulldozed because the community has not supported the youth who are putting in the effort to do something constructive. THE TIME IS NOW!

Unidentified jumps in Newbury Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is of course my local perspective because I see kids every day on mountain bikes and BMX bikes riding around our neighborhoods, trails, and yes, unauthorized dirt jumps. And I know a lot of parents who’s teenage kids go riding with them. I bet you know people just like that in your neighborhood.

The Socal High School Cycling League built a pump track in Riverside recently with CORBA’s help. The city of Glendale is considering a bike park and pump track in their trails master plan. There are parks and tracks all over the state. IMBA has had success in several cities including New York, Seattle, and Golden, Colorado. We’re not reinventing the wheel. Click here for the the Bring the Riding To the People project.

A bike park can be as simple as a pump track (rollers, bermed turns, table top and gap jumps), but can also include skill test features similar to what might be found on a trail. A supervised environment similar to a skate park, the Conejo Recreation and Park District (CRPD) already has an infrastructure to deal with this kind of  facility. Bike parks encourage volunteerism and stewardship. They provide an area for adult mountain bikers wanting to improve their skills and also help their kids learn, and an athletic/exercise outlet for youth who do not participate in team sports. And they’re just plain fun! Not only that, they do not require the same kind of space, materials, or costs associated with ball fields or other conventional recreational facilities.

Watch a video of the Stowe Bike Park pump track in action.

Representatives from CORBA have discussed the possibility of a bike park with the CRPD. CRPD managers are amenable to the idea, but stress that the only way something can be done is through community support and commitment. This would require attendance at CRPD board meetings by kids as well as parents and other interested parties to provide testimony and petitions, and other community support (such as bike shops, YMCA, teen centers, schools, etc); not to mention supporting testimony from such organizations as CORBA citing the success of tracks and parks in other cities. This process typically takes 3-5 years, so strong parental involvement is key. Again, CRPD is open to the idea and there are several possible locations, we just need community involvement! We could also use people with expertise in landscape architecture.

The author circa 1972.

If you are interested in becoming part of a team to bring a pump track to Thousand Oaks, please get in touch with us at volunteer@corbamtb.com .

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Posted in Advocacy, Conejo Valley, Health, Uncategorized, Youth | 1 Comment »

CORBA at the Keyesville Classic

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

CORBA board member Steve Messer will be at the Keyesville Classic Mountain Bike Stage Race this coming weekend, March 19 and 20, 2011.

While the Southern Sierras is outside of our normal areas of activity, we know that many Southern Californian’s and CORBA members and supporters will be up at this fun event. The event supports the work of our friends at the Southern Sierra Fat Tire Association, who have been maintaining trails in the Keyesville area for many years. The event also supports the local Kernville Bike Park.

Stop by the CORBA booth, say Hi, and sign our Bike Park petition. While you’re in the valley, check out the Kernville Bike Park. It’s the closest one to Southern California, and is in many ways similar to what we’d like to see in our area.

The local cycling community in the Kern Valley is currently getting themselves organized into a non-profit advocacy group, and we’re glad to see advocacy, trailwork and youth programs extend to this incredible cycling destination.

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Glendale Bike Skills Park – Show Your Support!

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Glendale needs a Bike Skills Park. Southern California needs a Bike Skills Park. Sign our petition and let the City of Glendale know!

Italian Bike Park showing Wooden and Dirt features

Bike Park showing Wooden and Dirt features (Italy)

Bike Skills Parks are a dedicated area for bicycles and include features like a pump track, progressive tabletop jumps, balance training features, XC short tracks, and much more. They can include dirt features, man-made (cut) wooden features, natural wooden features, and rock features. They are becoming more and more popular as people realize the skill-building fun and health-promoting exercise they provide.

A great example is the Woodward West Bike Park in Fresno. The City of Fresno, local mountain bike advocacy groups and the community came together to make this park a reality. We would like to see that model emulated here in Glendale.

In 2007 and 2008, the CORBA trail crew assisted the City of Glendale in developing their Trails Master Plan. In that plan are several desired new trail corridors in the Verdugos, San Rafael Hills and the foothills of Mt. Lukens. The biggest and most significant addition to the Trails Master Plan is a Bike Skills Park.

In Glendale’s Citywide Trails Master Plan for the San Rafael Hills (available as a PDF here), a bike skills park location is identified as “A” on the San Rafael map. Subsequent to the City’s adoption of the Trails Master Plan, CORBA volunteers worked with the City to identify the most suitable location.

With City Parks staff, we identified what we believe is an ideal location for a Bike Skills Park project. There is access from existing park facilities, and it could easily be tied in to the trail network of Cherry Canyon and the San Rafael Hills.  There are no nearby neighbors to disturb, and the location is surrounded by open space to the east and the 2 freeway on the western side. The land itself consists of debris fill from the construction of the 2 freeway.

Glendale will be revising its Bicycle Master Plan in 2011, and we want to see the Bike Skills Park included in that plan. As of this writing the public hearing dates for Glendale’s Bike Plan have not yet been set. When those hearings are held, we want to show how much demand and community support exists for a Bike Skills Park.

To demonstrate that need, we are gathering signatures on a petition. You can read and sign our petition online on iPetitions.com. If you prefer, you can print out a PDF version of our Petition and gather signatures from your friends, family and neighbors. If you choose the printed petition, please snail mail, email or fax the petition sheets back to us as they are filled.

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Posted in Bike Skills Park, High School League, Verdugo Mountains, Youth | 3 Comments »