lornny

holy shit. THANK YOU! This is a cult-classic of MTB.

This is going to be incredible. Looks like it’s going to be a beautiful story told with jaw-dropping visuals (and riding) CAN’T WAIT!

@bendrew: damn dude, just trying to stand up for my community. Pickleball overtaking another local space dedicated to our sport and local youth has become a frustrating norm… It’s quite difficult to not be passionate about it. And yea, I’m very aware of the quality of the jumps at the park…it was a safe space for my riding community as a youth, and I’ll fight to protect it for today’s youth until there’s courts ontop of it✌️

@bendrew: your exactly right. That’s what they hired a specialty contractor to build the park. One they could hire again to maintain it every couple years. I’m aware that doesn’t happen at basically all of our publicly funded bike parks… But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen at all. I’m sure specialty contractors are hired to perform maintenance in other public spaces when they don’t internally employ anyone with the skills to do so.

@bendrew: it’s the responsibility of the district to maintain the public recreation spaces they create with tax-payers dollars so that the area stays usable… is it not? Soccer fields, dog parks, playgrounds… all free outdoor spaces that users aren’t expected to fix

You should also be aware that youth in Horseshoe Bay where Gleneagles park is located, cannot leave the neighbourhood on their own safely. A highway and Marine drive with no sidewalk are the only roads out. This makes keeping a dedicated space for these sports even more necessary.

@warmerdamj: maybe you missed my early comments. There are 17 pickleball courts in the west van district alone. With 3 indoor courts already inside Glen eagles (shared with other sports on specific days). The other reason, is that the districts failure to maintain this community space dedicated to our youth, should not justify another sport barging in and taking it. A sport that does not serve the youth, or little kids. Someone has to stand up for spaces that largely cater to our youth who don’t go to city council meetings or are even old enough to take a bus. I’m fighting to keep this space dedicated to the demographic it was designed for. One that is virtually voiceless at council meetings due to being younger youth, children that can’t even tie their shoes yet, or adults busy caring for their families.

@bendrew: When first built in 2005, myself and the rest of the bike community rode there constantly. The park was packed always. Although the jumps were built with “soil” equivalent to what you’d find on a gravel soccer field, and low quality design to begin with we made it work. Cool ladder bridges and drops were there that we practiced on too. As those bridges grew old, the district removed them with no replacements. We’d try to fix the jumps but due to the concrete soil and huge rocks in the jumps it was basically impossible. 20 years of zero maintenance or care from the district… the entire bike park became under utilized and nothing more than dirt lumps. Now that it’s in disrepair and an underused space, the district reached out to the community on how to improve the space with passionate and direct response on reviving it for the users it’s was designed for. A Pumptrack to replace footprint of the dirt lumps. But here we are…. Pickleball is taking over our dedicated spaces once again.

@warmerdamj: This is not just about mountain bikes. You need to think about nurturing community and our youth. The entire point is to revitalize this dedicated extreme sports space into a Pumptrack that caters to more users within that category…. Scooters, run-bikes, skateboards, bikes, rollerblades. Creating a more family oriented space for this neighbourhood whose demographic is shifting with every home sale bringing in young families with kids. I live in this neighbourhood, I know. Hundreds of community engagement surveys were filled out with contact information provided so that our sports demographics could be informed about updates on this. Zero information or updates were provided by council about the meeting or any new plans after these initial surveys. The community who needed to fight to keep their space was not informed and in turn, was underrepresented drastically at this important meeting. I found out 3 hours before the meet is via social media from a skateboarder. I had personally been in contact with the district via zoom calls to explain in depth the different sports that use the park, how we can improve it and expressed my commitment has a representative to our sport. I was never contacted again after parks planners, and the mayor said id be informed as things moved along….

@dungeonbeast: the bowl is for advanced riders and you cannot enter it without knowing how to drop-in to coping quarter pipes.If you grew up riding skateparks, you must also be aware that hanging out in an enclosed bowl like this is dangerous and virtually eliminates the use of it when that’s going on. Arguing this is “actually a Pumptrack” is complete nonsense. “Nothing is being lost”? The ENTIRE segment of the park dedicated to mountain bikes is being lost, and not repaired to make the space more inviting for the youth and beginners in the area.