Final Carlsbad Parks and Recreation Assessment Meeting
Wednesday Dec. 4th at 5:30 pm
1635 Faraday Ave. Carlsbad, Room 173A

We have one more chance. We have gotten a bike park on the radar but the city has lumped a bike park in with building rock climbing walls, zip lines and an amphitheater etc. They are calling it an adventure park and will have to complete a study to find if it is feasible to build. It seems to me, this (if feasible) adventure park is a tidy way to put off the items the city does not want to do.

We know a bike park is feasible because they are being built around the country!

From a city employee:
I appreciate your passion and interest in bringing a bike park to Carlsbad. Please be assured that we have heard you, received feedback from our stakeholders, and taken full account of the statistically reliable survey.
At this early stage in the process, we believe an ideal location for the bike park may be a future outdoor adventure park.
Thanks again for your feedback and for participating in the plan development.

The above sounds a lot like the tone the MTB community is hearing all over the county. We have a chance here with the city to open a riding area when so many are being closed or under pressure.

Please come out on Dec. 4th and show Carlsbad how much we support a Bike Park. Please ask them to include a bike park in their plan as its own item, apart from the 'adventure park', to be addressed in 2014.

I'm happy to answer questions and provide more details if needed.
Thanks!

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If you are the big tree
We are the small axe

This meeting is one week away. Please make some time to show your support. I'll ask people to stand at the end of my time. That way you will be seen and counted if you do not want to speak in front of everyone.
Thank you!

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If you are the big tree
We are the small axe

The meeting is tomorrow. I've gotten a lot of support from local shops and businesses who say they will be there and ask Carlsbad to work with us and open a bike park. See you there!

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If you are the big tree
We are the small axe

see yah there.

good luck!!!!!

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Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. ~Milan Kundera

Thanks ^.
Tomorrow we will see if Carlsbad will support off road cycling.

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If you are the big tree
We are the small axe

Bump!

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Thus, if we are to understand the world, we should live somewhere between judgement and amazement — Alfredo Lopez Austin

official posting from jam. if you can make it there in time, please do.



Final Carlsbad Parks and Recreation Assessment Meeting
Wednesday Dec. 4th at 5:30 pm
1635 Faraday Ave. Carlsbad, Room 173A

Fellow Cyclists;
The City of Carlsbad is holding the final meeting in their Parks Assessment process. The cycling community has been part of the assessment process from the beginning and we need one final push to get a bike park on the list. As of the last meeting a bike park was not included in the final assessment.

The bike park movement has received as much, if not more, support from the community as the other items that have been given a recommendation (community garden, pickle ball courts) YET, the City has essentially ignored our requests. They think the best place for a bike park is to be included in a large "adventure park" which would also include: rock climbing walls, zip lines, canopy tours, etc. Of course, they will need to do extensive studies to learn if such a large project is even feasible. We know this means it will not happen for years to come. Unlike the adventure park, Bike Parks are feasible and are being built all over the country.

We have an opportunity to be part of opening a riding area in a time when so many trails are being closed. Please come out and tell the City of Carlsbad we need them to recommend opening a bike park that is not part of their "if feasible, adventure park". Tell the City we will help design and build a Bike Park if they will be a partner with us. Tell the City we need a safe place where people of all ages and skill levels can ride their bikes.

Speaker slips must be filled out if you wish to speak at the meeting. Please come out even if you do not want to speak. I will ask all of the Bike Park supporters to stand and be counted.

For more information please contact: jasonm@sdmba.com

Thank you and see you there!

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Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. ~Milan Kundera

I attended tonights meeting and thought I'd share my experience. If I get anything of the background/context wrong I hope/imagine Jason will correct me.

The city hired a consulting firm to perform a survey with Carlsbad residents (1,600 surveys were sent out to a city with a population of ~110,000 and 386 were returned; that's 0.3%) and the firm drafted guidelines based on the results prioritizing those things which had the biggest bang for the buck for future parks and rec projects. Tonight the P&R committee was presented with the guidelines and had the opportunity to approve it as is or amend it before it goes on to the city council.

The two 'big ideas' are a multiuse, multigenerational community recreation center and as J.A.M. mentioned an adventure center. The representative from the consulting firm showed several slides of the MMCRC which depicited an expansive glass facade of a building (I imagine in Washington state, where they want to get all the sunlight possible inside), an indoor basketball court, a stage/gymnasium with plastic chairs in the audience, and lastly a pic of some older women doing aerobics in a gym. The highlights of the potential adventure center were pics of one of those 20' climbing walls you see being towed around to kids birthday parties and a ropes course and zip lines, which though it looked fun I doubt many respondents to the survey actually asked for.

There were essentially two camps of public speakers. A handful of people from the northwest side of the city stood up to request additional, 'traditional' park area in their neighborhood as increased high density housing and lack of access to the local school fields (due to heightened security in the wake of-insert your favorite reason) has left their neighborhood void of places to run around. Second were people who ride bikes. There were 4 people who spoke up for BMXers legal access to ride skateparks. At least five people (J.A.M., dude with the weird leather thing around his chest [wasn't quite sure if they were holsters and I would need to duck out of the line of fire], tall skinny cyclist man, an active older guy from Encinitas in his fifties who'd just taken up mtbing, and Rich with grandson in hand) spoke to advocate for a bike skills park or mtbing in general. At the end of his talk J.A.M. asked those in attendance in support of bikes to stand and 80% of the 40 or so public stood.

After listening to logical arguments such as cycling has health benefits, people of all ages can and do participate in it, Carlsbad is a business center for the outdoor industry and has a history of embracing 'extreme/fringe sports' (I think the old skatepark off Palomar Airport Rd was one of the first in the nation..), a bike park is 'dirt' cheap and can be built by volunteers the discussion amongst the committee seemed to be in our favor. The tone appeared positive as 'they discussed' (I use that loosely, as what they actually said seemed equally self aggrandizing as it did empathetic to what they had just heard from the community, in retrospect) the next steps to address access of BMXers in skateparks and the potential for a bike park.

Then came the vote to either accept the guidelines as is or to make some much needed improvements to it. I hope you like zip lines.... Too bad we can't get the money they paid Pros Consulting to build a bike park.

Edit: My take is we've got to fight to keep what we have and work towards getting more. It isn't all bad; but it could be better. And that ain't going to happen without a lot of community involvement.

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It is not enough to fight for the West; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. -Edward Abbey

Thanks adjonner. That sums it up. Parks staff and Commission had a chance to do something more than the status quo, little as possible, and chose not to.

Wagons may be circled. More meetings may be attended....

Its going to be hard for me to support Carlsbad Parks if they can't support us.
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edit:
Please help out Rich at La Costa in some way or another. His efforts there with CNLM are a bright spot in the crazy county.

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If you are the big tree
We are the small axe

Anyone interested in contacting the Carlsbad City council and ask them to open a bike park?

City Council contact info:
City Hall
council@carlsbadca.gov
760-434-2830
760-720-9461 fax
1200 Carlsbad Village Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008

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If you are the big tree
We are the small axe

I sent them an email and I thank you for your persistence

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You never know what tomorrow will bring so go ride your EBike today or walk your pooch
Fear the Yeti
"Go ride your bike today, don't let the old man in.."

Mike