Gardens were dissapointing

[BUTTERZBMX]

I was disappointed for my first time down there was expecting a beginner line but nothing  .  From watching videos and pictures i expected the gardens to be amazing but they were garbage.

[bobby hill]

agreed the pump track was the best and the big jumps were a really a disappointing day i remember when the was actually a beginners line now i think u guys are just doing it for the good kids i like going down there but they need to work on the beginner line to not just the big jumps ok so good bye butterzzzzzz

[wrench]

I have to agree, I took a bunch of newer riders there today after showing them videos of them and was so disappointed when we got there, there was nothing for them to start out on and progress to, and there was other riders who showed up and had the same feeling about how they are now. I thought your involvement whould keep it newbie friendly and not only for the advanced riders.

chuck

[Red Snail Racing]

The Garden has always been a park for advanced riders. The Plainfield Bike Park is more rounded and suits beginners.
For myself, I am pathetic at jumping, but I like the pump trak at The Garden and if I was interested in working on my jump skills, I would go to Plainfield and hit the tabletop lines.

[wrench]

Thats not true, I have been taking newbies there the last couple of years and they cound come off the roll in and before the rollin was built and hit the filled in jumps and progress over to the advanced side, now with the rollers put in you cant get any speed to even try hitting the jumps, and alot of other rider who showed up when we were there, just talked down about it also and the newbies just stayed at the pump track till they got bored and we left and headed over to wilson where we met more riders who talked S**t about it and they were very advanced to me. its just my 2 cents but to have a public park it should be newbie friendly and not just the pump track.

[Hop Head]

Thats not true, I have been taking newbies there the last couple of years and they cound come off the roll in and before the rollin was built and hit the filled in jumps and progress over to the advanced side, now with the rollers put in you cant get any speed to even try hitting the jumps, and alot of other rider who showed up when we were there, just talked down about it also and the newbies just stayed at the pump track till they got bored and we left and headed over to wilson where we met more riders who talked S**t about it and they were very advanced to me. its just my 2 cents but to have a public park it should be newbie friendly and not just the pump track.

I think you skipped one too many English classes.

[Seanbikes]

Coming from a bmx racer I'm surprised to hear you say that rollers slow you down.  I can't say I agree.  If you know or learn how to pump them rollers will help you build speed without having to pedal your butt off. 

The intermidate line is still there and is still intermediate.  The garden layout is very much trails style jumps compared to Plainfields design or a bmx track. It takes a different skill set to run the jumps in a trails style layout and it's not the same as what someone is going to be used to if they come from a racing or skatepark background. You might not clear the jumps the first time out there but I don't think it would be a fun park if it took no effort to master the jumps. 

[RJ2]

to the OP, the medium line on the Dj side is being worked on, it has only tables. we are filling in the open spaces with rollers so you don't have to pedal. the pump track got seriously ruined this summer with the huge amounts of rain that we have been getting. when we tarp stuff or ask people not to ride when it's wet and people go ahead and ride stuff gets ruined, and makes alot of work for the trailbosses.  I think if you come back and ride the table line when the new rollers set up, that you will find them to be a good set up for learning the doubles. after the roll in on the DJ's there are 5 rollers 2 tables followed by a berm, then a split to a step up to get back into the main DJ line, or break left for a berm followed by a table into a s berm, that has also been being extened. the table line has been a work in progress, the garden always had doubles first, we have been putting in tables to make it more intermediate. sorry you found our trails dissapointing, they take alot of work to build and maintain, maybee you should come by and throw some dirt, we are a very small crew of riders that try!

[mikeo]

Last time I was there I found the rollers were too small to really pump and get speed, but large enough to prevent you from pedaling making it harder to get enough speed for the jumps. Maybe it would be different if I was on a BMX.    Would it be possible to build a more spaced out slopestyle / FR course starting on a higher wooden platform or does it have to be dirt only?  Also, a big stepup jump to mulch would be awesome.  Everytime I have gone there with someone else they have said that there wasn't anything for intermediate riders.

[Big J]

I think you skipped one too many English classes.

grammer police.......you better head over to ridemonkey

J

[RJ2]

Last time I was there I found the rollers were too small to really pump and get speed, but large enough to prevent you from pedaling making it harder to get enough speed for the jumps. Maybe it would be different if I was on a BMX.    Would it be possible to build a more spaced out slopestyle / FR course starting on a higher wooden platform or does it have to be dirt only?  Also, a big stepup jump to mulch would be awesome.  Everytime I have gone there with someone else they have said that there wasn't anything for intermediate riders.

the rollers on the pump track? or on the DJ's? trails are all about flow and pumping transitions not pedalling.
no wodden features, city does not want them.

[superawesome]

I did a little bit of work over at the PBP and when you hear complaints, it's Cambr policy to get defensive and I did the same thing as most people in this thread. But then I realized that being defensive prevents any of the riding spots from evolving and getting better so things get stale, new riders get turned off, and things end up being run and ridden by the same 5 people over and over again.

I've heard that same complaint regarding the jumps from 95% of the people who visit the garden. The same way most people who visit the PBP complain about the quality of the lips and quality of the dirt. People complain about everything, but some complaints are valid.

Eventually, when you hear something over and over again, everyone else is probably right and you're wrong. It's like if you own a shoe store and hate Nike shoes so you don't carry them, but everyday people come in and ask for Nike shoes. Eventually you'll realize that maybe you need to carry Nike shoes.

BTW, the garden has some great riders and they build some amazing jumps so this isn't a knock on any of them, it's more a knock on the Cambr culture that prevents things from evolving and getting better. I spent nearly two summers at the PBP and talked to all kinds of riders and virtually everyone who visited the garden said the same thing. The same way everyone made the same complaints about the jumps at the PBP.

It's not really rocket science to figure out what people would like to see at both places so the choice is to either get defensive or try to make the spots more appealing to everyone and bring new riders into the sport, which I believe is the "goal" of Cambr, or at least I saw that written in one the flyers.

But chances are people won't realize what I'm trying to say and they'll get all defensive even over this post.

[Principal (Snake) Skinner]

Good post superawesome. I'd offer that the culture you reference is more a human nature thing than a CAMBr culture thing. When you put a ton of time into something, you want to get praise for it. Even if someone has a different idea of what should have been done, you want them to recognize that you busted your butt and made what you had better.

CAMBr has evolved a lot over the past few years and making things better has been a rallying cry for many. But better is relative, and the speed in which it comes might seem slow if you don't know the issues worked on behind the scenes. And, if the guys know that changes were just made, they'd want to leave things be for a while to see how they work out. All that might come across to others as obstructing their calls for change.

I hear nothing but great things from what's going on at the Garden, though I've never been since it's not my ride style. So my sense is that if more park changes are needed, they'll listen even if it doesn't seem like it. Obviously, they can't fall over themselves to accommodate everyone's opinion, but recurring themes get people's attention. Eventually, when the to-do list is under control good ideas will get their day.

[buddhaboy96]

This is to seanbikes,no matter if it is a bmx racer or not there is no difference in what type of bike riding it is because it is all equal riding  and there are alot of advanced riders and just think everybody starts out as a begginer.

This is to everybody and i agree that the only part of the gardens was the pump track part and i was looking at the other part and when i seen the rollers I was like " what the hell kind of rollers are those they look like a dirt spine" and you cant get any speed at the jumps.So i said forget this i am going back to the pump track.

[fat-tyr]

I did a little bit of work over at the PBP and when you hear complaints, it's Cambr policy to get defensive and I did the same thing as most people in this thread. But then I realized that being defensive prevents any of the riding spots from evolving and getting better so things get stale, new riders get turned off, and things end up being run and ridden by the same 5 people over and over again.

I've heard that same complaint regarding the jumps from 95% of the people who visit the garden. The same way most people who visit the PBP complain about the quality of the lips and quality of the dirt. People complain about everything, but some complaints are valid.

Eventually, when you hear something over and over again, everyone else is probably right and you're wrong. It's like if you own a shoe store and hate Nike shoes so you don't carry them, but everyday people come in and ask for Nike shoes. Eventually you'll realize that maybe you need to carry Nike shoes.

BTW, the garden has some great riders and they build some amazing jumps so this isn't a knock on any of them, it's more a knock on the Cambr culture that prevents things from evolving and getting better. I spent nearly two summers at the PBP and talked to all kinds of riders and virtually everyone who visited the garden said the same thing. The same way everyone made the same complaints about the jumps at the PBP.

It's not really rocket science to figure out what people would like to see at both places so the choice is to either get defensive or try to make the spots more appealing to everyone and bring new riders into the sport, which I believe is the "goal" of Cambr, or at least I saw that written in one the flyers.

But chances are people won't realize what I'm trying to say and they'll get all defensive even over this post.

The best things in life come after you realize its harder to be smart than stubborn.