Freeride Coalition Meeting Notes - March 24th 2009

[kevin marley]

The project was named the "Big Bike project". 

Attendees:
Dan Kiss
Pete Kraemer
Steve Woznicki
Chris Warning
Dave Peters
Ben Chacko
Kevin Marley
Ray Snyder

Background info:
The proposed property is Kane County forest preserve - According to forest preserve documentation the area does allow biking. The property was given on the condition that no structures are ever to be built on the property.  Already has some structures on the property (fences, posts, etc..) we think they interpret that as no buildings. The property is 824' on north, 1000' on east side, 967' on south, 1000' on west side.


Key presentation points:
It has built many times and torn down. Numerous times over the last ten years (shows the need for a riding facility of this type)
Many types of motorized vehicles. (will help remove unauthorized motorized vehicle access)
Pictures of junk that we can clean up. (we will clean the park of junk)
Biking, dog park, fishing, and hiking is already an approved activity.
We want to obtain multi-use trail status.  (design with hiking in mind)
Create safe conditions (safety signage in dangerous areas)
Prarie Path - bring bike traffic from other towns. (tourism)
Stay out of areas like Fabian (prevent illegal trail building and freestyle riding in un-authrized areas)


To Do's:

Marley to provide sample letter to send to businesses. 

Pete and Dan - Get letters from Bike Shops and local businesses endorsing the bike park and increase in tourism.

Dan - will contact the Kane County Forest Preserve (KCFP) (will contact them after the next meeting). He will give the initial sales pitch and provide an info packet during the initial phone call showing benefits of bike parks, the benfits to the KCFP, and success stories. The goal of the initial contact is to set up a meeting where we can discuss the plan in detail and eventually give a presentation for approval.


Info Packet:
Dave (not Peters?) - maybe help with creating a video
Pete - gather pics, info on bike parks.
Marley - generic statistics on bike parks.
Dave - will format the info and create a published document.


Next meeting will be a skype call at 7:30 PM  April 7th.
 

[ohpaddler]

For those who where unable to attend the skype meeting, is there anything that we can do to help move the process along?

[R.Snyder]

just a video with content from both sides about a long time used illegal trail that was legitimized.

apparently I sucked and didn't paste the link

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/64649/

[kevin marley]

Sample Letter for local businesses:



To whom it may concern:

The Chicago Area Mountain Bikers (CAMBr) have been maintaining the best off-road trails and riding facilities in the Chicagoland area for close to 15 years. They are a non-profit organization that works together with forest preserves and park districts to create and maintain off-road recreation for bicycles. CAMBr provides volunteer labor to give life to projects on public land by organizing workdays, raising donations, and building community support. CAMBr has seen huge success with their multiple facilities which besides providing a healthy recreational activity are also used as locations for events like riding exhibitions, competitions, and bicycle skills and safety training.

Although there are over 9 million residents in the Chicagoland area, most of whom own a bicycle, there are only a handful of off-road riding destinations.  Off-road riding facilities usually can be built with little or no cost and can bring recreational tourism dollars to the surrounding areas and increased sales for local merchants.  A unique riding destination such as the Palos Forest Preserve trails or the Plainfield Bike Park would be good for our community and would increase my sales.

I am excited about this new CAMBr Project. It will surely be a benefit to the small local businesses of Kane County. Please accept my recommendation of the Chicago Area Mountain Bikers and of their proposed park.

Sincerely,

[I pick bad lines]

The first sentence might look better if it was worded like this:

"The Chicago Area Mountain Bikers (CAMBr) have been maintaining the best off-road trails and riding facilities in the Chicagoland area for close to 15 years."

[kevin marley]

thanks, fixed it.

here's my generic reasons to build a bike park:




Reasons to build a bike park

Bicycle friendly communities are seen as places with a high quality of life.
This often translates into increased property values, business growth and increased tourism. Bicycle-friendly communities are places where people feel safe and comfortable riding their bikes for fun, fitness, and transportation. With more people bicycling, communities experience reduced traffic demands, improved air quality and greater physical fitness.

Bicycling is good exercise. A bicycle provides individual freedom and transportation.
Our sedentary lifestyle leads to cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, and being overweight. Bicycling as a regular aerobic exercise leads to a healthy body and helps prevent disease and a shortened lifespan.

A bike park provides a year round facility for riders to improve bicycle handling skills in a safe manner. 

A bike park appeals to today’s youth. Extreme sports are gaining in popularity and don't require teams or organization to enjoy.

Built with relatively little cost, a park could be a destination along the existing trail system.

Competitions and exhibitions would bring visitors to Kane County businesses. Last year the Plainfield Dirt Jam brought over 150  bike riders from across the Midwest to raise money to fund the Plainfield Bike Park. 

Manufacturers and local bike shops can use the park to hold events and exhibitions.

The facility could offer classes or lessons for bicycle handling skills or dirt jumping.

A bike park will help prevent illegal jump building and extreme bike riding in unauthorized areas.   A legal riding facility legalizes this popular recreational sport and eliminates the need for unauthorized building.   

[gobighitmtb]

A-W-E-S-O-M-E

[ohpaddler]

I can't make it to this event but it might be helpful to contact success stories like this one in ohio (horns hill)

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=503915

city press release- http://www.ci.newark.oh.us/business/economicdev/pdfs/Resources/Newark%20-%20City%20Council%20&%20Administration/06-20-2008%20Horns%20Hill%20Park%20getting%20a%20clearer%20view.pdf

http://www.spokejunkies.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6134

also I don't know if our friends from down south in Perioa could help provide some tips on how they got trails.

[Huckster McPlush]

I am really excited for this project.  It sounds like everyone really knows their stuff.  If I didn't have such a crazy work schedule, I would be taking on as many tasks as I could.  Keep up the awesome work.

[ohpaddler]

good info here from up north.

part 1 http://www.pinkbike.com/news/british-columbia-trail-strategy-2009.html


part 2 http://www.pinkbike.com/news/british-columbia-trail-strategy-part-2-2009.html