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Help us save our jumps

yesimaddicted

Monkey
Apr 28, 2007
824
0
centeral Euroland via CA
looking for some help form you all. our local spot is in the process of getting shut down for good. This place has a history that u can read about farther down if you want. But this place means a lot to us and hope u guys can help us out by signing this for us.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savecreek/


interesting fact-Steve Peat has approved these jumps, this isnt bull



here is my write up that was mixed in with the summary on ipetitions.com

The Creek Jumps located in Lafayette, CA off the trail by the Lafayette Community Center and are a special place for all ages of bikers and non-bikers. This is a spot to ride great jumps and hang out with friends anytime. With an average of about 10 kids and adults visiting the jumps daily the constant flow of people allow for people to make new friends from around the area. The Creek Jumps have been around for more than 15 years and the responsibility of keeping them working is passed on through generations. These jumps have been a place for kids to find the true wonders of biking and grow to love the sport. Many of the past builders and riders have gone on to have biking a large part of their life.



This spot has been very controversial through out the years. Younger kids come and start to work on them not necessarily understand the importance of respect to the land and others. Older kids and adults try to help regulate the jumps in hope of keeping them prosperous to all. This has included the removal of thrash, hard labor and devotion.



These jumps have been take down naturally and by humans many times. However, they are ALWAYS rebuilt. You might ask why such a thing would happen. There are many answers to this. A major one is that these jumps have become FAMOUS for the local BMX’ers and mountain bikers. Kids through out Lafayette and Moraga know this spot for the legendary jumps that have been made. These kids want to be able to tell their friends that “Hey I jumped the creek jumps” or “The creek jumps are SOOOOO cool”. Another reason these jumps have been rebuilt many times of the years is the spot they are at. This spot is a perfect spot for jumps because of the shade, local water supply, sandy dirt and easy to get to location.



The Creek jumps are the lively hood of many bikers in the community. Deystroying this spot again will hamper the joy that comes to so many bikers when the spend a day biking




thank you very much for your help
matt
 

HBFR33R!D3

Monkey
Jun 5, 2007
340
0
huntington beach
just signed it, hope they dont get torn down, local jumps around here, hidden valley just got plowed so i know how you feel, do want to see another spot lost to "the man"
 

freeridefool

Monkey
Jun 17, 2006
647
0
medford, or
I hope they dont get torn down, but why would a city counsel or parks department or whatever, care about the signatures of random dirt jumpers on the internet. It seems that every once in a while one of these things pops up and it really sucks to see jumps get plowed.
But I know our city counsel would never go for a petition like this.

When our jumps were about to get plowed I went literally door to door and talked to anyone that would talk to me. I had over 6 thousand signatures and it just wasnt good enough. We were lucky enough to have a very generous person buy the property and keep the jumps.

I hope all goes well but this doesnt seem like the right avenue to me to be trying to keep the jumps.
 

yesimaddicted

Monkey
Apr 28, 2007
824
0
centeral Euroland via CA
the two main builders Paul and I, have decided that its time to stand up for the hard work we have put in. This petition might not work in saving our current spot, but we are then hoping to have the city see that bikers need a spot of their own.
 

ebrider510

Monkey
Dec 7, 2006
410
0
Bay Area, CA
signed. i had a blast the one day i got to come out and help. this is seriously the most legit spot i have been to that wasn't a city run park. these guys put tons of effort into this place making it smooth and safe. everyone looks out for each other and there is literally no trash on the ground. like i said, it's the definition of legit.
 

ZHendo

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,661
147
PNW
these jumps have been around forever and there have been no problems, i'm not sure why the city is pushing so hard for them to be destroyed all of the sudden. the community loves them, whenever i'm down there i see parents that walk their kids by to check everything out, there's a great vibe around the whole thing. unfortunately, the city does have a strong argument because the jumps are right next to a creek that they are calling watershed. with how many spots that have been torn down out here, the city will have to figure out a way to set aside a small piece of land for us to jump on. they semi-recently spent tons of money on a skatepark, i don't see how a small parcel of land for some jumps is going to be at all painful.
 

cmc

Turbo Monkey
Nov 17, 2006
2,052
6
austin
A few suggestions:

1. Write up a document with an official sounding title like
"Proposal for Lafayette Bicycle Motocross (BMX) and Mountain Bike Skills Area" or "Lafayette Creek Bicycle Skills Park Project"
2. The proposal will list "options" availabe--including relocating to new land, cost of water supply, dirt, heavy equipment construction etc. Basically how much it would cost the city to build a new park. Then compare with the fact that the riders have already built the spot themselves.
3. Proposal will list the adults who are "monitors" or "contact persons."
4. Agree to post signs a) recommending helmet use b) warning that city is not liable for injuries, ride at own risk etc. c) no unauthorized use of tools d) emergency phone number etc.
5. Agree to remove trash at a stated interval--maybe city will provide some trash cans.

If you take certain steps to "officialize" a spot, sometimes you can keep it. Also, personal appeal by important members of the community to "higher-ups" in the local government is extremely effective. The main reason low-level gov't won't respond is they feel they don't have authority to. You have to go to someone with authority. (I work in State gov't.)
 

FR4life.

Monkey
Nov 2, 2004
606
0
The Bay
A few suggestions:

1. Write up a document with an official sounding title like
"Proposal for Lafayette Bicycle Motocross (BMX) and Mountain Bike Skills Area" or "Lafayette Creek Bicycle Skills Park Project"
2. The proposal will list "options" availabe--including relocating to new land, cost of water supply, dirt, heavy equipment construction etc. Basically how much it would cost the city to build a new park. Then compare with the fact that the riders have already built the spot themselves.
3. Proposal will list the adults who are "monitors" or "contact persons."
4. Agree to post signs a) recommending helmet use b) warning that city is not liable for injuries, ride at own risk etc. c) no unauthorized use of tools d) emergency phone number etc.
5. Agree to remove trash at a stated interval--maybe city will provide some trash cans.

If you take certain steps to "officialize" a spot, sometimes you can keep it. Also, personal appeal by important members of the community to "higher-ups" in the local government is extremely effective. The main reason low-level gov't won't respond is they feel they don't have authority to. You have to go to someone with authority. (I work in State gov't.)
If it only worked out that well. pretty much all city/non-rider built parks I've seen are terrible. The only fun ones are built by riders, since riders are the only people who can build stuff correctly for it to be fun on a bike. What cities should really do is just give riders a piece of land, some tools, dirt, and hose access. I bet if more cities were aware of how cheap and effective it would be, they would be more willing to consider it.
 

yesimaddicted

Monkey
Apr 28, 2007
824
0
centeral Euroland via CA
well actuly we made some major improvement with the jumps and it seems like Lafayette CA. will in the next year or so have a jump park.

the city already had plains for this and we have a city employ that we are working with now

will keep you up dated

and anyone that is intrested in helping out in the bay area please e-mail me at mt-bikeislife (at) hotmail.com
 

cmc

Turbo Monkey
Nov 17, 2006
2,052
6
austin
If it only worked out that well. pretty much all city/non-rider built parks I've seen are terrible. The only fun ones are built by riders, since riders are the only people who can build stuff correctly for it to be fun on a bike. What cities should really do is just give riders a piece of land, some tools, dirt, and hose access. I bet if more cities were aware of how cheap and effective it would be, they would be more willing to consider it.
i didn't mean to propose for the city to build it, i meant a plan to keep your already-built spot. here's an example of the city tearing down a spot, then once certain active people started a dialogue, and spoke the right language, city agreed to provide dirt to rebuild the spot in a slightly different location. www.chuckfurlong.com/SundaysTrails/index.html
 

yesimaddicted

Monkey
Apr 28, 2007
824
0
centeral Euroland via CA
i didn't mean to propose for the city to build it, i meant a plan to keep your already-built spot. here's an example of the city tearing down a spot, then once certain active people started a dialogue, and spoke the right language, city agreed to provide dirt to rebuild the spot in a slightly different location. www.chuckfurlong.com/SundaysTrails/index.html
that is what we are trying to do