mtnbiker

As a mountain biker and road cyclist, I can attest that these type of amenities are important to a demographic that Cleveland claims to want to attract and keep here. That said, I can also understand why a bike park may not immediately appear to be a high value/return for land use when compared with retail, housing or office use. However, there are spin-off benefits of amenities such as a bike park that may be overlooked unless they are seen as part of the big picture in Cleveland. Take Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park that was mentioned in an earlier post: http://www.raysmtb.com Ray’s is in the Walford Industrial Park in the West Boulevard area. Not only does the park have a solid local following and a supportive community of riders, but also since Ray’s opened in 2004, busloads of Canadians and other out-of-towners have been making their way to Cleveland specifically to spend their winter weekends riding at Ray’s. In fact, last year over half the riders that came to Ray’s on the weekends were from outside the region. See some of their comments http://www.thebikinghub.com/mtb/rays-indoor-mtb-park-feature/ I am not suggesting that a bike park in Midtown will result in the same number of out-of-town visits that Ray’s draws. But amenities such as Ray’s and bike trails in our parks are important enough to Clevelanders that they have donated thousands hours to advocate for, to design, to build, and to maintain these facilities. Not only have they donated their professional expertise and time to Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park, but also to the Cleveland Metroparks, where volunteers from the Cleveland Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA) http://www.camba.us are working in partnership with Cleveland Metroparks at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation to construct Cuyahoga County’s first multi-use trail designed for mountain biking. In addition, events such as Walk and Roll Cleveland that highlight Rockefeller Park and the Cultural Gardens, the cycling-related activities planned for the Ingenuity Festival this summer, and the efforts of ClevelandBikes to develop a bike station downtown all contribute to making Cleveland a more attractive place to live and work. And with increasing concerns over sedentary lifestyles and the lack of outdoor activities readily available to young people, a bike park in Midtown could prove to be not just a short-term option for an empty lot, but also a long- term asset for the community. Is the proposed location the best one for the park? Are there currently other viable options for that land? I don’t know that answer. And for the fixie rider wishing for a Velodrome - there is talk of getting that going here in Cleveland. See the blog http://velodrome4c.blogspot.com/.