Gresham could be moving forward on
a new BMX track.
(Photo: David Hucke)
Two big bits of news for local BMX riders…
This Thursday (12/9) the City of Gresham Parks Committee will hear a presentation by residents who are working to build a new BMX/pump track at the Gradin Community Sports Park. The 32 acre site just west of Highway 26 and north of the Springwater Corridor Trail at SE Hogan Ave, has been slated for a host of improvements. 51-year old Gresham resident David Hucke is spearheading an effort to build a BMX track at the location. He’s has already gotten the ear of the Mayor of Gresham, volunteers, and even corporate sponsors to help with the project.
Hucke says it’s crucial that the Parks Committee sees a strong show of support for BMX at the meeting. If you’d like to support this project, come to the Springwater Trail Room at Gresham City Hall (1333 NW Eastman Parkway) this Thursday at 6:30 pm. Check out the Gresham BMX Park Facebook page where you can see plans, get updates, and learn more.
be in Portland tomorrow.
Closer to home here in Portland, BMX lovers are getting psyched for a special event tomorrow night that will feature legendary rider Mat Hoffman. Hoffman will be in town for a showing of The Birth of Big Air, a documentary that details the evolution of vert ramp riding with Hoffman as its central figure.
The showing will take place at Nemo Designs (1875 SE Belmont). A $5 donation will go toward a fund to help Michael Vincent, a well-known BMX and action sports figure who suffered a major injury after being hit by a car while riding in Los Angeles back in January.
Watch the trail for The Birth of Big Air below…
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David Hucke is just about the perfect name for someone advocating for a BMX park!
Very cool. They should rally some MTB people behind them by building some skills park style devices around the perimeter.
BMX Action! Where is Gork?
That’s awesome. But BMX does not equal dirt-jumping. Sure, when one hears “BMX” the first thought is of freestyle (tricks, stunts) but actual BMX is racing. It’s super fun, everybody can get into it, and no tricks required!
To that end, I hope they consider putting in an actual BMX race track there. Or change the name to “dirt-jump park”, “pump track” or “skills park”.
the words ‘pump track’ are used in this article.
who cares what bmx is = to? i’m sure the general public and the members of the gresham parks committee, who will either support this or not, aren’t overly concerned about a literal defintion of what bmx is or isn’t.
the jumps and tricks are what got me into bmx as a kid in the mid 80’s, and that is ultimately what has turned me into the 34 y.o. biker i am now.
The definition of/or difference between BMX track, dirt jumps, or pump track, when put into a park or public space, can be very big, IMO.
In Vancouver, when I brought up Pump tracks for bikes, I was told the stumbling block for a BMX track was the permitting costs. I would like to quote the numbers given,but they seem astronomically huge, ridiculous even. They seemed behind tracks, and wanted them to be put in.
I wasn’t even talking about a BMX track however, I was talking Pump tracks. No difference was known, and permitting costs were assumed to be as large. While we know what is involved in a pump track is much much less than what is involved in a BMX track. For permitting reasons alone the difference is important.
The simplicity of pump tracks says we should have them everywhere.
The complexities of placing them through proper channels is the stumbling block…. Boo.
And really, a pump track will get much, much more use day to day than a BMX track.
NWTA is aware of this project and had some discussions with Gresham Parks last year. At the time, we didn’t have a champion for the project. Fortunately, David stepped in and has run with it. We plan to support the project in anyway we can.
The question of liability may also be an issue. We are actively talking with Portland Parks about pumptracks and the City wants us to take on liability and basically indemnify the City. Their reasoning is that we will be doing regular maintenance on the site and they don’t want to assume liability for that. One one hand, I understand their concern, on the other, we are proposaing to build and maintain the site at no cost to the City and don’t want to be shouldered with all liablility, even though we have an insurance policy to cover such activities. Hopefully that won’t be a a stumbling block here.
What are the differences in liability between a pumptrack/BMX course and a skatepark? And how does a place like I-5 Collonade park in Seattle deal with it?