The Valmont Bike Park Design Team

Great news everyone! The design team for the Valmont Bike Park has been selected!
Three proposals were submitted to the Parks & Recs Dept and BHA Design of Ft. Collins has been chosen to lead the design for the park.

This is a very impressive team. Check them out:
• BHA Design- Lead Consultant, Project Management, Landscape Architecture, Sign Design
• Alta Planning + Design - Bike Park Designer
• International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) - Bike Park Designer
• Alpine Bike Parks - Bike Park Designer
• Drexel Barrel - Civil Engineer, Leader of the City's Land Use Review process
• OZ Architecture - Architecture, Renovation of Historic Farmhouse
• JVA - Structural Engineer
• Boulder Engineering - Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing consultant

Stay tuned....There will be opportunities in the process for
public input as the design develops. Be a part of it!

IMBA fundraising site for Valmont

Rich Cook from IMBA has set up a fundraising site for Valmont Bike Park.
Check it out, support the cause!

http://go.imba. com/site/ TR/Volunteerfund raiser/TeamIMBA? px=1258891&pg=personal&fr_id=1050

MOVIE: Road to Roubaix THIS WEDNESDAY!

There's a killer movie promo event on Wednesday the 13th at the Boulder Theater. Info below...

MOVIE: ROAD TO ROUBAIX
Plus VeloNews TV TdF Bloopers premiere, Q & A with filmmakers and Paris-Roubaix Top 10 finisher Henk Vogels

Masterlink Films and directors, David Deal and Dave Cooper, bring you a film that goes beyond the limits of what broadcast television can offer. Road To Roubaix tells the story of the riders, mechanics, fans, and the brutal, unpredictable landscape that is the stage for Paris-Roubaix. The film combines rare, behind-the-scenes footage, stunning panoramic views of the race, and a collection of contemporary photographs, as well as rare historic archival photographs that most people never see. The film features the 2007 edition of Paris-Roubaix—the hottest in over 100 years—but the main character of the film is without a doubt the cobbles. Featuring: Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, Sean Kelly, Stuart O'Grady, Marc Madiot, Juan Antonio Flecha, Peter Van Petegem, Lance Armstrong and many more...A pre-registration table for the local epic, Boulder-Roubaix, will be in the lobby.

There will also be a lot of discussion regarding Valmont Bike Park so do what you can to come and learn more!

Go to the Boulder Theater Site HERE to learn more.

Valmont Bike Park Press Release - Fundraising Now Open!

Monday, Aug. 4, 2008
For Immediate Release

Contact:
Bobby Noyes
Boulder Mountainbike Alliance (BMA) - Valmont Bike Park Director
303-402-0190 or bobby (at) rockymounts (dot) com

Boulder Mountainbike Alliance launches fundraising campaign to build 45-acre bike park in Boulder, Colo..

The Boulder Mountainbike Alliance (BMA) and the city of Boulder’s Parks and Recreation Department are excited to announce the launch of a fundraising campaign to support the development of Valmont Bike Park. The 45-acre bicycle park is a significant component of the development plan for Valmont City Park, which was adopted earlier this year by the Boulder City Council.

The city of Boulder purchased the 132-acre Valmont site in 1995 with sales tax revenue, and plans are now set for Phase One development that will begin in 2009. The bike park is currently included in the Phase One development, along with the development of a dog park, the adaptive re-use of an historic farmhouse, parking, a disc golf course, infrastructure and utilities improvements.

Bike Park
The Parks and Recreation Department and BMA have entered into a public-private partnership to develop a portion of the city-owned land into a bike park. The venue will encompass a network of singletrack mountain bike trails, a permanent cyclo-cross course, a children’s skills area, a pump track, amenities for BMX and other facilities to suit beginning to experienced athletes. The park’s Front Range setting and terrain will provide an impressive backdrop for daily riding, learning and teaching. The bike park design will accommodate programming, ranging from youth cycling development programs to world-class bicycle racing. Boulder is the unofficial bike capital of the USA, and this facility will proudly represent the city and its cycling community, setting a high standard for cycling parks worldwide.

Timeline
The Parks and Recreation Department has allocated funds for planning and construction for Phase One of development. Design professionals and trail designers are currently being interviewed, with the goal of finalizing the bike park design later this year or early 2009. Construction of the facility is slated for April 2009 with an anticipated goal of completion of the bike park by later that summer.

Funding and Partnership
The city has provided the land for Valmont Bike Park, as well as funds for planning and construction. BMA has entered into a partnership with the city to provide design input, raise funds, build community awareness, and manage and maintain the site when completed. While funding is in place for much of the anticipated construction costs, there is not enough capital funding to provide for all of the proposed facilities and park features. Hence, BMA is working to raise $500,000 through grants, private donations and corporate sponsorships to help supplement the construction budget. These additional funds will allow cycling enthusiasts to enjoy a truly extraordinary, premiere outdoor cycling venue in Boulder.


How to help
Members of the cycling community are encouraged to contribute to the development of this unique world-class cycling facility. More than 10 years in the making, the Valmont Bike Park is a dream that will become a reality for cycling enthusiasts. This unique and exciting facility, which will be designed and managed by cyclists, needs the cycling community’s financial support at this critical stage of development.

Contributing is easy at www.valmontbikepark.com

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Cyclists want to be part of solutions....

There was an interesting op/ed by some Fort Collins folk on the Coloradoan today.

Cycling at an intensity level for fitness requires that we go long, go fast, or go uphill (fast). Group riding is part of the program, too. Lance Armstrong trained in groups on open roads. Neither the state's trails laws, nor the sheriff's interpretation of the highway laws, encourage us to do that on trails or roads. The huge success of the 6-Day Races at the CSU Oval indicates that track cycling is popular with all ages, both as spectators and participants.

Fort Collins should plan to provide land for a recreational and competitive cycling facility within its parks system, with a velodrome, a "closed to traffic" Criterium course, a kids' learn-to-ride course, plus MTB and Cyclocross courses.

Much of what is positioned above and in the aricle was critical to the arguments made during the planning and advocay stages in front of Boulder City Council and teh P & R board. For Fort Collins and Anywhere, USA, it will take a unified voice and very direct needs evangelized over and over to ensure what is desired and needed by the community is heard and ujltimatley recogonozed before it can be approved. This parallels the efforts of many of the core Valmont Bike Park committee members who have not deviated from their view of the Valmont Bike Park need for the community for many years.

Read the whole article here.