The PRO-ness of Valmont Bike Park

I just wanted to share with you a little sampling of what’s coming. What people need to understand is that this project is literally at the tip of the spear in many aspects…from the way we organized to push the concept in 2007 with the City of Boulder to the aggregation of the most professional resources possible to ensure this park is world class.

One such example is Tarras Landscape Innovation. This is the team which was selected by the Valmont Park Committee after they submitted their designs  held during an open competition and clearly blew the team away. Their contributions will be to look conceptually at the space we have allotted to us (45 acres) and look specifically at the ‘details’ of the Park itself to balance aesthetics with usability/sustainability all the while keeping the theme of cycling and cyclists at the core of their usable designs.

It’s worth a look at this brief snapshot they’ve provided.

Get excited!

Valmont Bike Park is a GO!!!!!!!!!!

Board OKs first phase of Valmont park construction

45-acre parcel to include bike park and disc-golf course

By Zak Brown (Contact)
Thursday, June 4, 2009

Photo by Marty Caivano

Jasmine Wong plays with her dog, Bella, on the south side of Valmont City Park on Thursday.

Photo by Marty Caivano

Trucks dump dirt at Valmont City Park on Thursday. The dirt will be used to shape the bike park planned for the spot just south of the Boulder County Jail.

 

BOULDER, Colo. — After more than a decade, a plot of land Boulder voters envisioned as a park with community-wide appeal took a major step toward reality Thursday night.

The site review for the first, $4.5 million phase of the Valmont City Park was approved unanimously by the Boulder Planning Board, clearing the way for a 45-acre section of the park that will include a bike park, trails, a dog park, a “tot lot” and a disc-golf course.

“When the idea for this park first started, it was meant to be an active park that could be a place for several different activities,” said Alice Guthrie, a superintendent with Boulder Parks and Recreation. “And we really think we’ve accomplished that with this plan.”

Voters approved a tax to pay for the park in 1998.

Construction is expected to start this summer or fall on the first of three phases of Valmont City Park, which in all covers a 132-acre parcel in northeast Boulder. The first phase is expected to be finished in about a year.

The bike park — which includes several different levels and types of terrain, such as dirt tracks and a cyclocross course — is already being designed with help from the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance, which has donated $70,000 to the project.

The bike park is “the first built anywhere, that we know of,” Guthrie said.

The development of Valmont City Park has been a long and sometimes-complicated process.

Between 1999 and 2003, the parks department tried to find private or nonprofit partners to help develop the park. But after those attempts fell through, staffers went back to the drawing board.

The Valmont City Park Advisory Group was formed in 2007, and it restarted the process of trying to formulate the park.

After the group submitted a concept plan, the Planning Board made some suggestions, such as trying to reduce auto congestion and increase vegetation, and the City Council approved the concept last summer.

The parks department found much of the money to pay for the first phase of construction from the sale of two parks properties, which netted a little more than $3 million.

Teva and The Outdoor Foundation Support Valmont Bike Park!

(Note the generous donation Teva and the Outdoor Federation will be making to the VBP!)

Teva Partners With Outdoor Foundation and IMBA, Introduces B1-G Air Contest

Teva, a division of Deckers Outdoor Corporation, and the Outdoor Foundation have announced a new partnership effort aimed at broadening the outdoor community by engaging new audiences and industries in nature-based activities. Teva has launched the Teva B1-G Air Contest, which will invite contestants to create a short video of their biggest-air trick and try to win a trip to the 2010 Teva Mountain Games.

The effort also includes a cause-related component where a donation from Teva and The Outdoor Foundation will be made in the winner's name to IMBA to help build the Valmont Bike Park in Boulder, CO.

Valmont Clean Up a Success!

Valmont Clean Up a Success!

A Post Volunteer Work Day Report by Pete Webber

The future home of the Valmont Bike Park got a spring cleaning this weekend thanks to 60 volunteers who spent their Saturday afternoon working to clear trash, junk, and old fences from the site.

The plan was to clean up the 40-acres in anticipation of official construction to begin later this year. By the end of the day, piles of trash included car tires, lumber, innumerable plastic bags, and unexpected discoveries like a shopping cart, golf bag, rusted bed frame, lawn furniture, and 11 different shoes.

The crews also dismantled 700 feet of barbed wire fences that were hold-overs from when portions of the property were a farm. Along with the barbed wire came nearly 100 fence-posts that had to be pried out of the ground.

The vibe was super positive as young and old got dirty and pitched in to do their part for the project. Everyone also got a close look at the park plans and toured the site with some of the team involved in the planning and design.

The event was organized by the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance and the City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department, with help from the International Mountain Biking Association.

Since day one, the public support for this park has been unbelievable, and this weekend's event was no different. Stay tuned for future events later this year and come join the fun!

See the full set of images here, or enjoy them in the slide show below!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Valmont Bike Park Work Day!

Valmont Clean-Up Day, May 9th

We are getting closer to construction for the Valmont Bike Park,
and we need your help!

When: Saturday May 9th, 2-6pm
Why: Site prep    
Time to begin site prep for the Valmont Bike Park!  We hope to begin construction over the summer, but first work needs to be done this spring. We will meet at the site at 2pm, Saturday May 9th, to get the ball rolling on construction.  The site has been neglected for years - there are downed fences, windblown debris, and invasive weeds that need to be removed. We are partnering with BMA for this Valmont Bike Park work day, but we also need your help. BMA work days are rewarding and a good chance to meet other like minded members of the community, so pitch in, it is cool to help out. 
We scheduled the clean up so you could ride in the morning, and help out in the afternoon.  After breaking into groups of ten, we will learn about the park while prepping the site for construction.  This is your first opportunity to see the plans on site, ask questions and help out.  We will provide the materials, just bring work gloves.   
We have to limit the number of volunteers to 60, and there has been a tremendous outpouring of offers to help.  Please click here to register; register early because once we reach 60 volunteers, we will respond that the event is full.    
The Valmont Bike Park will be a model civic bike project for years to come.  Come out, watch it unfold, be a part of it.

Valmont Bike Park at Sea Otter!

This is a re-cast of Rob Love’s post, owner of Blue Sky Velo in Longmont and Mavic Neutral Support Personality Extraordinaire. They’re in Monterey for The Otter and had this to say…

VBP at Sea Otter

BAM, that number plate just got tagged, Valmont-style!

hey kids:
for those of you lucky enough to be reading this blog from Sea Otter, and for the rest of us that need to live vicariously through pictures showing a little VitaminD, check it out: Mike Eubank of the Valmont Bike Park crew is out at Sea Otter doing his thing along with IMBA getting the word out about the park. Mike is spending his own time and money out there, spreading the gospel! This will definitely get some national attention to the park, and help speed along fundraising and construction.

The IMBA booth is 20x20ft of bike-avocating madness!

The VBP trail map is about as Pro as it gets.

Alright, that's about it for right now--so if you or someone you know is out in Monterrey, give'em a text, tweet, e-mail, or smoke signal and tell 'em to get over to the booth and give Mike and the crew some props!
Rob Love, over&out.

Pedestrian Shops & Boulder Arts & Crafts Host Fundraiser for VBP!

'Old Friend' Businesses Celebrate Children's Day And Earth Day The Pedestrian Shops and Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery are teaming up for a kids' Crocs-decorating event to benefit the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance designated for the Kids' Learning Loop at the Valmont Bike Park. Parents and kids can purchase a pair of kids' Crocs at the Pedestrian Shops and take them next door to the Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery to decorate them, 1-3 p.m. April 24, 1400 block of Pearl Street, 303-443-3683 or 303-449-5260