Tuesday, December 16, 2008

A Feather In Your Cap

A public open house will be held on Tuesday, December 16 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Community Room at the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs main office, 912 Myers Park Drive, directly across from the Myers Park and Pool. This meeting is an opportunity for the public to provide the department input as well as receive information about the proposed project. Interested citizens are welcome to attend both the workshop and the open house at any time during the designated hours. For more information about the open house, how to participate in the workshop and for the location of the group at various times during the day, please call Chuck Goodheart at 933-6631 or the parks office during business hours at 891-3866. The City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs maintains both trails. For more information on these and other City trails and parks, please visit Talgov.com. Contact Chuck Goodheart, Parks and Recreation, 933-6631 or Bill Behenna, Communications, 891-8533 To receive news releases delivered straight to your email, sign up for the Talgov.com Email Subscription Service.

9 comments:

BIG JIM said...

I'm in.

Anonymous said...

Yep, me too. I realized that it's not my bike that became outdated, it's the trails that became too technical.
I'm pushing for some smoothification and maybe mulch, that rubber mulch would be good. And the trails should be wider so I can cruise past those expensive bikes with their delicate swingarms and disc things on the wheels.
"The trails are elitist" a missing link said, and I agree. Trails for the masses!

AucillaSinks said...

Dumb and Dumber

A superb piece of cinema
A trail system philosophy
Words to live by

AucillaSinks said...

People of the earth can you hear me
Came a voice from the sky on that magical night

Glad folks are going tonight. I won't be there myself but I did have a chance to traipse around with Woody on Saturday morning and ate a piece of his pizza last night to.

This Tom Brown thing is big. Way bigger than a bunch of reroutes on the Magnolia course. What Chuck wants to do will cost much more than the current pot of 100k. So step one is to produce a high level concept map and then go after some real money. If things fall into place we may know if we have a bigger pot by this July. Assuming big pot, the hope is to do a massive construction project next winter/spring. A "hybrid" job involving 8 or so Professionals and an army of volunteers over a month or so time frame.

Understand this my friends, a Master Plan is much more then redoing the current course. A master plan takes all current and future potential user types and skill levels and makes the best possible use out of the available land to produce a number of facilities. All new facilities will be two things: sustainable (require very little maintenance) and will manage risk.
Listen up:
1) Sustainable does Not equal Dumb (smooth and easy)
2) Managed Risk does Not equal safe or easy
3) You giving the consultant an earful of what you would like to see in the long range plan for the Park - at this stage of the process, is not a case of too many cooks in the kitchen.

But in my observation from the past couple of days along with my understanding of our big picture, I predict the following:

• For sure there will be a cross country course that will be comparable in length, flow and difficulty to the current course. It will be bench cut and loaded with grade reversals and for the first year it will be smoother than the current tread. But by year two, it will average 18 -24 inches wide (vs. the current 4-5 feet average width). The lower segment will be at least as tight as the current segment. This "blue trail" will have numerous black and double black diamond alternative segments that will add up to about 30% of the total length of the main course and will include rock gardens, jumps, drops and 15’ high freestyle features through the oak trees.

In addition to the cross country course and alternate challenge segments, there will be all or most of the following facilities:

* a very large trials practice area (yee haw!!!) probably in the gun range
* a flow course - like a single slalom course but longer and more varied
* Two or three pump tracks (for novice and advanced)
* a multi use trail that links Weems Rd/Goose Pond Trail to the Lafayette Heritage Trail multi use trail
* a secondary parking area, water and overlook pavilion
* better linkages to the Fern Trail, Alford Arm and Falls Chase

So…
- On a typical day, there will be lots of facilities for every user type with very little conflict due to quantity and design.
- On race day, most of the facilities at the Tom Brown Park plus the Cadillac and LHTP trails will all be incorporated into the race loop.

So please…
Be involved in every stage that you can, if you’re able to. And be excited about your future my friends, because two years from now we will be well on our way to Mountain Bike Meccahood.

My 2¢
John H.

Anonymous said...

Some main arteries haven't been paved in 15 years and most haven't been updated with bike lanes.
At least two municipal parks will close this year and be sold off to developers due to budget woes.

And a project that "will cost much more than the current pot of 100k" has only one selling point: the woods should have better bike trails?
Be prepared for disappointment.

AucillaSinks said...

"One selling point?"

I think it's hard for some people to visualize the potential of a regional park like what is being discussed and to understand it from an overall community and holistic perspective.

Besides, even a 100K will make us some headway that should not be cause for dissapointment.

Anonymous said...

Over 100k to make bike trails? Is all the money to be spent on the map and the 8 pros for a month at 78 bucks an hour? How about a bicycle registration fee to cover it? How about a park fee?

This is the rhetoric to be heard. You can discuss "holistic" and "community" all you want in plush economic times but right now- even basic services are cut for worse reasons.

Anonymous said...

WB, they's a fussin' over here!

Aucilla, a 15' high freestyle course? Now THAT would be rad!

Human Wrecking Ball said...

Everybody should have their say, a great place for that is at a meeting or a work day. Find a way to get involved that fits your philosophy. Throwing rocks from the sideline is doesn't help anyone.
I am for lane improvements as well and it is HIGH on my list. It would be great if you organized the like minded people around your cause and moved towards some goals. A LOT of mtb guys ride road bikes. We'll help.
COME OUT OF THE WOOD WORK.