MBP Wins COF Grant for $250,000!!!
For over four years, we’ve been building trails, selling t-shirts, getting kids on bikes, supporting neighborhood gatherings, going to meetings, meeting with important people. Some things are clearly visible, but a lot happens behind the scenes. It’s been awhile since we’ve had some big, public news about MBP. But, it’s been well worth the wait, and all the time we’ve invested has paid off. We’re about to build a bike park!!!
Renderings and photos courtesy of Alpine Bike Parks, LLC
With the help of Alpine Bike Parks and funded by the MBP Founder’s Club, The SF Urban Riders Bike Park Committee wrote and submitted a Community Opportunity Fund grant application at the end of June. The awards were to be announced in September. Groups usually submit applications for this grant multiple times before winning, and this was our second time. In September we were notified that the selection committee was a few people short, and that selections would be delayed until the end of the year. SFUR has been working diligently toward a bike park for over four years, we’ve been fully vested in the surrounding community, and knew this year we had a strong application. So, we’ve been waiting very patiently, yet anxiously, until now…
On January 9th, I received a surprise call from Phil Ginsberg, General Manager of SF Recreation and Park Department, congratulating SF Urban Riders and McLaren Bike Park on receiving the COF grant. And the next day, we received an email from Jacob Gilchrist, Project Manager with SF Recreation and Park with the list of winning projects.
The Community Opportunity Fund Project Selection Committee had made its recommendations to the Recreation and Park Commission for the award of Round 3 projects. They received over $3.5 million in requests and had just $1.25 million available for award. So, we are incredibly fortunate to have won the second largest grant in the group at $249,835.
The winning projects will be presented at the Recreation and Park Commission Capital Committee Meeting on February 6. Assuming Capital Committee approval, the full Commission would take final action on February 21.
Here’s a project Summary from our McLaren Bike Park COF Grant application:
San Francisco Urban Riders is proposing the design and installation of a youth‐focused bike park in a vacant area of McLaren Park. This proposed project is the first phase of a larger bicycle park as shown on the attached conceptual master plan that has been approved by SFRPD following the community design meeting process. This shovel ready project will create a facility for individuals looking to learn or improve their basic bike riding skills, and aesthetically pleasing passive areas for parents and other constituents. The project will create an engaging and innovative park amenity that resonates with teenagers, many of whom are underserved and at risk.
Supported by neighborhood community groups and the cycling community, the park will fill a demonstrated need in the community. The park will provide an accessible and dedicated space for cyclists to improve their skills, while providing a safe area for the community to passively participate.
The completed project will be broken down into approximately three phases. The COF grant will fund the first phase, which includes:
- Multi‐use plaza and lawn
- Beginner Bike Skills Trail with Flow Form Technical Trail Features
- Youth BMX/MTB Pump Park with Flow Form Technical Trail Features
- Tree and drought‐tolerant native species plantings
- Irrigation for current phase, stubbed out for future phases
- Picnic and passive rest area
- Fencing
- Signage
Subsequent phases will be funded by additional grants and fundraising projects. SF Urban Riders and Alpine Bike Parks are already partnering with SFRPD to secure additional fundraising. There’s still much work to be done, but the COF grant is the first domino to fall, and will help immensely in securing more funding.
Next steps?
- January TBD – Come celebrate the awarding of the COF grant, ask questions, and find out how you can get involved. Look for meeting date, location and time to be announced shortly.
- January 26 – Come lend a hand improving trails in McLaren Park. Click here for more info.
- February TBD – Come out to the SFRPD Commission meeting and show your support for McLaren Bike Park and the COF grant award.
- March 30 – Participate, volunteer or spectate in the San Francisco Mountain Bike Festival Fundraiser on March 30th in McLaren Park. Click here for more info.
We’re also making one last push for Founder’s Club donations. This is the time to support future grant writing, so donate! We’re making this park happen and founders will have their name attached to the park. But, space is limited to 20 Industry founders. 20 Bike Shop founders and 50 individual founders. So donate now, and encourage your biking friends to do the same. This is especially huge for industry and bike shop folks. Once the park is near completion, sponsorship will be less affordable. This is a chance to put your name on the park, show you supported it from the beginning, and help fund the next phases of construction asap!!!
Huge thanks to everyone at the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, The COF Selection Committee, and our fiscal host, SF Parks Alliance. Thanks to all the community organizations and supporters that came out for meetings, wrote letters, bought t-shirts and rallied for the cause.
Big props to Industry founders Gamut USA, Custom SLR and Ride SFO. Our non-profit founders, the Mary A. Crocker Trust and the Matt Peterson Fund. And to all of our individual founders. Thanks to Dan Schneider, SF Urban Riders Executive Director, Tom Borden my Co-project manager. Thanks to Alpine Bike Parks for putting time against this, even when they didn’t know if they’d get paid. And to everyone that’s come to a meeting, picked up a shovel, written a letter, bought a shirt, or voiced their support for the park. Lets keep it going!!!
Dustin Smith
McLaren Bike Park Project Manager
SF Urban Riders Board Member
Support MBP! Become a Founder!
After over three years of community outreach culminating in the recent community design process where SF Urban Riders partnered with Alpine Bike Parks and SF Recreation and Parks, it’s looking like McLaren Bike Park is going to happen. But… to take it to the next level, we need to pay for the design phase of the project, show that we can raise money, and prove that people actually want a bike park. This will help us apply for larger grants and ultimately fund the entire MBP Project.
For those individuals that want a bike park, this is the chance to show your support. Maybe you haven’t made all the meetings. Or, maybe you haven’t been out to all of our events. Well, now there’s a great way to show your support and let everyone know that “Cyclists in San Francisco want McLaren Bike Park!”. Become an MBP Founder!!!
Bike Industry folks… Show the community how much you support off-road cycling in San Francisco by becoming an MBP Founder, and lay claim to getting San Francisco’s first bike rolling. Here are the details:
Individual Founders
What you give: Tax deductible donation of $100 or more.
What you get:
- Thanks and bragging rights! You helped get the bike park started.
- An MBP Founders facebook badge.
- Your name on the MBP website.
- Ultimately have your logo/name visibly ackowledged at McLaren Bike Park.
- Did we mention you get a free t-shirt?
Bike Shop Founders
What you give: Tax deductible donation of $300 or more.
What you get:
- Thanks and bragging rights! You helped get the bike park started.
- An MBP Founders badge for your website and facebook page.
- Your shop name on the MBP website.
- Ultimately have your shop name visibly ackowledged at McLaren Bike Park.
- 2 MBP T-shirts.
Industry Founders
What you give : Tax deductible donation of $1000 or more.
What you get:
- Thanks and bragging rights! You helped get the bike park started.
- An MBP Founders badge for your website and facebook page.
- Your company name and logo placed on the MBP website.
- Ultimately have your company name physically acknowledged at McLaren Bike Park.
- 5 MBP t-shirts.
Here’s the fine print:
Click here to make your tax deductible donation.
Shortly thereafter, you’ll be added to the founders list here.
If you want to pay by check, please make them out to SF Parks Alliance, and note SF Urban Riders / McLaren Bike Park Founders Club. Mail to: SF Urban Riders c/o Dustin Smith, 221 Warren Dr., San Francisco, CA 94131. Or if you’re in the bay area, email me, and I’ll come pick ‘em up! Click here for the form to donate by check.
75% goes directly to McLaren Bike Park Design and Development. 20% to the SF Urban Riders general fund for operating costs and youth programs. 5% to SF Parks Alliance, SFUR’s non-profit fiscal host.
For more info contact dustin@sfurbanriders.org.
Thanks for your support!!!
What you could be riding!!!
Earlier this year, we contracted Alpine Bike Parks to work with us and the community to create a concept design to take through SFRPD Commission approval. The plan has met with much community support and is supported by SF Recreation and Parks as well. In fact, they have paid staff dedicated specifically to making MBP a reality. Check out the rendering below to see what you could be riding in the city of San Francisco! Please support McLaren Bike Park by becoming an MBP Founder!
MBP Rendering Created by Alpine Bike Parks LLC, Whistler, B.C.
MBP Conceptual Design
Last month, we wrapped up the Community Design process with Community Design Meeting #3. We hosted the meeting with SFRPD and our bike park designer, Alpine Bike Parks. The community has been overwhelmingly supportive of the project and of the concept design. This is still a work in progress, but much time has been put into community outreach and gathering and implementing community input. Here’s the current concept plan as it stands… Next step? Fundraising.
Community Design Mtg #3 – Sept 24th!!!
Mark your Calendars. There’s a lot happening on September 24th.
In conjunction with National Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day, locally organized by SF Urban Riders, we’ll be holding the third and final Community Design Meeting. In the first two meetings we gathered community input and created a Conceptual Plan to take to the SF Recreation and Parks Commission in October. The third meeting will be a final chance for cyclists and the community the view the plan, make suggestions and rally around the cause. If you want a bike park, WE NEED YOU to come support it in this meeting.
There’ll be refreshments on hand, a raffle for T-shirts and some big sur-prizes.
Location:
Multi Purpose Room – HERZ PLAYGROUND
1700 Visitacion Ave @ Hahn St
San Francisco CA, 94134
Time:
2:00 – 3:30 pm
If you have kids and want them to experience mountain biking in McLaren Park, come out to Take a Kid Mountain biking Day from 9am – 2pm. Meet in the Eastern Parking Lot at intersection of Mansell St and Visitacion Ave. Click here for more details.
If you attend Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day, We’ll head over to Herz Playground together for the meeting just before 2pm.
Check back soon for more details…
Design Mtg #2 – Feedback
Click here for notes from the meeting last Thursday, July 28th.
Continued Progress – Design Mtg. #2
Last night SFUR and SFRPD held the second Community Design Meeting at John McLaren School just across from the proposed bike park site. Many of the same faces from Design Meeting #1 were there to continue to help design San Francisco’s first bike park.
After introductions from Alex Randolph, SFRPD, and a brief description of where were are in the process from SFUR’s Dan Schneider and Dustin Smith, Alpine Bike Parks’ Judd de Vall took attendees through photos of various bike park features that were suggested in Design Meeting #1 as well as a few thoughts on how to effectively integrate BMX features into a predominately dirt park. After much productive discussion, we moved into comparison/contrast of the three conceptual bike park layouts that Alpine had created.
Concepts A and B had a similar overall layout with a secondary start hill dividing a L/XL slopestyle section of the park from a more intermediate and beginner section. Concept C eliminated that separation and unified the entire slopestyle area. There was much discussion around this main structure of the park, but the consensus was to keep the two areas separate for a few reasons: 1. It’s safer to keep levels of experience a bit separate from one another. 2. Two slopestyle sections will allow for variety and more berms and turns vs. a few long trails all the way down the hill.
Most attendees preferred the option of a single slalom course and short track DH option in option B, to more Freeride trails in option A. How many pumptracks, placement and level of difficulty was another primary discussion. Almost unanimously, a small kid pumptrack and/or roller area was preferred to a flat space for kids to learn how to ride. All felt that could be done in a parking lot or tennis court. Rolling features may be incorporated into a youth pumptrack toward the bottom of the park in the revised design. A more expert level pumptrack may be incorporated into the XL Slopestyle course. There was a lot of discussion around this as everyone wants at least 2 pumptracks, but doesn’t want to give up too much space in the plan to get them. We all look forward to Alpine’s proposed solution in the next meeting.
Everyone attending the meeting was given a few minutes to talk about their personal style of riding and what each would want in the park. That’s a big perk of showing up. You will be heard. And you will play a real and tangible role in the design of this park.
Sharon Hewitt from the Sunndyale neighborhood, and project manager for CLAER (Community Leadership Academy Emergency Response) stopped by to talk to the group for a few minutes as well. She told some heartening stories about past gang violence in the neighborhood and offered her help with the park in whatever ways are needed. Her request was that we all work together to further the development of this great city and help stop the violence that plagues the Sunnydale neighborhood. SFUR feels that a bike park will help to more integrate all demographics of the city. Two wheels can unite any two people.
The next step is for Alpine to incorporate feedback from Meeting #2 and comments on the design options into one conceptual park design. In the next round we will see more actual features incorporated into the open sections of the current concept plans which focus on the flow and layout of the park.
Look for details on MBP Design Meeting #3 to come. The tentative date is September 1st from 6:30 to 8pm. Location may be the same, but please check back for details. Thanks so so so so much to everyone that came and played a part in the meeting.
