One Step Closer to a Bike Park in Toronto

IMBA supports the initiative the City is taking to broaden the original scope of this report to include mountain bikers, both those who would use skills parks and those who use natural surface trails. We support and endorse the report with one small reservation.

The report repeatedly uses the term BMX/MTB to refer to how facilities should be designed and designated for use by both communities. This is most likely a way to ensure readability of the report. Continually drawing a distinction between BMX and MTB in the report would get tedious in quick order. But when the rubber hits the dirt the distinction must be made. BMX and MTB are not simply two aspects of one sport, but two distinct sports with individual cultures, communities and needs.

As long as the distinctiveness of MTB as a sport and recreational activity, separate from BMX, is recognized and acknowledged we are confident that the City can take the right path. This can most easily be achieved with the kind of community consultation that was conducted for the Crothers Woods Trail Strategy; an approach that was both inclusive and comprehensive. This would ensure maximum community buy-in, and result in a successful start to a broader strategy that sees bike parks and natural surface trails flourish in Toronto.

source :

http://onimbarep.imbatools.com/2009/10/19/one-step-closer-to-a-bike-park-in-toronto/