Inspired by all the e-mail messages we receive and our response article "The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly", we decided to create this section. In the MailSac, we dig deep into our bag of e-mail and share a few select letters for everyone to read and enjoy. Got something to say? It may end up here.

Here’s a letter 50-50 received recently about bike damage and concrete skateparks:

Name: Jeff Genzen
Subject: Bike Damage
Date: 3/14/04

   I was impressed by your site and some of the amazing public parks that are featured.  Most public parks around Cleveland and in Ohio in general seem to be very mediocre at best and almost unuseable at worst, it's pretty ridiculous too see what some of these cities come up with.

    But I have a major problem with the bike damage section.  It is full of typical selfish skater bullshit about how skateboards never damage parks while bikes destroy them.  I won't waste time arguing that bikes won't damage things because sometimes they can, but that's not the end of the arguement either.  There are simple steps that can be taken by the builders that will prevent much of the damage that is shown on your site.  Small strips of 4" wide steel placed behind and 2"strips placed below the coping would have prevented some of the damage shown on your site.  As you even stated in one of the captions on your site, angle iron on edges and corners would have prevented even more of it.  Another thing that I noticed in some of the pictures was that the coping and angle iron is not big enough.  I'm not saying that it has to be monstous, but some of the coping and angle iron in the pictures looks to be about 1" wide, which seems on the small side for skateboards, and is definitely insufficient for bikes.  2" diameter round coping and 4" wide angle iron would help prevent much of that damage without being too big for skaters.  As far as types of coping are concerned I'm not sure what to say, skaters seem to love pool coping, while most riders would rather have steel pipe, but there must be some compromise that can be reached so that riders and skaters can coexist.  Skaters bitching that bikes just shouldn't ride there because there are signs that say no bikes is one of the most ridiculous, hypocritical complaints ever.  After all no skaters have ever tried to skate somewhere that has a sign that says no skateboarding, especially not a street skater, right, so why won't the damn bike riders just obey the fucking signs?  Give me a fucking break.  Considering the amount of money that some of these parks cost, it only makes sense for the builders to take these extra steps so that they will hold up better.  Like it or not bikes aren't a passing fad anymore than skateboards are, so if something is rideable then there will be bikes there, just like there will be skaters.  Take the extra steps to build it right in the first place instead of bullshitting the same clueless city officals, who hate riders as much as skaters, that bikes ruin parks and shouldn't be let in.  Of course work is always harder than talk, but if more people can use these parks then it will be easier to show that there is the demand for them.

     Just so you know, I'm not talking out of my ass, I do have some experience with this.  I've helped build and now manage a park in Cleveland.  We've been open for about two years and have had to do minimal repairs even though we allow bikes in seven days a week for 10 of the 11 sessions we have.  Because we built the ramps with bikes in mind, all the repairs and upgrades have amounted to a day or two of work, in two years.  Areas of the ramps that take extra abuse were capped off and reinforced, or were built so that they were easily replaceable, and quality materials were used so that nothing has needed to be replaced more than once.  Instead we've been able to use our time to add new stuff.  And if skateboards don't damage things then why have we had to put plywood on the walls to keep skateboards from slamming through them?  Bikes have brakes, so most riders can stop without slamming into walls or ghost riding their bikes into things, unfortunately I can't say the same thing about a lot of the kids that skate here, so we took that into account and put the ply up.  And then there is the 20' long piece of 2"box tubing that was left over after we built the park.  We left it in a corner until we built a new section last month.  Now all bikes can do with 2" box tubing is roll over it, but there were constantly kids grinding it on their boards so when we went to put it in we found that it was pretty chewed up.  So I understand that when you build a park you have to idiot proof it and build it with the worst riders, skaters, etc. in mind, especially if it's a public park that any and every dumbass around can use.

Since you took the time to write such a long dissertation on the subject, Jeff,  and it definitely is a hot topic, we’ll adorn your email with all the prestige associated  with it’s place in history as 50-50.com’s first ever Mailsac entry!  Many more to come in the future.

In order to get the context right, this email, I understand, is in reference to a link found in the Infomonger (of all places), linking to another site with pictures of bike damage at skateparks.  This is not our ‘original’ material, however in our Infomonger are links to other things on the internet that ‘some’ of our readers may be interested in.   But regardless of whether you think we link to typical ‘skater bullshit’ or not, as an independent website operated by skateboarders, we have right express our own opinions on the topic from our point of view, which is skate-centric.  This website is definitely not for everybody.  If you don’t like what you find here, move on.  It’s quite obvious we have differing opinions on the subject so the best we can do is agree to be different.

That being said, I really don’t think your ideas about steel plates and coping reinforcement are all that bad for a park being constructed for dual or shall I say quad-usage puposes (BMX, skateboards, blades, razors).  However, our interest presently lies in making sure some of  the best ‘skateparks’ (for skateboarders) are built and are ridden for many years to come.  Protecting BMXers interests, we can take it or leave it.  We don’t have the time or the energy to bother.  We’re not an all encompassing ‘extreme sport’ organization, and we’re definitely not politicians.  Even if we were, we’d have to side with the interests of the present majority at this time, which just so happen to be the readers of this website, the skateboarders.

It’s all right to be segregated.  Let me tell you why I say this.  It is of our opinion that skateboarding and BMX can’t be lumped together into one big melting pot of Extreme Sportism.  There are many people would like to make it easy on themselves by homogenizing the two activities and assuming our interests are the same.  We believe this to be downright irresponsible and dangerous.  Nothing against BMX riding or even your BMX park (more places for everyone to ride the better), and nothing against the damage created by bikes or even skateboards (as you said on the vertical walls of your park), but we don’t believe the two activities peacefully coexist at a skatepark. Riding a bike and riding a skateboard are two different activities, with two different riding mentalities.  Bikes do not need the smoothest of surfaces or even rounded walls to generate speed, because they can pedal.  They can also generate speed on different lines than skateboarders ride.  They also have (some of them don’t, but who knows which one is which?) brakes which allow them to stop when they see impending danger.  Skateboarders at parks ride purely on momentum.  To keep optimum speed they need the smoothest of riding surfaces (which is why we are so concerned with the integrity of the riding surface) and obstacles set up in a way to enhance that momentous flow (as a side note, surface damage of concrete can’t ever sucessfully be repaired, like how you are able to repair the surface of the wooden ramps at your BMX park).  Skaters may see a collision about to occur, but in their case there’s no stopping, and they accept that.  Either they’re able to steer themselves out of harm’s way, jump or fall off of their board (which may create a rolling projectile), or collide head-on.  That is a skater’s mentality.  Bikes have different options.  Perhaps most of us learned early on that the best way to avoid collision at a crowded skatepark with another skater is to follow the same line right behind the other skater.  Taking into account just the different riding styles and mentalities alone, don’t you think that both bike riders and skateboarders would be better off if the parks they rode were designed and built to accommodate their specific needs?  Wouldn’t we be better off if the parks were designed and built for one or the other, rather than a park where concessions were made so both can ride simultaneously?  Imagine some of the creative possibilities in design that could be done if their were parks that were BMX specific.  If those specific facilities don’t exist, then there is a problem, and usually the problem is that somebody is cutting corners along the way.  If both activities are able to expand on their own, rather than being lumped together and homogenized, both activities will be better off.

That is the philosophy.  Get something equal, but separate built for BMX.  Get politically involved to get BMX parks built.  Brainstorm some crazy BMX-centric designs.  Motivate BMXers to become masons or contractors so they can construct their own BMX parks.  If the city government’s not listening to your needs, start making your own stuff until they do.  Dig holes and kickers in the ground or make stuff for yourself out of wood and concrete.  Have fun with it.  That’s just what we would do, because there are some of us who have that level of dedication and motivation.

Sometimes I wish skateboarders didn’t have to be so picky about the surfaces and places which we ride.  It would be nice if we had the luxury of being able to ride the terrain BMX does.  Take it and use it to your advantage.  Skateboarding’s been through these hard times already, but we continue to persevere and thrive.   If you’re looking for a shoulder to cry on, you probably won’t find it here on this website.