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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHandout, Documentation on Scott Carpenter Skate Park, Addressing Maintance, Safety and Bikes, by Ian. . 1-~~ -~ ~~~ ~ /~ /dl r~ DOCUMENTATION ON SCOTT CARPENTER SKATE PARX ~ ADDRESSING MAINTANCE, SAFETYAND BIKES. BY IAN HEINSOHN 757 20th Street #1 Boulder, CO 80302 303-245-9377 feb 26 ~001 In tlus document you wiil find facts from websites and phone calls addressing, informmg and sugbested solutions for skatepark mauitance, safety and allowing bikes 1. Maintence• Below you vv~ll find facts on concrete and park maurtance The boulder skate park has a few concrete issues that need to be addressed by the City of Boulder There are many holes developmg naturally and from use Currently there are several voids m the concrete Vords are open spaces or au pockets There are a few that will stop skate wheels possibly in~u:mg nde~s ~thers w7ll appear in the transitions and bowls, soon In some areas the concrete ~s fallmg appart The concrete doesn't +~ appear to be adhenng properly to underlymg copmg (metal piping) On some ~"~ edges it is simply falhng apart The damage dosen't anpear to be from any abusive ndmg I have called several concrete park bu~lders/developers (see hst of developers) They all seem to share the same v~ew regardmg the nature of concrete Here it ~s Shockcrete is denser and not as wet as standard concrete makmg it more pron to ctup and crack if applied improperly Concrete andlor shockcrete vNll crack It's not abnormal to see a crack or two It is unusal to see concrete seperate or fall apart I asked if temperture changes from day to mght could affect the concrete cunng process Some said that rt could, some sa~d n did not They were all in agreement that improper cancrete pouring/pract~ce produces holes, cracks, voids and as well as undesirable fimshed results lt was mentioned on three occations that the company "Tezm Yam" h,as n2d some ~ssues v~nth tlvs The way a skateboazd displaces weight will apply pressure to these voids resultmg m a new hole to patch The Scott Carpenter Skatepazk has both short and ]ong term issues that need to be addressed There will be maintance required mternuttanly reguardless bikes or skatboards useage. ~ \,,,,. In other words this park needs LOVE~ ~.~ ~. Survey of park maintance Ctty Of Satelltte Beach 7ack - 321-773-6458 Cement street course banks, bowls, rail shdes - Approx 14,000 sq ft Dosen't allow bikes They have graffitti and theft problems Jack stated that the uncoping ledges get clupped They also have cracks m the concrete that do not cause any skate wheel stopage, yet TheSkateLab com , CA Bob Lows - 805-578-0040 Bowl, 2 mmi ramps, outrageous street azea Approx 12,500 sq ft Allows Bikes Bob says no damage to any cencrete They have had bikes m pazk for over three years Bob was aware of some ~ssues m northern cah and Oregon that have resulted in allowing bikes mto several skateparks City Of Lynwood Parks & Rec- built mner wty park with grants Leo tumed the area azound w~th a good parks & rec nrogram - it is a safe park now Approx 14,000 sq ft concrete park 7ose 310-886-0426 ~ No bikes Once a week ihey steam clean oark surfaces as park of there rouUne mamtance "just like cuttmg grass or trimirung trees "No other mamtance ~ssues yet Bladium- Denver, CO Has maintance Allows bicycles, skates and mlme Wooden ramp ma~ntance stems from all use Clay tlunks bikes do not create any more abuse than skate boazds and/or roller blades clay-303-320-3033 City of Broomfield Skatpark Has wood and concrete bo~~ls/ramps No mamtance ~ssues at all Allows bikes and also thinks they don't create any more abuse than skateboards or mline skates attendant-720-887-8285 www skatepark.org I've found that concrete works best for outdoor skateparks because of rt's durabilrty and low mamtance Concrete starting as lo~+ as ~10 sq ft aveizges $16 sq ft and as high as $20 sq ft depending on excavation, gradmg, drainage, urigation,water table etc average 10,000 sq ft pazk $140,000 you must work wrth qua3~fied builders & designers and make sure the concrete crew is expenenced mistakes made in concrete are exuensive and ~ermanent and are hauaenina too often 2 bo«~ls ($132,000) were built and the concrete crew ~ brushed the finish making them unskateable ~ ~ Do bikes ruin the ramps? NO We have been surveymg parks for several years and have not come up w~th any evidence that they cause anymore wear & tear than skateboarders or mlme skaters 2 Safety Without manatory safety gear requirerments how can one estabhsh clear safety standards Much',ike daily traffic the impatient person is often the root cause of accidents Accidents will happen in a skatepark environment, its the nature of the park with or with out bikes www spausa org Can bikes and skat~boaXders use the park at the same time? YES Ifyou have a very busy park you may want to designate special hours for b~kes You can emazl qeshons from the websrte (c~ www Spausp oYg http:/fwww. spausa. org/safety. html In 1968 the U S Consumer Safety Comr.uss~on (CPSC) ranlced sports & recreation equipment on a mean seventy mdex wkuch ranged from 10 to 2516 (10 bemg the least ~... severve ) Swimmmg pools were grven 335, skateboardmg 70 and bicycles 34 They also ,,,,,,, found that inegular ndmg s~rf,3ces a~ couried f~r over 5'~°/n ~fthe m~unes Skatepazks with smooth surfaces and nro?ectiv~ gear ha~e a very low m~ury rate note: bikes are saf=r than s4=te noards. L'hink ebout Your hanging on with four limbs, you have biakes, everybooy :~as ridden a b~ke Sport, Par~icip$nts, °'o af Iu3uries ice hockey 1 700 OOG 3 60°i~ football 14,700,000 2 78% basketball 29,600,00~ 2 57°~0 soccer 10,=~0~ ~0^ 1 42" ~ baseball 36,600,OOC 12G`~~ volleyball 20,SOQ,000 54`~0 skateboazdmg 6,20Q000 49% Skateboarding had more than 9 rrull~on participants~ Skate Street , m Ventura, has an in~ury rate of 29% 80% of skateboarders & m lme skaters are under 18 yr old According to the RANll YOUTH POLL by the time kids turr. 2U tney wfll ha~~e recerved $33,000 m mcome & gifts the youth market ;s growm~ a~ 20~~o per year luds 5-14 spent $~4 4 bilhon m 1996 and directlv mfluenced another $117 billion spent on their behalf ~ There are 7-10 milhon skateboarders ,r~, 4 mill~on aggressroe m lme ~katers 1 rrullion freestyle bik. rs Faculty Members CHtJRCf~,S SG STORES250 SMALL SKATEPARiG 500-1000 LARGE SKATEPARK 1000-2500 There are over 300 skatepazks m the USA now and accordmg to the Intemational Associat~on of Skateboard Comnan~e~ another 300 are currently under development and construction NOISE LEVELS: Stud~es show that a ska*epark has no more noise than the amb~ant surroundmg noises that eac~st in other parks and is not nearly as no~sy as a baseball pazk For more info on noise call us 3. Bikes www.spausa.osg/Arikers Jatm~ The largest dedicated SKATEBOARD/PAI~K website in the world!!! Should vou allow b~xes ~n vour aark? YES nini ~ Cities should always allow bikes to use tlie skateparks They are buildmg a park for recreational purposes and it is not right to exclude these k~ds Pnvate pazks have the option to decide who uses their park Manp pnvate parks are also buildmg chmbing walls for the kids Crties need to previde a~afe, challengmg and fun environment for children if they expect to compc..,° r~ th :~v~ dealers Do bikes ruin the r~.tsrp~? NO We have been skrve•~ ~ng :~arks for severzl years and haue not come up w~th any evidence that they cause anymore wear &, ~ear than skateboarders or mhne skaters Can bikes and skateboarders use the park at the same time? YES If you have a very busy park yeu may want to des~gnate spec~a] hours for bikes You can email qest~ons from the website (c~ www Sj»'usp oYg www spausa or~ Many cities require s'~ater:. to ra,se the fun:ls to buil9 +he~r skztepark The kids haue been very successful but un~ess t1~e c,ity requcrc-cl '~ ~ tenms players, stiv~mmers, soccer players, little league, toddlerr~ ecc, te i aise fu ,ds ioi cheir facil:Tes then you have a civii nghts issue CIVII. RIGHTS ISSLiES If you are a private park +hea you can dec~de who uses the nark If you are a crty park and you discnmmate z.gamst the b~ker (who :^ vsually accepted mto pnvate parks) then you may have a civ~i nghts issue You may be required to build a sepazate bike pazk T'here are over 1 million freestyle b~kers m the USA Tlvs is a grovtnng sport with a national followmg and one ot the most excrtmg to watchi Actrve children should be ~ appreciated for the athletes tnat they are and g~ven every opportumty to excel at theu chosen sport Freesiyle mh~n~ ~s a~reat sport and these are great lnds They deserve better ~ ~ treatment from their c~t~ee and com~mn±ties 1NF0 FROMTALKING rvetk 6PF i'LUS (bike di,strrbuto~) Some current cahfomia iaws are bemg re~+nten to enclude all b~kes mto pubhc skateparksi it ap~°ar~ bac~~ >> the day Yhe word b~ke was left out dunng the creation of l~ablrtv issues by some c~ties 4. FUND RAISI~NG rhP ~ http:/fwww spausa org/s~katepark costs. html You may be able to get e.Uiei ~~Of, F, ur Pi. ~ S. tu su~:aic fuuds to your park, but there is no national program Yo;. need to ccr.tact yoar local bot.lfng plant foi mfurmat~on and m exchange offer exclus~~E; v~ndmg r.:achmc nghts I'oa may wlsa Ue able to get your local grocery chain and cther sto~es to dc;:ate through SCRIPT SCRIPT is a program where supporters agree to shop at certam s:ores and the stores m turn donate 5%-10% of customers sales to ihe pr~~PCt It does not cost the consumer anytlung You will need to be non profit for tlvs so you rrught want to do rt through your schools or local churches ,..,. ~. ~ m .......:... ...............................v~........................._......:._.......... ~~~.~~:~~.~~:.~.~ ..~~~~~:::::::.~:::::::.~::.~.::.::.~:.::::.,.::::::::.:.,.:...:::::._~:N:::::.:..::::::::::::.~:.~ Bikes Don'f Bel ong Here... /t's a Ska fe Park tarted by BMX racers in S the late 70s, Freestyle BMX was developed at the Upland and Pipeline skateparks in California as a way for BMX racers to do something on their bikes when they weren't racing. Freestyle eventually caught on as a completely different sport. In fact, today most freestylers have never even been to a BMX track to ride. After 20 years it is estimated that there are more than 1 million Freestylers worldwide. Even with primetime cover- age of Freestyle contests on ESPN and video games based on the sport, Freestyle is still somewhat misunder- stood. One common misconcep- tion is that Freestyle BMXers do not belong in the same skateparks as inline skaters and skateboards. Nothing could be further from the truth. The similarity between Freestyle Bike riding and skateboarding is amazing. They ride on the same ter- rain, bow~s, halfpipes and handrails. They have a lot of the same tricks, nosepicks, disasters and smith grinds. Not to mention sponsors. Many companies like: Vans, Etenes, DC, and Airwalk, believe in both sports and the athletes that partici- pate in them. Sporting events like ESPN's X games and MTVs sports and music festival - Professbnal skateboarder Steve Cabelero and professbnal ireeslyler Rick fiom, travel the worid doing shows for ifie Vans Warped Tour. put all three sports together in their televised events year after year. Another misconception is that bikes cause more collisions. Collisions are going to happen with both skates and bikes. While it is true that bikes are bigger, bikes have a safety feature not found on skates and boards; brakes and handlebars. Most bike riders are able to avoid collisions with another athlete whether it is a rollerblader, skateboarder or another bike rider. Collisions can be avoided entirely in all sports if rules are followed. The Talent, OR. Skatepark has set up highly responsible skatepark ediquite guidelines for for the extreme athletes to follow. (see the rules else- where in this document.) Yet another misconception is that bikes ruin the ramps. This is the biggest misconception of all. Privately owned porks are in the business to make a profit, and ramps are very expen- sive to build. If bikes did anything more than average wear and tear to the ramps, they would not be allowed into the hundreds of pri- vate and publicly owned parks around the world. We have spoken to many people in charge of the public parks in Oregon and the response was the same across the board: "Bikes cause no more damage that average wear and tear." (Elsewhere in this document are the names and contact phone numbers for those individuals.) Sometimes skateboarders and inliners will say they don't want bikes at their park. This serves to reinforce the misconceptions noted above. However, the real motive behind this is to reduce the number of users at the park. While we would all like less traffic, the park's main goal is to have it used. By discriminating against bikers, the park's goal to provide a safe environment for the community is not being met. The taxpayers should rejoice in the success of the park, rather than try to reduce the number of users. ~"' Freestyle BMX is great sport with incredible ath- letes that deserves to be embraced by pub- licly and privately owned skateparks. ,.w. .~_~. ~..~ .m.µ ~.~.,._.. .~. ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~,~ - .~~~...~.~ ,.w~w,,.__.w~..m.~. ~ Skatepark Association of the USA Should you allow bikes in your park? YES Do bikes ruin the ramps? NO We have been surveying parks for several years and have not come up with any evidence that they cause anymore wear 8~ tear than skateboarders or inline skaters. Can bikes and skafeboarders use the park at the same time? YES If you have a very busy park you may want to designate special hours for bikes. CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUES If you are a private park then you can decide who uses the park. If you are a city park and you discriminate against the biker (who is usually accepted into private parks) then you may have a civil rights issue. You may be required to build a separate bike park. ,--. ~ Taken from SPAUSA (Skatepark Association of the USA) website. http://www.spausa. org/bikers.html A I I i so n Z i g i c h- Coordinator, Talent Parks and Rec. Dept. - " I am surprised that all parks are not multi-use. Collisions and ramp damage from bikes at the Talent skatepark have been little to none:' Eric Graves - Coordinator of the Beaverton Skatepark. "Initially we did not allow bikes into our park, because we thought they would cause excessive damage to the ramps. more than the skates and inlines would. After a little over one year since we started allowing bikes we have no have found the bikes have caused NO MORE damage than normal wear and ~ tear that would have come from skateboards and inliners." ~.~. "We haven't had any problems because of allowing bikes." Bikes Bel ong Here... /f's a Ska fe Park Hanger Skatepark Denver, CO SFX Skatepark Pembroke Pines, FL Sc~tt Carpenter Park Boulder, CO Skatepark of Tampa Tampa, FL Axis Boardsports Brookfield, CT Stone Edge Skatepartc South Daytona, FL Connecticut Bike and Skate Ramp-N-Roll Skatepark Bristol, CT Warner Robbins, GA Extreme Skate and Inline Skater's Extreme Skatepark Athens, GA Wallingford, CT Ketchum Skatepark Sanctuary Skatepark Ketchum, ID Naples, FL Kankakee Area YMCA Kankakee, IL P. I. T. (Private Indoor Terrain) Rockford, IL Scrap (Skate Cycle Rollerblade Action Park) Hoffman Estates, IL D. K.'s Main Street Skatepark Kokomo, IN Just Ride Skatepark Anderson, IN Borderline Skatepark Wichita, KS Hays Skatepark Hays, KS Interskate Shreveport, LA Bridgewater Skatepark Bridgewater, MA Mass Skate Company Westfield, MA Z. T. Maximus. Cambridge, MA K- Zoo Skate Zoo Kalamazoo, MI Modern Skate Eastwood Ramp Club Ferndale, MI Wilmington, NC Transitions Rampark Jaycee Extreme Park Dearborn Heights, MI Greenville, NC Discontent Skatepark Alternative Sports Moorhead, MN Skatepark Toms River, NJ Drop Zone Skatepark Bemidji, MN Casino Skatepark Asbury Park, NJ Third Lair Skatepark Minneapolis, MN Hackettstown Sports Park Woodworfcs YMCA Hackettstown, NJ Skatepark Mankato, MN Kingpin Extreme Skatepark BTB Skatepark Pleasantville, NJ Joplin, MO Plarket F'l~.~:a~c::r? Sii~~erron, OR. f~~orth ,_~s `.;r:„ :s :~'V . i~ ;~, er Sk~.[;~~ark ~ior~~e SK~:~~~-,~~rn ~:~ ~er, O~. ~tome, ~I`' Ash!and Skatepark Spinners Sk~tepark Ashfand, OR. P.~ac°~er, ~!Y ~e~iu Skatepark , .~rrc;~_~~~r ~.~~.:e "~r~', :~R ;.~r~;~n~~.' ~'~~-. '_.inrcn ^~t•~ ~,,,+ c~,~~.,,~,^-~; Tal.., . _.. '_.ir ~ ,n Ci'~i, UR Taien!. ;~~ Chenga-1Norld Skatepark Sa.lem Out~!oor North Rid~eville, OH SkatPpark Sa.en. G,^. ~~F ,:tapia ~! ~+i~.rn~ OH ~~~~.., ~~r~~: ; Salern 'J~'. ~~anc! I_2~~ Skate Zone =rn~lP ~~~ `=11V~~,o ~ ~'Pv1CA ~tikc~~ asa~ it-c~r~ t;~h::s~ •i ~~draai~r~ i-~ Forest Grove OR. Los Alamos Skatepark 915 Skatepark Los Alamos, NM Greensboro, NC Penn Skate Allentown, PA -reestyre Si;~.r~:; ~ . ~ennedaie, "fX Shimerville Skatepark Emmaus, PA `.~tel;ect R~II~r~~ ~=?r~f~r ,~ ~~~i''7 ? Starting Gate Skatepark Marshall's Creek, PA •: ~'~, `~kat~~ " _; ~. i~' Wheels Skatepark Blackelse, PA ~SF~.! F?i~~e F~~ -'~ .`•, .1?It l..2.lCe J~ty, UT Woodward Skate Camp WOOdWafd, PA '?{ac:'~c~~~rr ck?'=•+,~,r~ ~ ':'L.I~:~:: J~ .. ' Impact Skatepark East Providence, RI '. :- ~-n' =k~ ~ -~ - ~ -, r ~ ~'r, _ . , F Skater Island Middletown, RI ~,~:nch .7.r:~~~=. `":~owe ~1!o~~r;tain :~rci Carolina Skatepark Resort, VT Duncan, SC ~~r<I 91IcP.°, ~f:C' S:)e.!'dS Skatepark of Charleston Lakewooa, VJH Charlest~n, SC •.~~, ~iFm^n `-'F ;~'.e,::~rk XXX Sportspark :vit. Vernon, WA Nashville, TN Tacoma Ska*.e~,~~ ,; Blue Liquid Skatepark ~i~acama.. b11A Los Fresno, TX Wenatchee Skatepark Seylynn Skatepark Wenatchee., WA North Vancouver, BC Area 51 Skatepark Sidney Skatepark Appleton, WI Sidney, BC The Pipe Whistler Viilage. Janesville, WI Whistler Mtn, BC Rock Springs Skatepark White Rock Skatepark Rock Springs. WY South Surrey, BC Griffin Skatepark Beasley Bowl N. Vancouver, BC Hamilton, ~N L_angley Skatepark Pickering Skatepark Langley, BC °ickering, ON ~lelson Youth Center Rampage Skatepark ^Jelson, BC North York. ~N Richmend Skatepark Tazmahal Skatepark ~ichm~nd, RC Montreal, QU FDR Skatepark Philadelphia, PA : -F, ~r_,:~ • .-~:•.r:~ :.r ~, Tk ~.~. ~~~~ ~~ ~!'~'Sli~ ~FN ~ ~R~N~~~~~ il~ ~ ~l `~ skat~~arP~~ ~~N~ ilr A4~y^ Ai~'~Er~A^~~~4jW.'~r~l0~ bikes • skatebc,:~~.a ~~~~ ine~ Beav~!~ton Pa~ke;a~~o ~-~~;c Dept. Eric Graves (5~i~~~ ~~ '`.`i '!~3~ Talent Parks a+7~ G?~.; ~~~O,C" Z~~, 'i fG ,1~ ~~ "d.ic, a~usr~n(_,~cityc, ta~ , ~; ~rc Salem Park~ an~ry ~Fc ~~ UCE [ O~tO"~ ~5;);~i f` _~~ -6`LF i ':.~~~ef C , ' !~, Teri Witti~r (5G3) ~~:"- u~ ExL ~ J2 E,s~~~,•,~a r',:irh, Zi . Fy:;~ Emi~yJone~ (5~~~; 1~8-53~0 ~ ~~^.,~ Pr-~ks rrti. t~.,. Wayne Sm;th (54i} ?s,ca 7:7=, Lui,~~~i Cit~; "air~ ;' `-~;:; r;c n...i r~,~r~„ (~ ~ ~ ~ ' ~ ~-'-,~n ~ Please feel fir~e~a t~ G:+n'~~" ~~:~~ ~r~f th~ abmve people about r~~akir~g °~~l~s ~ark mu~ti-use. ~ A letter from the owner of Hoffman B~kes Hoffman b~kes is a milhon dollar plus bike ~ manufactur~ I guess I ~ust have two ttungs on my mmd for tlus bird dropping One It's great to see so many cities makmg public parks now, but what is up with all these city owned parks NOT allowing bikes And for that matter, whaYs up with the Vans parks only allowing bikes for one or two t~mes a week for one session What is tlus phobia with bikes and parks~ the excuse use to be that we tore the ramps up Now most pazks are made out of Skatelite and concrete, so tlvs excuse is fadmg Then I here it's insurance~ I had a pubGc park before, and the msurance pohcies I saw never excluded bikes The only exclusion was motorized velvcles Hell, you could roll m on a shopping cart if you wanted to as long as you were padded up With cities making it agaznst the law to street ride, but not allowing us m their city parks, we're left with no altemative In some places like DC and Austin it's a felony ff you get caught street riding you could serve time m a federal pnson IYs ridiculous Isn't ttus so hypocritical It kills me to see that the government recogmzes our sport as such a positive influence on youths that the Mannes are one of the main sponsors of the contests, but the reality of it ~s they will put a nder betund bazs for practicing this same sport on the streets of America, and at the same time ban us from "Amencan", "public" parks The govemment needs to recognize, and not be bias, and for that matter not be complete hypocrites Hell, they sure are all about supporting us when they sponsor the bike events ~ because bikes haue the highest ratings and what are they accomplislvng by not allowmg bikes in Adding to their already inflated budgets for court costs, jails, and the war on drugs This is our drug I mean tlunk about it they aze arresting people for doing something that keeps them away from drugs and something that teaches them how to accomplish a real high, only to be suppressed and made easier, by the law, to experience a synthetic high Look at what this is doing These are ]nds that have a lot of energy and aggression and they have obviously found a way to focus and express it in what I tlvnk to be a very positive constructive way, and the c~ty's banned them from doing rt Then to piss us off worse, they build a pazk and won't let us nde rt grvmg us no alternative place to do our sport I mean you can't even tell people not to smoke without g~vmg them a place for them to go so you can find a place to smoke easier than attiletes like us can find a place to not only express our athleticism, but to keep m shape so the same govemment that won't let us into their parks can use us to promote the Mannes aaaauh And for Vans I don't get rt They let Inliners in and they don't even weaz shoes A little support for an industry you make money off of would be mce Vans, set a positive example for our sport not a negatrve one Allow bikes in your parks 7 days a week any session, nothing more, nothmg less, equal rights~ Don't encourage the city parks to discriminate too Ttus is starting to sound like a 70's protest, so I'll stop, but thanks for listening BMXA is ~ tight on space this issue, so I'll save the other thing for ne~rt issue But speaking of the ,~ 70's here aze some Crvd Rights Issues c~t~es may want to t}unk about because I know I ~.r am - mat CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUES C~ties should always allow bikes to use the skateparks They aze bmldmg a pazk for recreat~onal purposes and it is not nght to exclude these k~ds If you are a private pazk then you can decide who uses the park If you are a city park and you d~scriminate against the biker (who is usually accepted mto private pazks) then you may have a crvii nghts issue You may be required to build a separate bike pazk Cit~es need to provide a safe, challenging and fun environment for children if they expect to compete with drug dealers There are over 1 million freestyle bikers m the USA This is a grovv~ng sport with a national following and one of the most exc~ting to watchi Actrve c}uldren should be appreciated for the athletes that they aze and grven every opportumty to excel at their chosen sport Freestyle biking is a great sport and these are great kids They deserve better treatment from their cities and commucut~es The rest the while Rick Thorne is immortahzed on a poster that looks over a park he and his friends can't nde ~°"°"' The X Games aze over and I think I may have answered the same question one million `"'r' times "What do you think of all the commercialism in your sport and do you think iYs changing it~" I figured instead of answering the same question a million more times I would give my answer here The X Games is not our sport or at least the idea of the X Games is not our sport Our sport happens in backyazds, in local pazks Our sport is made up of the good sessions we have and the accomplishments we goal IYs a stage we can stand on once a year and show the world there is an alternahve way to look at sport I forget that most of the reporters at the X Games only aze exposed or experience the spoR there I forget that for all the know that ~s what are sport is it's an altemative way to think of sport and offers a new ways and options to express athleticism It encowages individuality and the sports are d~rected by independent organizers who are true to the roots of their sport, keepmg the emphas~s on sport and talent mstead of and fads and trends ~ ~* FYI ~.r Much like settmg a trap for a would be tluef ~s dlegal So ~s makmg a handrail un slidable Sure, perfornung stunts on sta~rway hand rails may be d~struct~ve, unlawful, but so are some methods to prevent ~t I found tlus fact about what property owners are domg to stop hand rail abuse www skateboazd com makmg public pnvate hand razls un shdeablei ~ Knobbing Handrails How many of you out there have ever gone to your favonte local spot, ready to skate, only to find ~t rendered unskateable~ Bel~eve ~t or not, there aze people trymg to prevent you from skating handrazls~ This is truly an in~ushce to skaters everywhere, and it needs to stop Earlier tkus month we showed you how to deal with them one way (see'Stonarn¢ Skate Stopping </StopSkateStoomne>'), and now we have discovered a loophole in the~r system Knobbing handrails is illegal~ It's true~ We checked ~t out ourselves, and found it to be true Knobbing handra~ls ~s a d~rect v~olat~on of Umform Building Code 1003 3 3 6 It reads Handra~ls Stairways shall have handrails on each side, and every stairway required to be more than 88 mches (2235mm) m vv~dth shall be prov~ded with not less than one intermediate handrail for each 88 mches (2235mm) of requ~red vrndth Intermediate handrails shall be spaced appro~mately equally across wrth the entire w~dth of the hallway The top of handrails and handrail extent~ons shall not be placed less than 34 inches (864mm) nor more than 38 mches (965mm) above landmgs and the nosmg of treads Handrails shall be continuous the full length of the stazrs and at least one handrail r"'~' shall extend in the direction of the sta~r run not less than 12 mches (305mm) beyond the ~~"'° top riser nor less than 12 mches (305mm) beyond the bottom nser Ends shall be returned or shall have rounded ternunat~ons or bends The handgnp portion of handrails shall not be less than 1'/< inches (32mm) nor more than 2 inches (S l mm) in crossectional dimens~on or the shape or the shape shall prov~de an equivalent gnppmg surface The handgrip portion of handrails shall have a smootlh surface with no sharp comers. Handrasls projecting from a wall shall have a space of not less than 1'/z mches (38mm) between The wall and the handrail That one sentence, hard as it was to find, makes rt a buildmg violation to knob rails What does this mean~ Well, by itself, not much But, ifyou guys wanted to copy tlus down and reproduce it, maybe find the phone number of your local building mspector, maybe get Grandma to make the call, and rat out the buildmg that knobbed those perfect rails maybe they v~nll be forced to take them down Just ttunk, you could get the crty to have to pay someone to take the knobs otP Check your local laws, maybe you can find other loopholes m the law Hackuig the knobs off is a great way to "fix" the spot temporanly, but the very neart week there will be more knobs So maybe sometimes iYs best to work w~tlun the confines of the law, to get these knobs permanently removed Isn't it about time we stood up for ourselves~ I say yes ~"'' `r..