Hi Gillian,

I have a few sketches for you, but first a few responses...

I like the xomparison with kid's playgrounds because BCC have built
that
stuff before and can relate to it. I see exactly what you mean when
you say
that you actually ride stuff that kids walk on. Oppy had this
perspective
too.

I've tried to incorporate this into the ideas I've had.

A filter is a good idea to keep in mind. As far as construction goes,
if
the tread is more than 1 metre off the ground then it has to have a
handrail
- walking track specifications, probably even playground equipment
specs.
As we don't want handrail, stuff will have to stay below 1m.

Sounds good to me...all of these lines are 1m maximum height.

I walked and rode around Hilltop a few times. There were see saws,
wide low
planks, high skinny ones, ladder-type raised tracks, launching
platforms for
'hucking' and so on. The first three should definitely be included at
Blue
Nurses.

Sounds great, who's going to be designing the northshore structures? I
have some photos of Richard's setup if you/other designers would like ot
see them.
____________

Now on to the sketches...

The idea I had in my mind for all of these was to make sections that
offer as wide a range of lines as possible for different skill levels.
I haven't really thought about layout of the area in general or anything
like that. I also haven't sketched the wall I mentioned in a previous
email, the rock garden, or the ground-level raw beginner obstacles. In
all of these sketches there are far more possible lines than I've
noted.

"Earth Moving Tyres"
I think these are nice, because you can set three up as illustrated and
have a line with a pretty big gap in it without there being any sharp
edges for riders to hurt themselves on. These have a very different
feel to most other obstacles and add a nice variety to a park, and
trials bike riders seem to really like playing on tyres. Le suggested
this section to me. Beginners can do the 40cm or so hop/roll up onto
the lower flat one, raw beginners can play around with getting just the
front or back wheel up there. Kids (not riding) would have fun on them.
Intermediate to expert riders can make their way over the other two
tyres in a big variety of ways. I've seen people doing heaps of
interesting lines on a similar setup and really enjoying it. Le
suggested that the angled tyre is attached securely to the flat one, all
the holes are boarded up, and the upright one is dug 1/3 of the way into
the ground.

"Gapping Beams"
The rungs of these (probably about 50mm wide, and 2m long) are spaced a
bit over 50cm apart. The wheel base of both 20" and 26" trials bikes is
about 1.05m, so this way, the less confident riders can hop 50cm at a
time, with their wheels sitting securely on the rungs the whole time.
More advanced riders can do the 1.05m gaps, or do the section on the
back wheel. As well as this, they can try 180's between them landing
parallel to the rungs, gapping them backwards, and all sorts of fun
lines. The obstacle is 300mm off the ground, so riders can push
themselves as far as they like without risking injury.

"Metal Gapping Bars"
An intermediate to expert line, with the gaps at the length of the
wheelbase, so riders can do the line with one or two wheels down, or
even gapping parallel to the bars.

"Multi-use Platform"
Stairs down one wide side for beginners, and even people not on trials
bikes. A small kicker in the foreground of the sketch so people can
either hop straight up (expert) or get a small launch (intermediate).
Round wooden logs on the left to gap up to the platform, these are on an
incline. And finally, two skinnies - one easy, one more
difficult...both low to the ground (1m at the top). I was thinking the
Metal Gapping Bars could be placed behind the left hand wooden logs in
the picture and up to the skinny to save space. Another line is to ride
the narrow low skinny where it has just turned 90 degrees, then gap to
the wide one. Other fun lines might include launching off the kicker
onto the platform, landing on the front wheel while swinging the back
around, and riding down the stair backwards...there are lots of
possibilities. Riders of all skill levels would be able to be creating
on this section. Maybe beginners could hop up the stairs, then drop
either straight off or onto the kicker as a down ramp.

"Post Gaps"
I like this section, because it's very simple, cheap, and doesn't take
up much room. This can provide a challenge from raw beginners (getting
one wheel up onto one of the low posts) to experts. There's a top view
in the sketch as marked with the post heights noted. I think the way
they are laid out, beginner to intermediate riders could try getting up
over any of the posts in that top line and choose their height. Others
could try linking them together into a more challenging line. The ones
in the bottom right of the top view are scattered and spaced so that one
really fun line for advanced riders would be to hop up that way, with
both wheels down, for example... Front wheel on A, back on ground
front on B, back on A front on C, back on B, etc. I think this is a
very versatile section.

"Scattered Stumps"
This woud be very cheap, not take up much room, provide seating for
spectators, and offer lines to riders from beginner to expert. Picture
riders gapping between them with one wheel down, both down, doing 180's
between them, flicking the front or back wheel around from one to
another, and beginners just riding over them.

"Seat Line"
I thought it might be nice to merge a seat and trials line together.
Trials riders are always hopping on seats like these, and provided they
are built strong enough I can think of about 10 very different lines for
this one...but spectators could also use it as what it is - a seat.
Like in any parks, there will often be only parents and their children
playing around there and no riders and in these times this would be put
to good use as well as when riders want to play on it. I put two levels
of logs in there as a ncie skinny ride that drops down or steps up, but
also so beginners can play around on the low one. For the materials of
the skinnies I was picturing exactly what they have surrounding parks
all over the place.

"Zig-Zag Log Ride"
I got this one from Ryan Leech's movie "Manifesto" (he's a brilliant
trials rider). Riders could try riding along the winding line, or
gapping between them on the angles. Beginners could try riding over the
log perpendicular to it, or just ride along it for as far as they can
before coming off. It's only about 300mm high. Maybe there should be a
little ramp up to one end of it for beginners to get on easily.

So that's what I've been thinking. And as I said, those other ones
(wall, rock garden, and ground level gaps) I haven't sketched.

What are your thoughts?

Andrew


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