CX Update on behalf of Molnar

The following is an email Molnar received from Scott Render.

I've been following this discussion today, I've spoken with Dulin on the phone and with Jason Cissell from Metro Parks and I've asked Jason to send me a response. As Dulin and Bobrow have commented, there are a lot of discussions about cyclocross going on within Metro Parks and planning is taking place. They are well aware of the popularity of this sport and how Louisville is taking a national lead among cities, thanks to the local cyclocross community and guys like Dulin, Bobrow and many others and their families. I've said this before, but it's important for the cycling community to know that the Bike Louisville team is mainly made up of cyclists, just like you. We ride to work, off road, race - and we read these posts. We send them around to leaders in city gov, and we make sure that your voices are being heard and they are. Metro Parks staff members were at USPG and the pre-race event and saw first hand how this sport is growing. Even though the Mayor and Metro Parks have a lot of interest groups to work with, I can tell you that cyclocross is getting a lot of attention and good things will be happening for this sport here!

Scott Render / Bike Louisville Team

Here is Jason's response:

Scott,

We’re pretty excited about finding a permanent home for cyclocross in Louisville. As I understand it, Louisville may become the only major American city with a designated permanent cyclocross course within its public park system! While the cyclocross races are great, we know that the efforts to develop the youth component of cyclocross are equally important, and we’re eager to make that possible.

As we’ve explained on several occasions to the cyclocross community, that permanent home will not be at the old country club on Zorn. We conducted a public planning process with several hundred participants, and developed a plan based on their considerable input. We are committed to implementing the key components of the master plan that resulted from that process. The plan for that property represents a binding commitment to the many citizens who worked with us to develop it. We were always clear that cyclocross at Champions Park was only temporary. Even though that message hasn’t always been well-received, we’ve always made our plans known.

We’re working with all the user groups who are represented in that master plan to develop a phasing plan that achieves all of the goals of the plan. Specifically, we already know that cross country and the dog run will be compatible.

Meanwhile, we hope to nail down a permanent home for cyclocross in the next few months, so that we can develop a new course in time for the fall 2010 national race. We’re thrilled to be playing a role in the development of cyclocross in Louisville!

JC