Yesterday, I spent most of my afternoon pedaling from spot to spot on my BMX. I’ve lived in the city of Albany for about 2 years. When I first moved across the river, I had grandiose plans of creating a comprehensive spot map of every city street; that plan went to shit after I blew my knee out for the 2nd time a couple months after moving.
I think I’ve been BMX-capable for about 4 or 5 months total since July of 2007.
I hate to say that time is catching up with me; I’m only 25. I wouldn’t say it’s father time so much as father arthritis. I can still spend a day out cruising, but I keep all-day street sessions at a minimum. Skate parks, however, are a different story. I can carve transitions all day with minimal fatigue, and honestly, I’d much rather be a coping jockey than ride a ledge or a bank all day. BMX has once again caught up to skateboarding and media coverage is primarily street-orientated, which is fine I suppose, but that doesn’t mean that it’s every riders preferred cup of tea.
You’d think that the capital of one of the more powerful and populated states in the Union would have a public skatepark, right? Fat chance. Albany has been historically against skate parks, and I feel that I will probably have retired my 20” before the city sees a public park, and that saddens me; especially when I can go to a place like Manchester, VT and ride 2 free parks that are completely abandoned. Go to the tennis courts on Madison Ave most sunny days and you’ll likely find the 2 center courts filled with skateboards and BMX bikes. There is even a local skater that brings a few boxes and rails and turns the place into an impromptu park. On a recent Saturday afternoon, a large group of us were riding at the courts, when we were surrounded by 3 cops cars. They slowly made their way into the park (as I was leaving), and questioned everyone in attendance about gang activity. Why do kids have to put up with this? Why is there a lack of cohesion within the Albany bike & skate scenes? Why isn’t there a public movement to get a park built? Yeah, I know the budget is shit right now, and I know people have made the effort behind the scenes, but the lack of outcry is startling.
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