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Speakers brought up two important points related to Figure 2. Highland Bike Park Retention
building the right skills park. Kevin Jordan, bike coordinator of New Park Ready™ Riders
for Colorado’s Aspen Snowmass, said “...you can never have
enough dirt. You will always find ways to use what dirt you No Return 1–3 Visits 3+ Visits
have, but there’s never enough (dirt) to do what you really
want to do.” 2012 19 Riders 2013 117 Riders
3.39% 15.48%
Chris Chmielewski, camps manager for Highland Bike
Parks, pointed out that if your skills park is built right, even 98 Riders 128 Riders
advanced riders will be able to use it to practice and refine 17.47% 16.93%
skills as they seek to get better and better.
444 Riders 611 Riders
Programming has proven to be one of the main driv- 79.14% 80.82%
ers of Highland’s success as it seeks to grow participation.
As owner Hayes points out, without growing the number of 561 Riders Total 756 Riders Total
people trying and enjoying downhill biking, there are only 20.86% Retention 117 Riders 32.41% Retention 245 Riders
so many riders out there. By focusing on creating new riders
through its Find Your Ride program, Highland has devel- 2014 24 Riders 2015 40 Riders
oped fans of all ages, from young children to moms and 2.67% 3.03%
dads. In fact, Hayes has been able to show how his program-
ming model—including multiple lessons and a focus on 173 Riders 998 Riders 281 Riders
families—has increased retention in the customer base each 19.27% 75.66% 21.3%
year the park has been in operation (figure 2 and 3).
701 Riders 1319 Riders Total
Another channel for growing the sport are urban bike 78.06% 24.34% Retention 321 Riders
parks, which are beginning to draw interested looks from
areas. Christopher Trombley, executive director for the 898 Riders Total
Brooklyn Bike Park (BBP), shared his experiences building 21.94% Retention 197 Riders
and then moving the park in downtown Brooklyn. The BPP

Figure 3. Year-Over-Year Retention of Park Ready™ Riders

1400 1319 Initial Riders
1300

1200

1100

1000 898 Initial Riders
900

People 800 756 Initial Riders

700

600

561Initial Riders

500

400 188 (33.51%) 259 (34.26%) 321 (24.33%)
300 145 (19.18%) 204 (36.36%) 305 (33.96%)
197 (21.94%) 280 (37.04%)
200 117 (20.86%) 208 (37.07%)

100

Initial (I) 2012 2012 (I) 2013 2013 (I) 2014 2014 (I) 2015 2015
36 | NSAA JOURNAL | SUMMER 2016
Years