Bay Air Bust?

This weekend there was a contest at the new Bay Air ramps in Oakland. I didn't even set foot or tire inside the place. One reason being was they were charging $10 to get into the place. They would charge more to ride in the contest. Needless to say this was a contest day. Normally it would cost $5 to ride there.

I'm pretty sure that I am not the only rider around who has a problem with paying to ride. Anyone can ride street for free. One can ride a skatepark for free(if you don't get a ticket). I know that these are wooden ramps and wooden ramps usually cost money to ride for their up keep. But another outdoor wooden park opened up not to far from Bay Air called Hood Games. Hood Games doesn't charge people to ride their park. So if my broke ass is in Oakland and I don't feel like riding street, I would go ride Hood Games.

Now, I'm not rooting against the place. I'm just trying to paint a picture of what I think the future has in store for Bay Air. Most of the time outdoor wooden parks don't charge people to ride. The YMCA in Pleasant Hill did for a little bit, but then they just let people ride for free. In my oppinion the only type of park that should be able to charge people to ride are indoor skateparks. One reason being is that when it rains, there is a place to ride. As for outdoor parks, they still do need to pay rent for the space they take up. But I'm not sure what the deal is for Bay Air. Hood Games is a city park I think, so that is why it is free to ride there.

Austin made a really good point about the place, and that was that the local pros didn't really take a liking to the place for many of the same reasons that I stated. But this really isn't good for Bay Air's sake because it is the local pros that know people from outside the local scene. And when other riders come into town, they sure as hell are not going to ride Bay Air or maybe not even be reffered to Bay Air. If a park isn't a positive thing in the minds of the local big names, then your buisness is going to croak.