Another Sponsor Lined Up for Marin County's First Bike Park

Marin County’s first  bike park keeps gearing up, gaining speed and getting closer to reality.

In another offer facilitated by the newly organized nonprofit called Friends of Stafford Lake Bike Park, Bike Monkey of Santa Rosa has entered into a sponsorship agreement with the County of Marin to support the planned biking facility on a 17-acre portion of Stafford Lake Park just west of Novato. The deal is for $25,000 overthe next three years in return for several promotional rights.

Bike Monkey, which promotes biking events, has naming rights for the park’s “Kids Learn-to-Ride Zone” for seven years, and can conduct several single-day events at the park without rental fees. The company will be identified as a contributing sponsor on the park’s website and be permitted to use the park’s logo in Bike Monkey promotions.

Marin County Board of Supervisors’ approval of the sponsorship on April 8 brought total sponsorships and donations to nearly $392,000, or 82 percent of the $480,000 Phase 1 construction estimate, and 46 percent of the $850,000 total fundraising goal.

Marin County Parks Principal Landscape Architect Stephen Petterle said Julia Violich, Mark Weir and Al Baumann of the Friends of Stafford Lake Bike Park were active in securing the sponsorship from Bike Monkey and that additional sponsorships are being explored. The bike park, for which constructions drawings have been completed, also has sponsorship support from the Violich Family Foundation, Mike’s Bikes, Wilderness Trail Bikes and Santa Cruz Bicycles.

The full-spectrum bike park will enable riders of all ages to learn and improve bicycling skills in a positive, healthy and family-friendly environment. It is slated to include a single-track loop trail, gravity-fed flow trails with jumps and berms, several pump tracks, north shore-style elevated trails, a dual slalom course and much more.

Follow the park’s progress at http://www.staffordlakebikepark.com.