As a resident of Issaquah Highlands and a long time bicyclist (mountain and road), I support the cultivation of Issaquah’s mountain biking credentials (“Gold in them thar hills,” The Issaquah Reporter, June 18).

I have given both money and time to support the development of Duthie Hill. Issaquah has a chance to build on this momentum much as was done 30 years ago when Issaquah’s hiking and wilderness pioneers helped get land set aside and established organizations like Issaquah Alps Trail Club.

Just like for the hiking trails in Issaquah, the Duthie Hill project has shown that if you build it they will come. And just like for hikers, if they come, they will spend money to help support our city and the development and maintenance of trails.

If that is the goal, I have some ideas to share. First, make the city bike friendly too. Since my few years here, Issaquah has attracted two new bike shops and expanded one, not including the new REI.

Yet, Issaquah is not really that bike friendly. It is full of orphaned bike lanes and main bike routes on busy, narrow roads. Bicycling on pedestrian oriented sidewalks and paths doesn’t solve the problem and, as we have read in your paper, it often leads to frustration and conflict.

If you do put bike lanes in the city, please think about putting them between parked cars and the sidewalks on main streets like Front Street. Visit Portland or Munich to see how that works.

Don’t forget the kids. Kids like to bike too, and ride scooters, and skateboards. Mountain biking is great, but hills can be too challenging for beginners and trails are often too wet muddy. We need a good skate park where kids can do all three. The Sammamish skate park is a great place for kids to hone their skills and try these different wheeled sports. We need something like that in Issaquah.

Finally, get the professionals to move in. On a grander scale, why not try to get a big action sports camp to locate here, like Camp Woodward? They are like an Olympic Training Center for Action Sports (e.g. Mountain Biking, Skateboarding, BMX, Inline, Gymnastics, and Cheer). They have locations on Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Southern California. They way I see it, they need a Pacific Northwest location.

We have all the elements for it: lots of vacant, excavated land in the Highlands, a large mountain biking area in Duthie Hills and Grand Ridge and hopefully much more, and the right proximity to large population centers.

The time is now for biking in Issaquah.

David Baty

Issaquah