After 18 years of serving the Cupertino community, the BMX course at Calabazas Park faced wear-and-tear from a lack of larger renovations, despite community efforts to maintain the course. In response, a community organization led by Cupertino resident Apollo Papaioannou and Silicon Valley Mountain Bikers garnered support from the City of San José in July, receiving over $100,000 in funds to renovate the course.
“I’m glad that this community effort has appeared to make sure the damage isn’t too permanent,” senior and biking enthusiast Adrian Philip said. “Over time, the dirt gets looser, especially after rain.”
The BMX park was established in 2007 and stands as the largest city-funded BMX course in the Bay Area.
“There aren’t a lot of BMX parks in Silicon Valley,” Silicon Valley Mountain Bikers president Jessica Tseng said. “So it’s an absolute gem — a lot of mountain bikers utilize this park to improve their skills before they get on the trails.”
However, the BMX park had begun to degrade over the years due to weather, bike traffic and lack of maintenance. According to Tseng, the dirt jumps were not correctly sized, and the dirt surfaces were loose and slippery. Furthermore, the park lacked a natural skills progression, with adjacent zones increasing rapidly in difficulty, a threatening situation for newer riders.
Noticing this issue, Papaioannou, a BMX enthusiast, initiated a community effort to improve and rebuild the park in 2022. Since then, he has invited his friends and the community to Saturday Tuneups, a weekly event where the community helps sweep rocks, remove squirrel tunnels and fix the shape of the ramps, among other things.
“We’re all really in love with that place,” Papaioannou said. “Even people from Oregon and Washington have ridden at Calabazas. We want to keep the community going, and each generation has its own kind of torches. For this generation, I’m the big push.”
Initially, Papaioannou worked out-of-pocket and lacked proper funding and tools. He knew that the course needed long-term fixes as opposed to short-term corrections.
Upon hearing about Papaioannou’s work, SVMB emailed him to offer support. Their mission is to work with local parks to provide safe spaces for mountain bikers through renovation and fundraising for community trails. The Calabazas BMX park was no exception — since 2024, SVMB had been talking with the City of San José to renovate the course. Their endeavors culminated in a successful community effort — residents contacted San José councilmember Rosemary Kamei requesting a larger budget for bigger fixes.
“We reached out to our community of 2,700 members and said, ‘Please write in because we need to make sure this park gets updated for safety,’” Tseng said. “They did their job — so many people wrote in.”
Now, the BMX course has received $130,450 for safety and quality improvements. Kamei’s team submitted 11 amendments to the Mayor’s June Budget Message, with the Calabazas park renovation ultimately making it into the final budget.
This proposed budget will go towards raising the platforms of the jumps and increasing directional signage. The project will be completed with specific rack maintenance tools and the budget also includes a salary for a maintenance worker to be stationed at the park.
“My favorite part about the Calabazas BMX park is the different jumps,” Philip said. “I like the inclusivity. Basically anyone of any level can try it.”
