What is ROMP?
The Responsible Organized Mountain Pedalers (ROMP) are the oldest off-road cycling advocacy group in the Bay Area. Presently, we have over 300 members who are concerned with trail access in the San Francisco South Bay and Peninsula regions. To accomplish our mission of leading the participation of mountain cyclists in the trail community, we work with local cycling industry leaders, government agencies, and other trail user groups. Such work is necessary to protect our rights to our public parks and open space.
ROMP is made up of volunteers, not paid professionals. We give our time because of our love for the sport and belief that we can make a difference in our community.
Some of the programs we use to accomplish this are:
History of ROMP
ROMP can trace its start back to the early 80's when a group of riders would meet in Los Gatos every Sunday morning for a ride. They would go "romping" on their bikes up in to what is now Sierra Azul Open Space; from that saying would come our name.
The first official group ride was held in 1982 when a group of about fifteen riders left from Palo Alto and rode up to what is now Montebello Open Space Preserve for a ride down Stevens Canyon.
ROMP did not become an official organization until about 1986 or 1987 when a few of the riders decided that the way to get more access to the trails was through advocacy. We were the first advocacy group in the Bay Area (possibly the first in the country) and had early success in getting Santa Clara County to open many of its trails to cyclists.
In 1988, the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) was formed by a group from ROMP, Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay, Bicycle Trails Council of Marin, and southern California's Concerned Off Road Bicycling Association (CORBA).
ROMP 'n STOMP 1996,
Santa Teresa County Park, San Jose
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In 1989, the first ROMP 'n STOMP was held. For this event, 46 mountain cyclists and 26 equestrians came together for a group ride followed by a barbecue. It successfully showed that equestrians and cyclists can share the trails without conflict. Since then, many more ROMP and STOMPs have occurred and the event has become an annual tradition for us.
Up until 1992, ROMP was primarily involved in Santa Clara County only. Then some San Mateo riders started becoming active and added San Mateo to ROMP's reach. Now ROMP is made up of one chapter for each county that is involved with the day to day issues and a board that keep the chapters working well together.
Some of ROMP's recent accomplishments
ROMP members conducting trail work, Summer 1996,
Santa Teresa County Park, San Jose
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ROMP is very active in maintaining and building trails. We have provided significant amounts of labor on trails within Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Santa Clara County Parks, and some local State Parks. There will be many more trail projects in the future.
One of ROMP's accomplishments is one that is not readily seen. We have been very lucky to have a large member base (one of the largest for any IMBA affiliated group) and lots of members willing to volunteer time towards access for bikes. Without these volunteers, the Peninsula and South Bay would not have the level of mountain biking access that we presently enjoy. Many thanks are due to everyone who has put time back in to mountain biking and trail access.
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