Mountain Cyclist –
January-February 2001
Lead Stories
...by Charles Jalgunas
IMBA suggests all mountain bikers follow the 20/20/20 rule, that is give $20.00 to one's national advocacy organization, $20.00 to the local advocacy group, and at least 20 hours of work toward keeping trails open.
By the time you read this, we should be in the middle of trail work and repair season. The Winter months make the soil soft enough to maintain out slope and build up the rolling grade dips that keep our trails dry and, if successful, rideable all year around. This is also the time of year that small trees and branches get blown onto the trail and into the drains that dry the trails. ROMP members have been a large percentage of the volunteers who have donated 300 hours of labor just in the Soquel Demonstration State Forest over the last year.
On Sunday, December 17, we were able to go back to Tractor Trail in the Soquel Demonstration State Forest to prepare it for Winter and repair late Fall damage wear and tear. Patty Ciesla and I were joined by Cheyenne Kaye and Adam Borello of the Demo, Jeff Thomson and Jeff Hicks of The Advocates of Nisene Marks, Val Cole of Trailworkers.com, Greg Lydon, Gary Frankel of MBOSC, Jack Regula, Geoff Fanning, Lee Kane, and Lars Thomsen of Trail Head Cyclery. The recent rains had softened the soil for digging, but left it firm enough to pack down on the backside of dips without worry of damage by trail users later that day. The was sunny and cool, a perfect day for trail work. Most of the trail workers rode their bikes from Highland up Aptos Creek, down Ridge and down Tractor Trail to meet Cheyenne, Adam, Patty, and the Jeffs, who had driven in on Hihn's Mill with a CDF truck with the trail tools. Our work consisted of clearing the drains on the rolling grade dips that had been installed over the last several years. These drains silt up after a number of periods of slight rainfall, and then not diver water properly during downpours. A lot of time was spent on the smaller dips on the lower parts of the trail. As we climbed, we found less work was needed on the newer and deeper dips. We continued to learn as we worked. We were very excited to find two re-routes that were built last year held up very well, with one needing only clearing of its drain.
With a crew this large, we moved quickly up the hill, all the way to the one steep, fall line section trail near the top that may be the location of our next re-route. By 2:30 the 13 of us had covered almost a mile and half of steep, beautiful trail in the redwoods and were ready to call it a day. The cyclists remounted and continued their ride up Hihn's Mill to where they had left their cars on Highland, while Cheyenne brought the trail tools back to the Demo office for cleaning and storage. Some of the tools belong to the State, having been donated by ROMP and the Stanford University Cycling Team, and most were on loan from ROMP. Thanks for all your help.
Our next days for the Demo are scheduled for January 28th and February 25th.
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At its regular meeting on December 5, the Palo Alto Parks and Recreation Commission approved the Arastradero Trails Management Plan and passed it on to the city council for approval. The committee approved the plan as it stood with one exception, reserving action on a connection to Foothills Park for a future meeting.
The city of Palo Alto, working with Bay Area Action, stewards of the preserve, and Amphion Environmental, a consulting agency, have worked for many months to develop a plan which addresses the environmental, managerial, and user needs of the park. A thorough environmental evaluation of the park was performed and areas of concern documented. After this was performed, users were surveyed and workshops were held to understand how the park is used and to obtain public input. Finally, a plan was put together incorporating all of these issues.
The master plan will simplify the trail system, eliminating several trails that were in sensitive areas or that were redundant with other trails. Though trail mileage overall is somewhat reduced, all trails in the preserve, with the exception of a spur leading to Foothill Park, are designated multiuse (some trails will also be closed seasonally to cyclists and equestrians). Foothills Park is currently open only for hiking and only for Palo Alto residents only.
Congratulations are due to Greg Betts, the city's lead on this project, and Karen Cotter and David Smernoff, leaders Bay Area Action, who did and outstanding job of incorporating environmental needs as well as input from a wide spectrum of users in developing a thorough, well-documented, and broadly supported plan.
Thanks to ROMP members Patty Ciesla, Charles Jalgunas, and Jim Sullivan for their active participation in this process. ROMP hopes that the Palo Alto city council will quickly approve this plan so that implementation may start.
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ROMP is pleased to announce that John and Karen Morgan have successfully completed the training required to become a member of National Mountain Bike Patrol. The National Mountain Bike Patrol was created to maintain and promote trail opportunities for the sport of mountain biking through coordinated volunteer and professional bike patrols. Bike patrols work with landowners and land management agencies to assist, educate and inform mountain bikers and other trail users.
We are expanding the patrol program in the Bay Area and will be conducting a training clinic on March 10th for interested mountain bikers. Training will consist of certification of riding skills, emergency bike repair, trail user interaction, first aid/emergency care skills, communication skills, trail and environmental issues, and minimum impact riding.
We will offer our services to the local land owners and land management agencies This program has proven to be effective in keeping trails open to bikes all across the U.S.A and Canada. It can be just as effective here in the Bay Area. Give something back to the trails you love to ride while serving as a role model for other bikers.
For more information on the program go to the ROMP web page at www.romp.org which has links to the NMBP website or contact John or Karen Morgan at (408) 224-6879 or nmbp@romp.org or kmorgan@accesscom.com.
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...by Henry Pastorelli
On October 15th I attended a 60K (37mi) Mt Tam 60th birthday benefit ride in honor of Marilyn Price, the founder of Trips For Kids. Trips for Kids (based in Marin and started in 1986) is a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit that provides mountain bike outings and environmental education for kids that would not otherwise be exposed to these types of activities.
The intent of the ride was to raise money, celebrate, and enjoy beautiful views and weather while riding the trails of Marin, The route started in Larkspur at the Marin Brewery and climbed to the top of Mt. Tam on the historic Railroad Grade. At the top we were rewarded with sunshine and looked down upon the fog shrouded valley. After refueling at a replenishment stop, we rode down toward Rock Springs and Lake Lagunitas. Another rest stop prepared us for a short climb up to Pine Mountain Road, where we ended our ride with a final descent down the infamous Repac and back to Larkspur. Even though this epic loop was half pavement half fire road, a loose, quarter mile section climb of rock-garden fire road before the Repac trail provided a challenging highlight.
What I found most refreshing during the ride is the enthusiasm generated by the younger members. Much of the nuts-and-bolts (rest stops, trail marking, etc) coordination seemed to be supported by teenagers. All the trial heads were clearly marked and route maps provided. With 50+ riders it's hard not to lose some of them, but it came off without any significant problems. Upon returning to Larkspurs' Marin Brewery parking lot we were greeted by kids with pompons, banners and streamers congratulating us. Yea, I know, a little corny, but cool nonetheless. While riding I also met two TFK national representatives from Kansas and New Mexico who have started their own local rides and events. Again, these two twenty something guys expressed passion and spoke excitedly about the kids and rides they completed. The fellow from Kansas received a few questions about mountain biking without mountains, but quieted the local riders when he said "all we ride is single track."
After the ride I kicked back at the Brewery with the group for a while. While enjoying my burger and beer, Marilyn asked me if I had a good time. Of coarse I said, after all, what could be better than riding and giving money away?
The Bottom Line; ROMP's membership contribution; $600. Total amount raised; $29,000. I would like to thank ROMP board members for supporting this event. It's not only a great way to expose kids to nature, but also teaches them trail responsibility and environmental stewardship.
Mostly, I would like to thank the contributing ROMP members. Without your support I wouldn't have done this. The real bottom line is your support matters. Kids matter. The future matters.
Lastly, none of this would be possible without Marilyn. She's been at this a long time and continues to make positive contributions and change through vision, dedication, and hard work.
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