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September-October 2001 • Lead stories • Club news News main page • Other issues • Submit an article Submit a ride |
$500 was awarded by IMBA, with funds donated by CLIF. The money will be used to install fifteen interpretive placards atop sturdy redwood posts at carefully selected locations throughout the SDSF trail system. This will be a unique, first-of-its-kind interpretive trail system for educating cyclists. Thousands of interpretive trails in parks around the country are designed for hikers. Most feature simple numbered posts, and a paper brochure containing the educational material that is carried by the hiker, with stops about 50 to 200 yards apart and a total trail mileage of less than 2 miles. These interpretive trails don't work for cyclists. Educational brochures disintegrate while in a sweaty jersey pocket and are awkward to use while wearing cycling gloves, the stops are too close together, and the trail is just too short. The SDSF interpretive trail system will not require a brochure. Placards will be installed at locations where cyclists naturally stop to rest, shake off the dust after a technical section, or enjoy the view. Detailed educational material on each plaque will include: information about the geology (the forest sits about 2 miles from the epicenter of the Loma Prieta earthquake on the San Andreas Fault); sustainable forestry practices demonstrated in the forest; the variety of ecosystems, interesting plants and trees, birds and land animals, fish (including the endangered Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout), cultural and historical features such as logging mill sites, and social issues such as trail etiquette. This interpretive facility will further our goals of educating cyclists about the forest and their potential impacts on it. We hope it will become a model for involving and inspiring mountain bikers to become stewards of the land that can be duplicated in other areas around the country. Estimated completion and grand opening is for Summer 2002. Stevens Creek Trail Under AttackPotential trail neighbors have strongly attacked the proposed Stevens Creek Trail through Cupertino in meetings conducted in June and July. Without additional support, this key section of the trail could be derailed. Your urgent help is needed to keep this great project on track. Please plan to attend the next public meeting for this trail on Tuesday, October 2nd at 7 PM at the Cupertino Senior Center, corner of Stevens Creek Blvd. and Mary Ave. in Cupertino. All are urged to attend, but Cupertino residents are especially vital and encouraged. Two more meetings will follow on October 30th and November 27th, at the same time and location. The committee investigating this proposal is very large and includes representatives from the neighborhoods along the trail. Unfortunately, despite the general support for the trail in Cupertino, the NIMBYs ("not in my backyard"-ers) have been most vocal at these meetings and their presence is being most felt by the committee. Previous projects have shown that, despite initial opposition, most trail neighbors eventually appreciate and favor the availability of such nearby trails. If completed, this trail will provide a path from San Francisco Bay to Stevens Creek County Park and Fremont Older Open Space Preserve. Eventually, the trail is planned to link all the way to Skyline and then to the Pacific Ocean. The Mountain View section of this trail has already been completed, and it is a great example of how a shared-use trail can be integrated into a suburban setting. Cupertino is a key portion of this trail, as it encompasses the transition from the suburbs to a more rural and wild environment, and it is the gateway to Fremont Older and Stevens Creek County Park. For more details on this project, visit http://www.rahul.net/green/sct/. If you have further questions about how you can get involved, please contact Rod Brown at president@romp.org or 408-863-0654. Action on Ridge Trail Access Through Windy Hill Unlikely Until Spring...by Rod BrownAction on opening the Bay Area Ridge Trail through Windy Hill Open Space Preserve is unlikely to be considered until spring of 2002. Over the next several months, a planner will be assigned, condition of the existing trail evaluated, and engineering studies of an alternative alignment conducted. During MROSD's process of closing trails to cyclists last summer, an exception was made for interjurisdictional shared-use trails. At the same time, MROSD agreed to evaluate existing sections of the Bay Area Ridge Trail closed to bikes for opening. Last spring, a section of this trail in Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve was redesignated for shared use. No action is requested now, but your letters and meeting attendance will be needed when these evaluations are completed and public meetings are held. Please watch this newsletter and the ROMP website and email list for further updates. In for TFK Ride ?...by Henry PastorelliI will be attending the Trips For Kids benefit ride and festival on Sept 23rd and welcome you to come along. If we form a team of four, then registration is only $10 per person ($20.00 otherwise). The event consists of a challenging 38-mile loop off-road through the Marin Headlands to the top of Mt. Tam. (16 mile and 25 mile options are available). The other option is a 7-mile loop family ride. I'm open to any ride option depending on the group. An afternoon festival will include music, great food, a visit to the Marine Mammal Center, a bike jeopardy game, and environmental activities courtesy of the Headlands Institute. The ride and festival will start and end at the Headlands Institute. Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Marin Headlands Institute is centrally located just to the north of the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a beautiful location with plenty of free parking. TFK is a good organization. This event is a nice way to end the summer and feel good about supporting a group that’s trying to help kids. More info is available at http://www.webcom.com/tfk/TFKNATIONAL/events.htm. If interested contact me (Henry) at vicepresident@romp.org. Build Short Ups and Downs - An Easy Way to Toughen Trails...by Joey Klein, of the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew, tcc2@imba.comAll this year IMBA Trail News is featuring articles describing ways to add sustainable technical challenges to trails. Here Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew leader Joey Klein presents advice on building elevation changes into trail to add challenge. First a reminder: Locate trails on side slopes whenever possible. Flat areas should be avoided because they may accumulate water or sand. Flood plains, river bottoms, plateaus, meadows, even old roads - trails in these places can turn into mud bogs or sand traps that require continual maintenance. Trails that traverse side slopes are called contour trails. They provide good drainage, are far more appealing and will pass the test of time. Here are a couple ways to spice up a contour trail with ups and downs: Grade reversals. On side slope traverses, you can make the route more interesting by "surfing" the contour lines. Create a rolling trail that dips and rises frequently. Reverse the grade subtly about every 20-40 feet. Visualize rhythmically spaced "waves". Remember that the trail grade must always remain less than half the side slope grade. For example, if you're building across a mountainside that slopes at 40%, no part of the trail should exceed 20% - and we recommend 10% as a maximum overall trail grade. Route the trail on the uphill side of established trees to utilize the bench and avoid their roots. Use natural obstacles to provide barriers to surf around. Grade reversals will make a trail fun and also improve drainage. Grade breaks. A common trail design error is lack of grade changes. Long runs of constant grade encourage excessive speed (if downhill), are boring (if uphill), and can result in erosion if water focuses down the path. We recommend interrupting climbs and descents with breaks, where possible. Long climbs with short descents mixed in allow users to regain their momentum and catch their breath. On downhills, short climbing interludes provide variety, challenge and keep riders off their brakes. Lengthy runs allow water to gain speed and may contribute to erosion. Grade breaks ensure water stays off the trail. Experiment with these trail features, realizing that some soils have less integrity and are difficult to work with. Learn what works best in your area. Build exciting trails and build them to last.
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Forward problems with this page to webmaster@romp.org © 2001 ROMP | Last updated 23 October 01 by R. H. Yang |