Mountain Cyclist – July 1999
Lead Stories
...by Kathleen Meyer
Terri Baron, an equestrian and resident of Saratoga, is working to rehabilitate the Parker Ranch Trail located in the City of Saratoga. This trail, also known as the Golf Course Trail, connects to Fremont Older Open Space Preserve. Although originally opened only to hikers and equestrians, this trail now accommodates bikers, and Terri would like to ensure that any new trail is multi-use.
The easement for this trail was given in 1992. Since that time, the weather has taken a toll on the trail surface, including triggering a significant slide in 1996. The Trail Center looked into doing work here previously, but was unable to gain consensus among local homeowners and thus nothing has been done since. The current trail is unsafe for horses, and it is likely that work will be done in the future to fix some of this damage and reduce the liability of the city.
ROMP members now have the opportunity to get involved in this process and ensure that the wishes of local mountain bikers are included as decisions are made. In particular, a biker (especially a Saratoga resident but anyone would be great) who is willing to work with Terri, the City of Saratoga, local homeowners, and other trail users is greatly needed. This is a great opportunity to work with other multi-use advocates on a focused project to maintain bike access to this area.
If you would like to help, please contact Kathleen Meyer at 408-374-6136 or president@romp.org.
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...by Jane Taylor
Hello mountain bikers! As official 1999 ROMP volunteer record keeper, I am requesting that you please forward me a summary of your volunteer hours from January 1 – June 30, 1999. ROMP uses these statistics for public relations communications, to show our impact on the trail community, and to see how we are doing toward our volunteer goals.
ROMP records and categorizes volunteer activities in several different areas:
- Trail building – New trail construction, trail maintenance, leadership training, etc.
- Trail patrol – Patrol as a mountain biker; attending patrol training sessions, etc.
- Education stations – Trail education stations in local parks or more distant ones (such as Henry Coe), etc.
- Advocacy meetings – Attending land manager and other local trail coordinator board or public meetings, etc.
- Communications – Any type of communication regarding mountain biking advocacy, including newsletter articles, email, web postings, letter writing, etc.
- Club administration – Board meetings and duties, mailing party, etc.
- Club rides – Leading rides
- Miscellaneous – Swap meet support, Sea Otter work, other events, etc.
Several options are available to submit your hours:
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Use the web form.
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Send email. Compose an email including your name and the number of hours you spent in each of the categories described above. Send your email to volunteerdata@romp.org.
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Complete the enclosed tally sheet. Fill out the green form included in this newsletter and mail it to Jane Taylor, 406 Iris St., Redwood City CA, 94062.
Remember, you do not need to be a member of ROMP to submit your hours, just a local mountain biker who has done volunteer work. We need whatever you contribute, even if it is just three hours of trail work or two hours attending a local land manager meeting as a mountain cyclist. Send your hours in now, before you forget about all the hard work you've put in. Thank you for volunteering in the first place, and thank you for submitting your hours!
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On Monday, July 19, 1999, Almaden Quicksilver Park will open to bicyclists, including access from the Hacienda entrance. Once inside the park, cyclists will be able to complete a loop on Mine Hill Trail with a couple of alternative loops coming off of Mine Hill.
In October, 1998, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved multi-use of trails at Almaden Quicksilver Park. The Board directed parks staff to provide them with a status report on the impacts of multi-use in the park. The report is due back to the Board in April, 2000.
As part of this report, the department will be surveying trail use at the park. The survey will be be conducted three days a week (two days during the week and one day on the weekend). The parks department needs six volunteers to fill three two-hour shifts on each of these days beginning June 21. The surveying will continue through the summer, at that point slowing down to once a week. The volunteers will be stationed at Capehorn Pass and Mine Hill and also at the junction of Mine Hill and New Almaden Trails. The Park is also looking for volunteers to patrol the trails at the park and become a member of the department's Trailwatch program. The park is in desperate need of volunteers to help us perform this vital work.
If interested in volunteering for trail survey work or as a Trailwatch volunteer (see more details in "Santa Clara Co. Parks Need Volunteers"), please call John Heenan, County Parks Volunteer Coordinator, at 408-354-6583.
The first year of access is considered a pilot program and events will be monitored closely. Please show your support by volunteering to make this park opening successful. When you are in the park you can also help by reminding other cyclists that their actions will affect all of us. Call the parks department or e-mail ROMP for more details.
We all worked hard to show the parks department that cyclists are equal members of the trail community. Our message was that we are responsible and that we will work with the parks department to make multi-use work in this park. Well, we got what we wished for, now let's make it work. Thanks to all for helping.
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(part 1 in a series of 3)
The International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) has developed a set of rules of the trail as a step toward forwarding its mission of promoting environmentally sound and socially responsible mountain bicycling. This came about because thousands of miles of dirt trails have been closed to mountain bicyclists, at least partially due to the irresponsible riding habits of a few riders. ROMP, a member club of IMBA, agrees that every rider must do their part to maintain trail access by observing the following rules for safe and responsible riding:
- Ride on open trails only.
- Leave no trace.
- Control your bicycle.
- Always yield trail.
- Never spook animals.
- Plan ahead.
Although they are called rules, etiquette is probably a more appropriate description. These instructions are not laws (though there are often laws concerning some or all of these rules), but instead are guidelines to trail etiquette that we should all follow.
Even the best of us at times does something that we probably should not do while on the trail, and each of these incidents can have impacts on all of our access to trails. Because of this, ROMP thought that it would be good to review each rule in more detail. This month, we cover the first two rules:
1. Ride on open trails only.
The first part to this rule is that we should ride on trails, and not venture off trails. Thankfully, this isn't as much a problem with mountain cyclists as it is with some other trail users. But it still is an issue. The most damage done to an area is done by the first user, and each successive user that passes over an area does a little less damage. If you venture off a trail or short cut a switchback, you are that first user. To have the lowest level of impact to the environment, you should always stay on trails. The majority of the damage was done when the trail was built, so by staying on the trail you will have the least amount of impact.
The second half of this rule is that you should only ride on trails that are open to bikes. Many of the trail closures around here can seem arbitrary, but usually they are closed for valid reasons. Respect trail and road closures (ask if you are not sure), avoid possible trespass on private land, obtain permits or other authorization as may be required. Do not take your bike into federal and state wilderness areas, which are closed to cycling.
2. Leave no trace.
Be sensitive to the dirt beneath you. You should not ride under conditions where you will leave evidence of your passing, such as on certain soils after a rain. Some sandy soils dry quickly and some loamy soils shed water well, which allows them to be rideable during the wet season when it isn't raining; however, others turn to mud and need to be avoided during the entire rainy season. Learn which trails are good and which are bad, and practice low-impact cycling by choosing to ride on the trails that can withstand the use. If you are unsure, don't ride on dirt when the trails are wet. Even areas which generally handle rain well will have sections which are bad. ROMP supports this by canceling group rides if it rains in the 48 hours prior to the ride time.
Along with choosing when to and not to ride, you also should be aware of how you ride and what you do while you are out there. As noted above, if you go off the trail, you will do a lot more damage than if you ride on the trail. If there is a puddle or mud bog in the trail, don't go around it; doing so makes a braid, or widens, the trail. Learn to brake without skidding – along with being better for the trails, it is also a faster and safer way to stop. Also be sure to pack out everything you pack in.
The way you ride influences trail management decisions and policies. Please respect the lands that you ride on and the other users of the lands. With responsible habits, our grandkids will be able to ride mountain bikes as we do and where we do today.
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...by Peter Donohue
The San Jose Mercury News reported last month that Santa Clara County Parks plans to add $4 parking fees at some of its parks starting next year. The county already collects parking fees at eleven of their parks, including Grant Ranch and Hellyer. The new fees will affect twelve additional parks, including Almaden Quicksilver, Lexington Reservoir, Rancho San Antonio, and Uvas Reservoir.
The addition most likely to affect mountain cyclists is Steven's Creek. ROMP regularly leads rides originating from that park and heading into adjacent Fremont Older and Montebello Open Space Preserves.
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...Rick Brusuelas
Riding alongside cars? Getting up and leaving a little earlier? Cold? Rain? Tired? No Howard Stern in the morning or sports talk in the afternoon? No, I could never give up my car and commute to work on my bicycle. Yet here I am, on week two of a grand experiment. Helped along by a desire to recover from back surgery that has postponed any opportunity to ride my mountain bike on trails for the next few months. And do you know what? I am loving it.
A few years ago I sustained a back injury from engaging in my other favorite recreation, playing basketball. A couple of months off the bike, a couple of sessions of physical therapy, and I was able to return to mountain biking (though I had to give up my beloved hardtail and switch to a full suspension ride). But after a few too many rough trails and a few too many basketball games, the pain was not only back but it worse. X-rays, more physical therapy, pain medication, and finally an MRI revealed that a disk had not only pushed most of the way out from where it belonged, but part had broken off and was now teaming with the herniated disk to put the squeeze on the nerve down my leg. I was off to surgery where removed the both the disk and the floater, and I was sent home with a four inch scar, some more pain pills, a whole bunch of bills, and a two month "vacation" from work.
And, a vacation from mountain biking. My newfound life of leisure created a monster in me, or more precisely, in my midsection area. While I could see some benefit from being able to race in the Clydesdale category, I knew the extra tonnage was not good for a bad back, especially when it was concentrated on the back's leeway side.
Which brings me to the present, and why I am writing this article. Again, I still can't ride my mountain bike (not just the jarring, but it hurts to hunch over my handlebars). I was able to ride a recumbent stationary bicycle in the gym, so using my highly tuned deductive reasoning (and always looking to add another bike to my "quiver"), I purchased a recumbent bike that naturally could handle off-road riding. Since finding time to ride is so challenging (work, family, chores) I targeted the 15 mile or so drive to work and as the perfect way to get some riding in.
Sure, the first few days were tough. Those cars do seem bigger as they speed by within a few feet. And I do have to leave a few minutes earlier and I get home a little later. But I feel a lot better getting a chance to exercise everyday. An exercise I truly enjoy. I have two routes that I choose depending on my schedule. I am fortunate that my employer has showers and a bike area, and there are organizations that offer help, advice, ride routes, and ride buddies. Now, if I could only figure a way to hear Howard Stern when I arrive at work....
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