10th Anniversary of MBOSC

This year marks the 10th anniversary of MBOSC. In honor of the 10th anniversary, I would like to share this article by Keith Kelsen (the founder of MBOSC and the first President) on the beginning of MBOSC.

Enjoy!

MBOSC - ITS TIME HAS COME

KEITH KELSEN

The headline in the newspaper I was reading was bold and unexpected - "Gray Whale Ranch Bought by Save-the-Redwoods League". Right away I thought, "Wow,this is great!"

Gray Whale Ranch is adjacent to Wilder Ranch State Park. A riding haven on the west coast near Santa Cruz, it had been a favorite of mine to ride for years before it was purchased and trespassing laws enforced five years earlier. But now Save-the-Redwoods League had just purchased the 2,500 acre property with coastal vistas, redwoods, long meadows and chaparral for some 12 million dollars. Save-the-Redwoods League, a nonprofit, has been purchasing land for state parks since it's inception in 1920's. In exchange, they were asking the community to repay $600,000 of the purchase price.

The article also stated that the open space alliance was involved in putting on an auction to help raise some funds. Well, I called some of my riding compadres and told them I would put in $100 if they would put up the same. In no time we had a $1,000, so I raised the anti to $200. So we had $2,000. Not bad, but hey, we could do better than that.

I called the local paper and told them that local mountain bikers... uh... Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz... were pitching in to raise money for the purchase of Gray Whale. They printed the article and a couple of weeks later we had raised close to $7,000.00 and Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz was born.

To raise a portion of the $600K we decided to hold a raffle - the "WIN A BIKE and a Place To Ride Raffle". Our goal was to have our name on a grove ($20K) and more if possible.

We went to manufactures and local bike shops. They were very supportive and gave us over $23,000.00 (retail) worth of donations, including 9 bikes (3 full suspension). And I would like thank them all for the incredible response.

We received media support through co-sponsors for print, TV and radio. We produced commercials for both TV and radio and created ads for print. Along with the commercials we produced a 9 minute documentary on Gray Whale which aired on the local cable channel.

We selected two dates to hold the raffle and distributed tickets to bike shops, who agreed to sell the raffle tickets. The idea was to advertise and bring people into their shops to buy tickets. I was told it was an impossible task. But we kept up on the media and articles in the paper and Gray Whale became a visible movement in the community.

We were also very fortunate to link up with ROMP in the Bay Area to get their help with ticket sales. Also, ROMP donated $1,350 on behalf of its members. IMBA was a great help as well. They published an article in DIRT and IMBA members mailed in their money for the raffle tickets and support. One IMBA member, Tom Shepard, won 5 out of 20 times including a front suspension VOODOO.

For each raffle we opened up Gray Whale just for the day for biking, hiking, and horseback riding. Over 400 mountain bikers showed up for the first raffle and 200 for the second. We finished with $20,000 from the raffle. The total we raised with donations from riders and a Giro donation of $5,000 was $31,000. Not bad for a challenge between friends.

The side benefits to all this were incredible. We have a full-fledged club, we do trail work, a news letter (qtrly), group rides, brochures and actively present a positive image for mountain bikers in the community. We actively seek trail use in other parks. This organization is an idea who's time has come. The work is actually just beginning!

The Big Picture

I've been spending a lot of time in Google Earth these days. For years I have wanted to catalog every mountain bike trail and large land parcels in GE so I can plan for new trails systems and look at the entire inventory of large public and private land holdings to seek opportunities for more access. I seem to have a lot of time these days so I've been listening to a lot of internet radio and clicking, clicking, clicking...

The image above captures the state of legitimate mountain bike trails in Santa Cruz county that I'm aware of. If you know if any other legal mountain bike trails in Santa Cruz County then please contact me. The orange and yellow lines represent dirt roads and single track respectively. The white lines represent paved roads which act as connectors within and between parks. Technically, Butano State Park is in San Mateo county but I count it as part of the Big Basin trail system.

There is a lot of opportunity for more mountain bike access in the land holdings which do not have any trails open to bikes. We are currently working on initiatives and projects to expand legitimate access for mountain bikes. If you want to help out then please contact me at http://www.mbosc.org/about.html

Old MBOSC newsletters are online

This year is the 10th anniversary of the founding of Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz so I have been going through the archives to get a sense of history.

I got a new scanner a couple of weeks ago and I have been scanning and cleaning up the old newsletters. I've put the online as pdf files here:

http://www.mbosc.org/about.html

We no longer produce a Quarterly newsletter (does anyone want to do this?) but it has been really enjoyable to look back at the archives and see some familiar names.

It's amazing how many of the issues that we were discussing back in '97 are like Gray Whale are still unresolved. 10 years later, there are probably many more mountain bikers in Santa Cruz but local mountain bike advocacy doesn't seem to reflect it.

The Gray Whale and Nisene Marks issues seemed to have soured the riding community from getting involved with advocacy. Many riders feel that we have a great collection of unauthorized trails and can't see why they should invest time and energy into expanding the legitimate trail network. The answer is that it could be much better. There is a lot of public and private land in Santa Cruz county that could be potential riding areas. Open up Google Earth and look at the area bounded by Big Basin, Empire Grade, the Coast and the Santa Cruz city limits. There are existing trails, road and other off road goodness that is utilized by locals only. This is our playground. With effort and persistence we can open this up to the global mountain biking community and create new economic opportunities for our residents.

Sea to Sky Mountain Biking Economic Impact Study

About 6 months ago, I blogged about the Yukon Study about the economic potential of mountain bike tourism. That study analyzed the potential and demographics of the global mountain bike tourism market. It was a great document which used market research to identify the mountain bike tourist and contained case studies of communities which embraced mountain bike tourism. It was a great document to introduce a community to the potential of mountain bike tourism and want to know more about the market.

Earlier this year the Western Canada Mountain Bike Tourism Association (MBTA) released a study which illustrates the economic benefits of a mature mountain bike tourism industry. This study complements the Yukon study in that it shows the economic results for Whistler, BC - a community which embraced mountain bike tourism.

The economic impact study gives credible data on the economic benefits of mountain bike tourism. The executive summary states (all numbers in Canadian dollars (1 US$ = 0.93 CD$) ):

"Total visitor spending in Whistler attributable to mountain biking exceeded $34.3 million over the period June 4 to September 17, 2006 supporting an estimated $39.1 million in new economic activity (GDP)."

Not a bad summer season! Whistler continues to be a positive draw of the global mountain bike tourism market. This study discusses the survey methodology, breaks down visitor origin, size of the party, number of nights stayed and spending per visitor. The benefits of out of town visitors to a community can not be overstated:

"The study found that mountain biking draws visitors to Sea to Sky communities and generates significant overnight stays. Overall, 20% of non-resident riders stayed overnight in Sea to Sky communities, staying an average of 4.8 nights and having an average party size of 2.8 people."

It emphasizes the need for authorized trails in order for the tourism economy to succeed:

"The authorized trail system in the Whistler Valley generates considerably more economic activity than the trail systems in Squamish and the North Shore where few authorized trails exist. Whistler has been able to capture higher visitor expenditure in part by having the ability to promote its municipal trails and associated services (bike rentals, guides, camps, etc) directly to visitors both within the Resort and externally."

The bottom line of the study is something that should please local business and government:

"In total, mountain biking has a sizable impact on the summer economy of Whistler and British Columbia, with total expenditures totaling more than $34.3 million between the valley trails, the Bike Park, and Crankworx. This spending generated more than $39.1 million in economic activity, and supported more than $26.5 million in wages and salaries and 798 jobs throughout the Province. Mountain biking in Whistler also supported considerable tax revenues, with over $8.5 million and $7.3 million in government taxes paid at the federal and provincial levels, respectively; while municipal revenues throughout the province exceeded $2.1 million."

These numbers only shows the direct economic impact of tourism. However, I'm sure there are further benefits to the BC bike industry due to the world class mystique of the free ride style of riding. Rocky Mountain, Norco, Cove Bikes and Brody have probably benefited from being part of the BC bike culture which exploding onto the public consciousness around 1998. Many visitors were introduced to the local bikes and may consider taking a bit of BC's finest back with them.

10-15 years ago I lived in Vancouver and rode the Whistler and North Shore trail systems when they were unauthorized. Back then only the locals rode the trails and there were very few tourists (friends of friends). In 10 years, revenue from mountain bike tourism in the Sea to Sky area has gone from immeasurable to CD$39 million.

These are impressive numbers and I really believe that Santa Cruz County has the potential to realize a similar level of mountain bike tourism economic activity.

Mitigating Risk for Private Land Owners

There are many advantages of allowing mountain bike access on private land. The trail design can be more "creative" and trail networks on private land are generally not subjected to the same level of scrutiny as trails on public land.

One of the biggest obstacles to gaining access to private land are the land owner's concerns of exposure to liability. There are a number of tools that we can use to engage private land holders to allow mountain bike access.

The following page at IMBA has a great discussion on the issues of liability for land owners.

The relevant section for private land owners concerns "Recreational Use Statutes". There are a few important points to note:

"Recreational Use Statute" is a term given to legislation generally intended to promote public recreational use of privately owned land. The statute does this by granting landowners broad immunity from liability for personal injuries or property damage suffered by land users pursuing recreational activities on the owner's land."

Justification for the RUS policy:

"The underlying policy of a Recreational Use Statute is that the publics need for recreational land has outpaced the ability of local, state, and federal governments to provide such areas and that owners of large acreages of land should be encouraged to help meet this need."

How it works:

"Under prior common law (law made by precedent), the landowner had different duties of care depending on whether a person was on the land as an invitee, licensee, or a trespasser. The greatest duty of care was owed to an invitee and no duty was owed to an unknown, adult trespasser. Under an R.U.S., recreational users are treated in the same manner as trespassers and thus the landowner owes them no duty of care. The protection of the statute is lost, however, if the landowner charges for the use of the land or if the landowner is guilty of malicious conduct."

Generally, a land owner is not liable for recreational use on the land if they do not charge for access and there is no malicious conduct on the part of the land owner to create a dangerous situation.

How this may manifest itself as challenging trails on private land:

"If a landowner has no knowledge of a dangerous condition, he or she is under no duty to investigate the land for dangerous conditions."

The full text of the California Recreational Use Statute is here. A summary brochure can be found here.

Be nice out there!

I just got an earful from an angry hiker who read the Good Times article. She saw that the article mentioned "jittery horses" but she wanted to know if we were doing something about 'jittery hikers".

She then went on a rant about how all the mountain bikers she has encountered while hiking race by her at high speed. I tried to get her to talk about a specific incident and location but she just vented. I can sympathize at how frustrated she was needed an outlet.

I can't claim to represent all mountain bikers who ride in Santa Cruz but I think her assessment is unfair. Most mountain bikers are conscientious trail users and respect other trail users. However, I recognize that there are minority of cyclists on the trails who do not yield to other trail users. These riders spoil it for the rest of us.

She wanted to know what I was doing to solve this and didn't come up with anything practical other than that we emphasize the multiple use trail guidelines: mountain bikes should yield to hikers and equestrians. User education is the one avenue that we have been pursuing. Biker only trails is another novel solution. What else could be done? The IMBA book Managing Mountain Biking has a lot of practical solutions which include strategies for education and trail system design.

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to be good trail citizens. We should all get along with other trail users and ride responsibly. Trail user conflict and the perception of conflict is our biggest issue in gaining access to trails.

Please be nice out there.

Mountain Bike Tourism in Santa Cruz County

The Santa Cruz weekly newspaper Good Times has an article about MBOSC this week. This article makes it public that the focus of our organization is the promotion of mountain bike tourism as a sustainable economic activity for Santa Cruz County. We have been developing a tourism initiative for a while now among ourselves so we may as well explain our strategy.

Mountain bike tourism is a global market and a sustainable economic activity. Communities from all over the world are recognizing the economic potential of this form of eco-tourism and have been embracing it to revitalize their local economies.

Santa Cruz has so many natural advantages for the development of mountain bike tourism including:

• A tourism based infrastructure already in place
• Nearby greenbelt areas and parks within riding distance of hotels and motels
• Spectacular redwood single track and coastal views
• Alternative activities for non-biking guests and family members
• Supportive bike industry and bike culture
• World-class destinations including San Francisco, Monterey and Silicon Valley less than 2 hours away

We believe that there are a number of benefits of mountain bike tourism which could benefit the community of Santa Cruz County including:

• City of Santa Cruz: More hotel and sales tax revenue.
  
• Local bike industry: increased sales and opportunities for new businesses.
• Local businesses: hotels, restaurants and tourism.
  

We wish to engage the local business community, visitors center and city council to recognize the economic potential of mountain bike tourism. These partnerships with civic leaders could help us cut through the red tape and get the resources to open more legitimate trails and promote Santa Cruz County as a destination. More legitimate trails and embracing mountain bike tourism could create opportunities for mountain bike events like 24 hour races, fat tire festivals and the development of new businesses to support mountain bike tourism like shuttle and guide services.

Mountain biking is a healthy, eco-friendly, and fun form of outdoor recreation and it should be encouraged for its low-cost, low impact use of public and private land. Santa Cruz is well known as a mountain biking destination to active mountain bikers in Northern California. The city and county can market Santa Cruz as a world-class mountain bike destination with very little investment and effort.

IMBA Trail Care Crew is comming to Santa Cruz this Fall

Mark your calendars! The IMBA Trail Care Crew will be coming to Santa Cruz on the weekend of Oct 20-21st, 2007.

The IMBA Trail Care Crews are sponsored by Subaru and travel year-round throughout North America and beyond. They lead trailwork sessions, meet with land managers, and working with IMBA-affiliated clubs and members to improve mountain biking opportunities. The Trail Care Crew experts will also lead a series of popular two-day IMBA Trailbuilding Schools.

Kristin Butcher and Ryan Schutz will be the crew who will be visiting us. From their bio on the IMBA TCC site:

Kristin Butcher and Ryan Schutz hail from Deerfield Beach, Florida, where they created ClubMud, an IMBA-affiliated "trail maintenance, advocacy and merrymaking" organization. They helped lead the charge to gain approval for freeride trails and technical trail features in Broward County parks, oversaw the construction of two freeride areas, and helped organize a bevy of cycling events. Prior to joining the Trail Care Crew, Kristin was a successful and multi-patented software engineer at an international telecommunications company. Ryan has earned a Masters in Urban Planning, has a passion for trail advocacy, and is fascinated by Elvis impersonators. He spent the last 5 years working in GIS, municipal land planning, and his buddy's bike shop.

The agenda is still to be determined. This will be the same weekend as the MBOSC 10th anniversary bash at Seabright Brewery so it should be a great weekend.

Rain is forecast for the week of May 1-4, 2008

... because they just announced that these are the date for the Sea Otter in 2008. I remember that they moved the festival from March to April because rain and crappy weather was pretty much guaranteed in March. An April Otter didn't fair too well either.

I thought that it would be dry this year because the general lack of rain this season made the chances of rain unlikely. As most of us know it rained really hard on Sea Otter Saturday.

If we really want to address the pending drought then we could just hold a Sea Otter every month.

Carrot Fest was really "transformative" this year

Last Saturday mountain bikers equestrians participated in Carrot Fest at Wilder Ranch. The goal of Carrot Fest is to desensitize horses to mountain bikes and increase communication and understanding between mountain bikers and equestrians.

It was a small and intimate gathering up on the horse camp marine terrace but one which was extremely valuable. Geoff Smith did a stellar job working with Soleil - a skittish Arab Mare. At the beginning of the clinic, Soleil was really afraid of bikes. Towards the end of the clinic she was feeling much more comfortable around a moving bike. Watching that horse undergo that level of transformation in a few hours demonstrates how valuable this event is to the safety of trail users.

I would like to thank Sebastien Praly (MBOSC) and Rebeckah Crill (SCCHA) for organizing this event, Supervising Ranger Joseph Connors taking care of the event logistics, Geoff Smith for having the expertise and patience in working with Soleil. I think you made a new friend. Finally, I would like to thank all the bikers and equestrians who participated in the event. You all have made a difference in renewing the co-operation between our two user groups.

I really treasure the great relationship that exists between mountain bikers and equestrians in Santa Cruz county. There is a still a lot of work that could be done at the State and Federal level to facilitate communication between these two user groups. Equestrians and mountain bikers can look at what we have done in Santa Cruz county as an example of how to get along and share the trails. We have a lot of common ground and we are trail users who have a passion to enjoy the open space with our favorite steeds.

Soleil makes progress at Carrot Fest 2007

It was a wonderful day to enjoy Wilder Ranch State Park with our Equestrian and equine friends. We were high up on the Horse Camp marine terrace with great views of the ocean and the back country. It was sunny, warm and clear. Perfect spring weather on the central coast.

Rebeckah from SCCHA and Sebastien from MBOSC discussed the basics of horse-bike interaction on the trails and hosted an open discussion of experiences and lessons learned when encountering the other user group on the trail. Then we broke into a clinic to help desensitize horses to mountain bikes.

We started the clinic by having the bikers ride in large circles and let the horses follow them. The objective is to make the horse feel like the predator rather than the prey animal so that the horses could get used to the sounds and sights of a mountain bike. Then we placed ourselves in the position of coming up from behind and passing the horse. I was really impressed with the control and confidence of Claudia's bay mare Silhouette around bikes. I was pedaling right beside her so closely that I would turn my head and glance into the horse's eye.

The most transformational moment was with an Arab mare Soleil and Geoff Smith (a mountain biker). Soleil is a 12 year old horse who was never frightened of mountain bikes when Claudia first got her at 7. Claudia didn't think that Soliel had a specific negative experience with a mountain bike but something recently made her fear the mechanical steeds that we choose to ride. She said it was analogous to a young child who suddenly gains a realization of his own mortality. But she says that it's a mystery and demonstrates that horses have personality which may change over time.

We were experimenting and trying to find the boundaries of Soleil's fear of bikes. She wasn't afraid of the cyclists (we could walk up to Soleil with no problems). She wasn't afraid of bikes, since a bike lying on the ground wouldn't spook her. However, if the bike was moving she would tense up. Geoffrey spent most of his time working with Soleil to get her comfortable around bikes.

Geoff would pet, talk to and feed Soleil without his bike to make Soleil feel comfortable with him. Then Geoff picked up his bike - Soleil would immediately tense - but he would hold the bike behind him and go over the same exercises. Then Geoff would move his bike back and forth - again Soleil would tense up - but after a while she would get comfortable with the moving bike. Then Geoff would put the bike between himself and Soleil so that she would have to lean across the bike to get the carrot. Soleil still wasn't completely comfortable with bikes at this stage. She would stay as far from the bike as possible and crane her neck in order to get at the carrot. Geoff would continue working with Soleil on these exercises and after a while Soleil would accept that bikes are not a threat.

After the clinic all the riders headed into the Wilder back country to enjoy the rest of the day on the trails. Bikers Geoff, Sebastien and I rode with equestrians Kristin, Katelyn and Rebeckah up the fence line dump trail towards Enchanted Loop. The bikers had a bit of a lead on the moderate slope up the trail but when it got steep the horses passed us quite easily. At Enchanted Loop the two user groups split up and the bikers rode clockwise while the equestrians rode counter-clockwise. We met up at the bottom of Enchanted to practice bike/horse interaction.

Silhouette, Soleil and their riders showed up a bit later on Enchanted Loop while we were at the bottom, she had improved considerably. Soleil's rider mentioned that a bike had passed her from behind but she stayed still. Previously, Soleil would attempt to run away. Soleil was not fully comfortable with bikes but she had made incredible progress in the clinic. That alone was a great justification for this event. Geoff has a new friend.

I treasure the great relationship that exists between mountain bikers and equestrians in Santa Cruz county. Many of the carrot fest participants will take the knowledge that was learned about the other user group and spread it out among the people they ride with. There is a still a lot of work that could be done at the State and Federal level to facilitate communication between user groups. Equestrians and mountain bikers can look at what we have done in Santa Cruz county as an example of how to get along and share the trails. We have a lot of common ground and we are trail users who have a passion to enjoy the open space with our favorite steeds.

More words and pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lick.the.toad/CarrotFest2007

BICYCLE TRIP BIKE PARK GRAND OPENING PARTY

City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department announces

Santa Cruz Bike Park Grand Opening!

BMX Stunt Show by 2Hip Bikes and Local Riders!

Music - Free Snacks!

Friday, May 4, 2007 - 4 to 6 pm @ The temporary BikePark - located at

35 Pacific Avenue (the Fun Spot) - across the street from the MunicipalWharf entrance.

Free valet bike parking by People Power. Ride your bikes parking limited and expensive

Carrot Fest 2007 Saturday May 5th 9 am

Carrot Fest is an event co-sponsored by the Santa Cruz County Horseman's Association (SCCHA) and Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (MBOSC) that helps to desensitize horses to mountain bikes and increase communication and understanding between mountain bikers and equestrians. This is a really positive event that helps to maintain the wonderful relationship that exists between equestrians and mountain bikers in Santa Cruz county.

We need some mountain bikers to participate! Help make horses feel comfortable by riding around them and giving them carrots. There will be a clinic portion of the event in which the equestrians and bikers will be milling around and interacting at horse camp. After the clinic, groups of equestrians and bikers will ride in opposite directions along Wilder Ridge loop and meet up and practice the rules of interaction.

Coffee and carrot cake will be provided.

Time and Location: 9 am @ Horse Camp near Dimeo Lane at Wilder Ranch State Park, Santa Cruz, California.

Directions: Dimeo lane is the street that leads to the Santa Cruz city dump. Horse camp is the dirt road which is an immediate right when you get onto Dimeo lane. Horse camp is located at the star at the bottom of this map.

We encourage mountain bikers to ride over to Horse Camp since there is limited space available for parking at Horse Camp. The Horse Camp parking is pretty rugged and the gravel road is a little steep. Please carpool if you have to park at Horse Camp. Priority is given to equestrians with trailers, families with young children and carpooling. CA State Park day use fees are in effect at Horse Camp.

Resources for Equestrian, Biker interaction

Equestrians And Cyclists: Can We Get Along?

Bikes and Horses: A Case for Sharing

Thanks and see you at Carrot Fest!

Late Sea Otter report

Yea I know the Otter was last week but I've been busy... First of all, here are the pix.

I had a fun filled Sea Otter this year. Camping, schmoozing, working the booth and volunteering for the dual slalom course on Thursday and Friday (but not Saturday!). Surprisingly, this is the first year in 8 that I have not raced or even entertained the idea of racing. I guess those days are over for now.

The booth was a lot of fun and was a great vehicle to build awareness about MBoSC/MORCA/ROMP/VO-cal and issues in Santa Cruz County. We had a great view of the DS course and the kids in the air. It was a great place to call home base.

During the heavy rains, a river was running through the booth and we were pinned down under the EZ-up without beer. Fortunately, someone bartered a big Fox raincoat (a popular item during the rain) for some beer that I would retrieve. I ducted taped the bottom of the coat to construct a makeshift set of chaps. Not only was I waterproof but I looked like something that rode out of a German industrial fetish movie. I rode my bike and bob trailer up to camp in comfort to get beer for everyone!

The beer was a huge hit (thanks, Charlie!). I shared it with volunteers, TWW campers, fellow advocates, bike industry types and people interested in our booth. Beer wise, the Dirt Rag and IMBA booths were well taken care of. Local frame builder Craig Calfee of Calfee Design was in the booth beside IMBA and I set him up some of Seabright's Oatmeal Stout. We had a conversation about local issues and he gave me some great contacts. His carbon bikes are gorgeous works of art and he was showing his new bamboo and hemp hard tail mountain bike. What a novel idea! If you get lost in the woods then you can eat and smoke your frame until you get rescued.

Thanks to Peter and the MORCA folks. You supplied the EZ-up, table, table cloth and chairs and most of the personnel. We only brought the beer - the fuel of mountain bike advocacy. A big thanks to Charlie Meehan of Seabright Brewery for all the great beer. There are a lot more riders in Northern California who are aware Blur, Oatmeal Stout and the ubiquitous "Kenny". I'd also like to thank Daryl and Rich for doing booth duty and all of the Dual Slalom volunteers. Thanks to all for helping out.

So many good memories. The IMBA summit, kids in the air, long legged chix, late night scotch, corrupting young minds with South Park on the video iPod, Buell's fire dance, meeting and getting to know old and new friends at camp Wrong Way and the summit...

Whew, I'm glad it's over. I can't wait until next year...

Sand Hill Bluff/Coast Dairies celebration

Yesterday, I went to a celebration for the conveyance of Sand Hill Bluff and the coastal side of the Coast Dairies properties to California State Parks.

As a father and environmentalist, we are very fortunate that Sand Hill Bluff and Coast Dairies is now part of public land. This represents an additional 13 miles of protected coastline for future generations.

I'd like to thank all the land managers, politicians and the public who worked so hard to make this happen. I really appreciate the hard work that you do to give the public great places to enjoy treasured outdoor experiences.

Pictures and commentary here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lick.the.toad/SandHillBluff

Monterey Bay Area Advocacy Booth at the Sea Otter

Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (MBOSC)and Monterey Off Road Cycling Association (MORCA) will be sharing a booth at the Sea Otter this year.

We would love to invite you to visit our booth and hang out during the Expo. Our booth is #106 near the Schoolyard dot on the Expo map.

This location is really sweet. The view from the booth is perfect for watching the dual slalom, flow show, jump contest, the main stage and race finishes.

Come out meet people in MBOSC and MORCA and learn about our organizations, the events and new riding opportunities that we have been working on.

Even better, come out and volunteer at the Sea Otter. We need volunteer course marshals for the dual slalom and the cross country races. We would also like people to help staff the booth. Contact me if you are interested in volunteering and I'll put you in touch with the right people.

To sweeten the pot, Charlie Meehan from Seabright Brewery has graciously offered a few cases of delectable Seabright beer that we will make available to volunteers on Saturday at our booth (thanks Charlie!). Come volunteer and experience the delectable flavors of Seabright's well crafted beers. Beer and bikes! What fun!

See you at the Otter!

Announcing: Santa Cruz Carrot Fest 2007 Saturday May 5th

The Santa Cruz County Horseman's Association (SCCHA) and Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (MBOSC) will be hosting Carrot Fest 2007 on Saturday May 5th at Horse Camp in Wilder Ranch State Park near Dimeo Lane.

The goal of Carrot Fest is to create safer shared use trails by training horses to be comfortable with the presence of bikes and educating bikers to the needs of equestrians on the trails. In addition, it brings both user groups together in a fun environment to get to know each other and reinforce that we share the common goal of enjoying the open space.

Refreshments will be served. Kids are welcome. Other details will follow and will be posted on http://www.mbosc.org or watch this blog:

This is a write up and some pictures from last years event.

This is a great event to foster some positive good will between user groups. Please contact me (president @ mbosc.org) or Sebastien Praly (openair @ praly.com) if you wish to participate or help organize the event.

Meat the Beetles

Chris Spohrer - an Ecologist for the SC district of State Parks - contacted me the other day to let me know about the annual migration of the Ohlone Tiger Beetles.

In Graywhale Ranch at this time of year there is an emergence of federally endangered Ohlone Tiger Beetles (OTB) along a section of the Chinquapin Trail. In order for State Parks to meet their natural resource protection mandate and provide for recreation within the park the resource staff installs a cable-guided trail detour - which takes visitors 10 feet away and parallel to the road - to protect the beetles and allow for passage of bikes, pedestrians and horses. The use of this detour actually enhances and expands suitable habitat for the OTB.

The fencing has been in effect for six years and State Parks annual surveys show that the population is healthy and increasing. Unfortunately, approximately 40% of the cable fencing was vandalized in early February. Hopefully, by letting you know that this program has been working to increase the OTB population, park visitors will respect and honor this State Parks commitment to comply with federal endangered species mandates.

We would like to thank those visitors who honor and accepting this seasonal temporary detour.

Scoping the UCSC Moore Creek Project

For years an ad-hoc trail called "Star Wars" has run through the upper Moore Creek on the University of California Santa Cruz campus (UCSC). The Director of the Campus Natural Reserve (CNR) and the Co-Director of Transportation and Planning Services (TAPS) has expressed a desire to work with the trail building community to construct a legitimate recreational/interpretive trail through the upper Moore Creek in a sustainable way.

An undergraduate student thesis, "Trail Alternatives through Upper Moore Creek in the UCSC Campus Natural Reserve" (link pending) 3/27/2006 by Iris J. DeSerio may be used as the starting point for the project. This thesis identifies 12 projects along the Moore Creek and would be a good basis for estimating the level of effort. Members of MBOSC did an initial walk along the project route and we agree with most of the recommended projects. There are some concepts that we disagree with and we will be documenting them sometime soon.

The trail project may not require more CEQA effort other than a mitigated negative declaration since the "no project" alternative is so bad. However, the UCSC officials are qualified to do the environmental work if they determine that it needs to be done.

One constraint for the project is that it would have to work within the UCSC storm water and Drainage Master Plan (See Table 8, Kresge Tributary projects 74 - 82. pdf page 153 Fig 12. pdf page 146 has a map which corresponds to the table). The trail projects in Moore Creek would have to be co-ordinated with this project. We had a discussion with the Project Manager and she is willing to work with us to ensure that both projects are complementary. The Moore Creek section of the storm drain project is slated to be part of Phase II - which could commence in 2008. The storm drain project consultants are planning to walk the creek sometime this spring in order to come up with some project concepts.

One of the recommendations of the student thesis is the extensive use of pavers. Ideally, MBOSC would like to have a sustainable trail which doesn't require pavers. We also think that the trail should be a bench cut trail located at least 8 feet above the creek bottom. I'm sure we will get some flack about sanitizing the trail from the bike community but the alternatives are much worse. There is a very strong desire from UCSC to do something about environmental damage on Star Wars. If we are not involved then the check dams and the gravel beds from the Storm Drain project will make the trail mostly un-ridable.

Our goals would be to deliver a sustainable trail that is fun to ride. This could be an excellent demonstration of the beginning of a productive relationship between mountain biking community and UCSC. Without it, we will remain the pariahs and scape goats of all environmental problems on the upper campus whether or not the damage is a result of mountain biking.

We anticipate that this project will start sometime in the Spring/Summer 2008 - which will hopefully coincide with the storm drain project. We would love the support of the mountain biking and trail building community to help us out when we start this project.

Volunteer Course Marshals Needed for Dual Slalom at 2007 Sea Otter Classic

Hello Race Fans!

Once again, the Sea Otter folks are looking for course marshals for races to be held April 12-14. Team Wrong Way and MBOSC has again agreed to organize volunteers for the Dual Slalom, and possibly other events depending on how many of you donate your time. The DS schedule is:

• Thurs, Apr 12: 8am-3pm
• Fri, Apr 13: 7:30am-Noon
• Sat, Apr 14: 8:30am-4pm

The first priority is to fill the Dual Slalom roles. Half-day requests (morning/afternoon) will be accommodated, if possible, with the morning shift getting the food bag.

We can also supply volunteers for the Downhill event: Fri, 7:30am-6pm

As well as the all-new Super D event: Thurs, 8am-4pm

Volunteers receive an event t-shirt, lunch (higher quality promised this year), festival pass for the entire weekend, and the warm fuzzy feeling that you are contributing to an exciting and important event on the domestic and international racing calendars. Volunteers do NOT
receive a free race entry this year, sorry.

If you are interested in volunteering this year, please respond and include the days/times you can commit, shirt size, and sandwich preference (turkey/ham/roast-beef/veggie). If you are flexible with events and/or times, please indicate that as well. I'll send updates to you every so often to let you know what I have you down for, and to relay more details as they become known to me.

The SOC has added more events this year, and spread-out amateur events a little. Check out their web site www.seaotterclassic.com for details, but I know they have added SuperD, BMX, and Adventure racing. The village area has also been reorganized to offer a better experience for everyone. Seems like they're really trying to make the event interesting and fun for more people.

Hope to see you all out there!

Best Regards,

Rich Henthorn
rhen_tww@yahoo.com

Proposed BMX Style Bike Park in Santa Cruz

Jesse Nickell, Barry Swenson Builder VP & coach of the Harbor High School Mt. Bike Team, is leading the charge to get a temporary BMX/Stunt bike park established off Laurel Street Extension (next to the River Levee, behind Wheel Works and next to the Laurel Street bridge). The stunt ramps would be recycled from the current skate park at the fun spot near the wharf. The skate park is moving to a permanent location along the other side of the San Lorenzo River where the tennis courts used to be.

The city would provide the land which is currently used for limited parking and the park could be up & running as early as this spring. The City’s Downtown Commission approved the plan and now the City’s Parks and Rec Commission must give it their blessing.

The new Santa Cruz BMX Bike Park needs your help. Here is how you can help.

1. Attend the Monday, February 5th, 4pm City Parks and Rec Commission meeting at the City Council Chambers, 809 Center Street, Santa Cruz. Let them know you want this park! If you cannot attend send an email in support to lcasellini@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us
2. Help pay for the expenses of getting this Bike Park up and running. This is a great project to sponsor. More places to ride will lead to more kids buying bikes.

Please pass this onto a stunt riding friend.

Image from Chris at Brickhouse Bikes

UPDATE: February 8, 2007.

According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel it appears that the City Council has agreed to move forward on this proposal. It appears that Berri from the Bicycle Trip is going to make a large donation to this project.

Thank you very much for attending the meeting or sending in your comments of support.

Another stolen bike in Santa Cruz

This happens far too often in our small town.

Jun's bike was stolen Thursday December 14th at around 8 pm at Longs Drugs on Mission St during a 15 minute errand.

This really, really sucks. Everyone who knows Jun knows that he is a solid and generous guy. He regularly supports and volunteers for many bike related events in the community. He is an avid bike commuter and this bike was his primary means of transportation. In fact, he hasn't driven his car since last June.

Here are the specs:

Stolen bike! - 700c wheels w/ disc brakes on green Buzz frame with drop bars and ultegra STI.

• 19" Green "Buzz" frame (Novara, but you can hardly see that with the "One Less Car" and "Velonerds" stickers on the downtubes and "Big Brother is Watching You" George W portrait sticker for a headbadge (BB serial number = F-44/0203/0116)
• 700c Alex rims laced to Formula hubs with all black spokes and
• Avid mechanical disc brakes
• Rockshox seatpost and SDG saddle
• Salsa "short and shallow" drop bars with Ultegra STI levers and black wrap tape
• XTR rear deraileur
• TruVativ Elita cranks (48/36) with Shimano 636 SPD/platform pedals

Report: UCSC Bike Plan Public Meeting

Last Friday I attended the public meeting which reviewed the UCSC bike plan. This meeting was attended by local bike transportation advocates, student commuters, mountain bikers and representatives from transportation planning of the City of Santa Cruz.

A revised map of the bike plan was made available which included a dotted line that represented the Moore Creek trail (a.k.a "Star Wars"). This was a hopeful sign.

Some points as it relates to mountain biking

• This is one of the only bike plans in the UC system that addresses off-road trails.
• The recreational off-road trails portion of the plan generated a lot of very passionate written comments. Most of them were pro-mountain biking.
  
• There was no opposition to the off-road aspect of the bike plan at the meeting. I was expecting opposition but it never materialized.
• The Moore Creek trail may become the first legitimate trail in the preserve. The director of the Campus Natural Reserve, Maggie Fusari, commissioned a student to do her thesis on a re-route and I am currently in discussions on working on the logistics and funding for the project.
• Larry Pagler (transportation planning at UCSC ) suggested that the existing Chinquapin fire road could be converted to become a recreational trail. If so then we could probably use some of the road decommissioning and narrowing techniques that were employed at Annadale State Park to create a better recreational trail experience.
• This draft plan is pretty close to being finalized. This means that it is highly unlikely that recreational off-road trails will be pulled out of the document. This is the best news!

Some points as it relates to bike commuting

• It's clear that there aren't enough ways to get into UCSC from the City by bicycle. Bay and High Streets are both quite dangerous and intimidating to novice bike commuters. There was some discussion of propose bike access to Pogonip to open up an eastern transportation corridor into the upper campus from Harvey West Park.
• A suggestion was made to close McLaughlin Drive to private cars (service vehicles and buses would still be allowed) as a way to increase safety and circulation of pedestrians and bikes throughout the central core of the campus. This suggestion was very well received.

Next steps

• They are still accepting feedback on the plan until December 18, 2006.
• There will probably be small revision to the plan which will be posted on the web
• The goal for completion and acceptance of the final bike plan is July 2007.

The meeting was very productive and satisfying. After the meeting, a bunch of us went for a nice ride around campus. It was a beautiful and clear evening and we stopped on Chinquapin fire road in the large meadow near twin gates and admired the stars.

It looks like legal recreational trails is going to be a possibility at UCSC. Furthermore, we are starting the planning process to create a legitimate trail project up on UCSC. This trail project can be done independently of the acceptance of the bike plan.

Thank you very much for sending in your written comments to support recreational trails in the plan. They really helped. I hope we can count on the mountain biking community to help us build the trail network.

FOX RELEASES LATEST "FREE THE TRAIL" T-SHIRT

Fox Racing Shox has been an excellent supporter of MBOSC. Their first "Free The Trail" campaign directly benefited MBOSC during the Nisene Marks lawsuit. We have also been working with IMBA California to help us open more legal single track in our local State Parks. Please support this program by buying a T-shirt. Please support IMBA California by becoming an IMBA member.

You can buy the new Free the Trail T-shirt at http://www.myfoxracingshox.com/fox_shirts.htm


Watsonville, CA – November 9, 2006 – FOX Racing Shox is proud to release their latest Free The Trail T-shirt. All proceeds from the sale of Free The Trail T-shirts will go to support the IMBA California office. "IMBA CA is turning heads and getting trails built and keeping others open," said IMBA's California Director Tom Ward. "But don't be fooled - there are many anti-bike activists working to kick us off or block new trails. FOX Racing Shox is helping IMBA CA raise awareness and resources to fight for our access."

FOX Racing Shox commissioned renowned Bay Area artist Steve Smith to illustrate the newest T-shirt. The artwork features an idyllic mountain bike scene, behind bars and locked up, hence Free The Trail. "We had such great fundraising success with the first Free The Trail T-shirt, we knew we had to keep Free The Trail alive and continue its success," stated Elayna Caldwell, Marketing Manager at FOX. "Whether you live in California, go on vacation here or hate it because it is full of fruits and nuts, the fact is that there are more mountain bikers in California than anywhere else and what happens here is generally a bellwether for actions across the nation, and that is why FOX supports advocacy, because we like to ride fun, legal trails," stated Caldwell.

You can get a new Free The Trail T-shirt of your own and help support California's IMBA office, just go to www.foxracingshox.com and go to the online store. Shirts are $15.00 and both men's and women's versions are available, they are American Apparel shirts, made in the USA of 100% cotton. Get one for yourself and help support Mountain Biking in the great state of California.

Since 1974 FOX Racing Shox has designed and manufactured the finest suspension products for Motorcycles, Mountain Bikes, ATV\'s and Snowmobiles. World Headquarters are in Santa Cruz County, CA with its Off-Road Division in Santee, CA. FOX Racing Shox distributes its products in more than 40 countries.

UCSC Bike Plan Draft Review November 17th

There will be a public review of the UCSC bike plan next Friday November 17th from 4:30-6 pm. Details are at the end of this post.

This is a great plan since UCSC has made provisions for LEGAL off road single track trails in Section 2.

If you haven't done so already, please make comments on the plan to UCSCbikeplan@ppc.ucsc.edu.

Some talking points:

• Express your support for the provision of recreational off-road bicycling in the draft.
• Express you willingness to help with trail design, construction and maintenance of the trails.
• Express your willingness to serve on the Campus Bicycle Committee (CBC) to oversee bicycling issues.

This recreational trails part of the plan is a great concession to the mountain biking community. I hope we can work together to make it work.

For more details please look at the Bike Plan page

UC Santa Cruz 2006 Draft Bike Plan

A public meeting to review the Draft 2006 Bike Plan (PDF) for the University of California, Santa Cruz will be held on Friday, November 17, 2006, in Bay Tree Conference Room C, from 4:30-6:00 p.m. Larry Pageler, Co-Director of Transportation and Parking Services, will start the presentation at 5:00 p.m.

This meeting is an opportunity for the campus community to comment on the Draft 2006 UCSC Bike Plan. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to learn about and comment on the University's framework to improve and encourage bicycle use on and around the campus. The general public is also welcome. An updated project list (although not yet available on the web) will be available at the meeting.

Comments on the Draft 2006 Bike Plan are welcome until 5:00 p.m., December 18, 2006. Send comments to: UCSCbikeplan@ppc.ucsc.edu

Questions should be directed to Larry Pageler (pageler@ucsc.edu), Co-Director of TAPS, or Cathy Crowe (cacrowe@ucsc.edu), Transportation Planner at TAPS.

Yukon study about the Market Potential for MTB Tourism

I've been pretty excited about the potential for developing mtb tourism for Santa Cruz county. I believe that tourism is the best framework in order to open more trails and create more volunteer participation in advocacy and trail work. I believe that mountain bike tourism has the potential to develop more economic activity for the local bike industry and the tourism economy of Santa Cruz.

The other day I did a Google search to find information on the demographics of people who would engage in mountain bike tourism. I hit a gold mine when I found this document from the Yukon Tourism and Culture resource center:

Exploring the Market Potential for Yukon Mountain Bike Tourism (PDF 51 pages, 5.05MB)

(NOTE: printing this document pegged my printer at work for about 45 minutes due to the white on black section boxes)

This is a recent document (March 2005) and it's quite comprehensive. Even if you aren't interested in developing a tourist destination, this is a good overview of the demographics of mountain bikers.

Part 1 discusses the history and global demographics of mountain biking. Part 2 talks about the economic impact of various mountain bike related events. Part 3 has case studies of existing mtb destinations and some lesson learned for aspiring destinations. Part 4 and 5 discusses the assets of the Yukon Territories and outlines a strategy for how they can capitalize on the mountain bike tourism market.

When you look at the geographic and logistical challenges facing the Yukon to implement this plan, it seem much easier for Santa Cruz to develop and market itself as a mountain bike destination.

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day was a huge success!

The second annual "Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day" at Wilder Ranch State Park was a great success. We couldn't have had a better day. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold and no wind.

We had 25 kids participate ranging in age from 3 - 13 years old riding all types of set ups including Burley trailers, front seats, rear seats, training wheels and a wide variety of kids bikes.

Thanks to California State Parks including Rangers Joseph Connors and Brett Reid for the logistical support and escort. Thanks to interpreter Carolyn Schimandle for arranging the activities and blacksmith. Also, thanks to Piet Canin of Bike2Work/SCBIC, Dave Gittelman of Another Bike Shop and Berri Michel of the Bicycle Trip for donating raffle items and stickers. Thanks to IMBA/Clif Bar for the yummy donation of Z-bars. The kids loved them!

Thanks to volunteers Daryl Breuninger, Eve Davidson, Rich Henthorn, Sebastien Praly and Geoff Smith for donating your time. I really appreciate all your help on putting on this event.

Finally, thanks to all the participants and volunteers for giving the kids a very positive outdoor experience. We are genuinely feel blessed that we live in an area that has an abundance of great parks. With childhood obesity on the rise, an event like this can introduce our kids to a healthy outdoor activity like mountain biking. Mountain biking is a great activity which builds confidence, fitness and an appreciation for the wonderful parks that we have in this area.

IMBA CA: California State Park Trail Conversion Project

I'm in the process of nominating some trails for the California Trail Conversion campaign and I can't find any reference to this program on the IMBA website. The only reference to the campaign I can find is from an IMBA message sent back in May. Since I don't want to rut around for the message everytime I make a reference to it, I'm transcribing it here for convenience.

Dear IMBA CA Club Leader,

IMBA California, in cooperation with the Northern California Mountain Bike Association (NorCAMBA), IMBA Reps and mountain bike clubs throughout California, has launched a project to convert select state park trails to multi-use status. Please join our campaign.

California State Parks has embraced the need for multi-use trails (access for hikers, bicyclists, and equestrians). However, it's up to the biking community to provide the catalyst for converting existing trails to multi-use.

Details on the project can be found below. IMBA California will help train your club on the procedures that can open trails to bicycles. Please feel free to write or call me if you have further questions.

Sincerely,

Tom Ward
IMBA California Policy Advisor

---

California State Park Trail Conversion Project

Project Goal: Increase trail miles for mountain bikers in California through the efficient conversion of selected California State Park trails from limited use to multi-use.

Background: In December 2005, California State Parks released a new trail policy that provides a process for the public to request trail use conversions in state park units. The policy encourages the establishment of multi-use trails as an effective and efficient way of meeting the diverse trail needs of the recreating public. Additionally, California State Parks encourages multi-use trails in its California Recreational Trails Plan, a policy guide for land mangers throughout the state.

Action Needed: There are numerous trails in state parks that are currently signed for equestrian and/or hikers only. Many of these trails are suitable for conversion to multi-use. Mountain bike clubs need to identify specific trails that they think should be converted.

Send your list of trails to Tom Ward, IMBA California Policy Advisor.

IMBA California will create and prioritize a master list, and provide follow-up consultation and guidance to bike club leaders on the process to follow for trail conversion.

When identifying trails, please provide the following information:

1. State park unit name.
2. Trail name.
3. Trail length.
4. Current trail users.
5. Describe the physical characteristics of the trail.
6. Describe the volume and frequency of trail use.
7. Describe any unauthorized bike use.
8. Does the unit have a general plan in progress?
9. Describe past attempts, if any, to convert the trail to multi-use.
10. Describe known opposition to converting the trail to multi-use?
11. Are you or the bike club able to commit significant time and effort to
the trail conversion process?

If you can't answer all the questions, IMBA CA can steer you in the right direction to research more about possible trail openings.

Thanks for your cooperation and participation in this project. With the new climate in California State Parks, there's a very real possibility that riding opportunities for mountain bikers can be increased significantly in the near future.

Thanks for joining our campaign!

2006 Draft UCSC Bike Plan Released

The 2006 UCSC draft bike plan has been released:

http://www2.ucsc.edu/taps/pages/bike_plan.html

A review of the plan shows that UC has made provisions for LEGAL off road single track trails in their plan.

Section 2 recognizes the recreational opportunities for students and the community by allowing single track trails. Maintaining an off-road network of trails is going to require involvement from the mountain biking community in the design and maintenance of environmentally sustainable trails.

Section 4.3 discusses a bicycle licensing program as the foundation for education, outreach and enforcement. I would love to get clarity on the position of off road bikes and the licensing program.

In section 5, the plan calls for the formation of a Campus Bicycle Committee (CBC) to address the future adaptation of the plan. There are staff, student and community positions available on this committee and I hope that we can have the interests of mountain biking represented.

The bike plan is accepting written comments to UCSCbikeplan@ppc.ucsc.edu I urge you all to write to support the plan to allow mountain biking at UC. They will be accepting comments until the end of June.

Last year representatives from MBOSC had a serries of meetings with UC officials and land managers where we presented a proposal for legitimizing the UC trail network. I'm happy to say that the draft proposal incorporates many of the ideas in the proposal.

This plan is great news for mountain biking in Santa Cruz. I hope that we can count on the mountain biking community to help us out in the design, maintenance and monitoring of a future legal trail system at UCSC.

Carrot Fest 2006 was a success!

18 mountain bikers and about 25 equestrians participated in Carrot Fest on Saturday. It was a casual event and it was a great opportunity to learn about the other user group in a social setting.

We were high up on the Horse Camp marine terrace with great views of the ocean and the back country. The sunshine was breaking up the morning fog and there was no wind.

After a registering and refreshments, Rebeckah from SCCHA and Sebastien from MBOSC discussed the basics of horse-bike interaction on the trails. That discussion gave way to an open forum of experiences with the other user group.

Some new things that I have learned about horses and equestrians:

• Horses can't see directly in front or behind them.
  
• A horse is a prey animal who will run if threatened.
• Carrots are like candy to horses (which is why they love them so much). It's not part of their regular diet and too much carrots will make them sick.
• Equestrians can feel the tension when horses get nervous from bikers. This tension can make the equestrians feel threatened and may cause them to shout at these bikers - which may create an atmosphere of hostility.

As a mountain biker, these are the things I can do on the trail when encountering equestrians and horses:

• Talk and indicate that you are a "human" when approaching horses. Expecially from behind. Bikes are quiet and horses have sensitive hearing. They may think that cyclists are predators.
• Communicate with the equestrian about passing the horse. Some horses are comfortable with bikes and will allow you to ride by. Others may wish that the horse or the bike should come to a complete stop when passing.
• Ride slow when passing a horse and give them plenty of room.
  

I also appreciated that equestrians are not fully in control of their horses. While horses are obedient and have been trained, it still has a mind of it's own and still subjected to physiological constraints like hunger and fear. An equestrians control of where they want to go must be negotiated with the horse. For example, when an equestrian wants to stop, they must communicate this desire to their horse then the horse will stop. There may be a bit of a lag between the desire to stop by the equestrian and when the horse will actually stop. This is different from bikers because there is no other animal brain to negotiate with when controlling the bike. I acknowledge that not all bikers are in control of their bikes and some bikers have primitive brains.

This was a great way to build understanding between equestrians and mountain bikers. Many of the equestrians I talked with have had positive encounters with mountain bikers on the trail. We are blessed in Santa Cruz county to have such a great relationship with the other user group. Both user groups have a lot of common ground and goals and we can work together to accomplish these goals.

We thank all participants for coming to Carrot Fest for showing the initiative to learn about the other user group. I especially like to thank Sebastien Praley from MBOSC and Rebeckah Crill from SCCHA for representing the co-operation between mountain bikers and equestrians in putting this event together. I also like to thank Supervising Ranger Joe Conners from California State Parks for helping with getting the location prepared for the event.

More Carrot Fest details

There isn't a rigid structure to the event. The point is to get two trail user groups together in a social context and build understanding. We will be doing a 1-2 hour clinic to help horses get comfortable with mountain bikes. Afterwards groups of equestrians and bikers will ride in opposite directions of a loop to simulate an encounter with the other group to practice what we learned.

This is a really positive event that helps to maintain the great relationship that exists between equestrians and mountain bikers in Santa Cruz county. So come out and get to know our 4 legged friends!

Coffee, carrot cake and other snacks will be provided.

Meeting time

9 am at Horse Camp, Wilder Ranch State Park, Santa Cruz.

or

8:15 am at the washrooms the Wilder Ranch Parking lot. We will ride to Horse Camp along the Ohlone Bluff trail or along Wilder Ridge loop if we have a strong group.

Directions to Horse Camp

Horse Camp is located at the "star" at the bottom of the map:
http://www.mbosc.org/2006/05/carrot_fest/carrot_fest_map.jpg

If driving, north on Hwy 1 to turn right on Dimeo Lane (towards the SC Dump) and then make an immediate right on the dirt road.

If riding, I will lead an easy ride departing from the Wilder Ranch Parking lot departing at 8:30 along the Ohlone Bluff trail and across Hwy 1 to Horse Camp.

You can ride in the Wilder back country along Wilder Ridge Loop trail, take a left at the fork (lower Wilder Ridge a.k.a. Dairyman Trail) before Zane Gray Trail. Follow this trail until you almost get to the fence line and you'll see a gate on your left. This is the Horseman's
trail and follow it through 2 gates to Horse Camp.

We encourage mountain bikers to ride over to Horse Camp since there is limited space available for parking. The Horse Camp parking is rugged and the gravel road up there is a little steep. Please carpool if you have to park at Horse Camp. Priority is given to equestrians with trailers, families with young children and carpooling.

CA State Park day use fees are in effect at Horse Camp and the Wilder Ranch parking lot.

Thanks and see you at Carrot Fest!

Announcing Carrot Fest 2006! Saturday May 13th 9 am

Carrot Fest is an event co-sponsored by the Santa Cruz County Horseman's Association (SCCHA) and Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (MBOSC) that helps to desensitize horses to mountain bikes and increase communication and understanding between mountain bikers and equestrians. This is a really positive event that helps to maintain the wonderful relationship that exists between equestrians and mountain bikers in Santa Cruz county. If you have been following the events from Woodside, CA then you should appreciate the great relationship we have with the equestrian community here. So come out and get to know our 4 legged friends!

The core organizing group has done a lot of legwork in setting up the permit, getting the lawn mowed, insurance and all the other logistical support but we could really use some help on the day of the event. We would love to have an event photographer and some more leaders who have done Carrot Fest in the past (alas, the previous Carrot Fests were before my time). Please contact me or Sebastien if you want to help out.

We need some mountain bikers to participate! Help make horses feel comfortable by riding around them and giving them carrots. There will be a clinic portion of the event in which the equestrians and bikers will be milling around and interacting at horse camp. After the clinic, groups of equestrians and bikers will ride in opposite directions along Wilder Ridge loop and meet up and practice the rules of interaction.

Coffee and carrot cake will be provided. Perhaps other snacks and schwag may be provided. TBD.

Just the facts

Time and Location : 9 am @ Horse Camp near Dimeo Lane at Wilder Ranch State Park, Santa Cruz, California.

We may have a group ride starting at 8:15 am at the usual Wilder meeting place and riding over to Horse Camp along Wilder Ridge trail.

Location: Dimeo lane is the street that leads to the SC dump. Horse camp is the dirt road which is an immediate right when you get onto Dimeo lane.

We encourage mountain bikers to ride over to Horse Camp but there is limited space available for parking at Horse Camp. The Horse Camp parking is pretty rugged and the gravel road up there is a little steep. Please carpool if you have to park at Horse Camp. Priority is given to equestrians with trailers, families with young children and carpooling. CA State Park day use fees are in effect at Horse Camp.

Resources for Equestrian, Biker interaction

Equestrians And Cyclists: Can We Get Along?

Bikes and Horses: A Case for Sharing

Thanks and see you at Carrot Fest!

Bay Area route to SDF is closed

On the evening of Sunday April 23th another slide closed Highland Way blocking the northern access to Soquel Demonstration Forest (SDF). If you are coming from the Bay Area you cannot reach SDF via Summit Rd. and Highland Way.

The situation does not look good. Today, there was a sign posted at the beginning of Eureka Canyon Road, in Corralitos, stating that the road was closed 10 miles ahead. On Monday, when I investigated the slide the road crews seemed hopeful of opening at least one lane. I was a bit surprised to see the sign, and I was wondering if they were just trying to discourage through traffic. I decided to check it out for myself Wednesday evening, and I was very disappointed in what I saw. The slide is much worse. It is bigger and deeper than what I saw on Monday. It is very unstable. I only stuck around to look at it for a short time as I heard branches crackling, and saw mud and boulders 2 foot in diameter flowing down the hillside. The instinct of self preservation took over and I bolted. The road bed appears intact, so lets hope things dry out quickly and the road crews are able to clean it up. Do not try and "hike a bike" this slide! It needs lots of time to dry out before even considering it.

You can access Demo from Corralitos by going up Eureka Canyon Road or by riding up through Nisene Marks in Aptos. You must use an alternate route by going through Corralitos via Eureka Canyon Rd. Or you can park at Nisene Marks State Forest in Aptos and ride up the Aptos Creek Fire road to the top of the Ridge trail. That's about a 13 mile climb.

Meanwhile, don't be a stranger to the Demo. It will only add about 45 minutes to an hour to get there from the Bay Area by going through Corralitos. Since you may not becoming as often, look at it as an incentive to do a loop or two or more than you usual.

I hope to see you at Demo soon!

Daryl B

Please give the trails a break

Santa Cruz County has just weathered one of the wettest month's of March on record, some 25 days of rain. And April hasn't started any drier. Our mountain bike trails are saturated. The dirt is oozy, thick mud. Bicycling in these conditions is bad for the trails (causing erosion and wider trail footprint) and your bicycle. Please practice restraint and stay off the off road trails until we have at least 4 days of dry weather.

We'll have great riding for late spring and summer. For more information on sustainable mountain bicycle practices please see http://www.imba.com/about/trail_rules.html. For local mountain bike information check: http://mbosc.org/

A message from the Santa Cruz Bicycle Industry Coalition and Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz.

Soquel Forest is Waterlogged

Hi folks,

I just wanted to let you all know that Soquel Forest is thoroughly saturated and the trails are a slimy mess. They've gotten over 6 inches of rain in the last 5 days, and will probably get more this week. Please, give the trails a rest and don't ride Soquel Forest until things start to dry out.

It's also really slippery, and your skills may be a little, uh, rusty. CDF had to respond to an injured rider last week, and the roads are really not in the kind of shape you'd want to drive a truck or ambulance on them to cart you out.

Also, the slide on Highland way has been moving and could close the road at any time.

Sorry I don't have sunnier news about the conditions there.

Patty Ciesla
Stewards of Soquel Demonstration Forest

Call for volunteers: Wilder Ranch Path Clean up

Wilder Ranch Path Clean up Day
A Call for Volunteers!
Saturday, March 11, 2006 9am start
Meet at Shaffer Road & Wilder Path entrance

Help cut back overgrown vegetation that is narrowing the path and sweep the path clean of debris. Join the bike community in this first monthly clean up event hosted by the Santa Cruz Bicycle Industry Coalition.

Besides improving Wilder path you'll be provided with drinks, snacks, powerbars, and be eligible for prizes from Giro, FOX Racing Shox, and Santa Cruz Bicycles! Also support from Aptos Bike Trail, Another Bike Shop and Family Cycling Center as well as all the local Bicycle Industry Coalition members. Help improve a path which kids, families and individuals use for exercise and transportation to Wilder.

Clean up equipment will be provided but if you have some, bring work gloves (bike gloves will do). Contact Piet to sign up: piet@ecoact.org or 423-9569 ext. 127. Volunteers welcomed to show up without signing up.

Announcing Carrot Fest 2006

The Santa Cruz County Horsemen's Association and Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz will be hosting Carrot Fest 2006 on Saturday May 13th at Horse Camp in Wilder Ranch near Dimeo Lane.

The goal of Carrot Fest is to create safer shared use trails by training horses to be comfortable with the presence of bikes and educating bikers to the needs of equestrians on the trails. In addition, it brings both user groups together in a fun environment to get to know each other and reinforce that we share the common goal of enjoying the open space.

Refreshments will be served. Kids are welcome. Other details will follow and will be posted on http://www.mbosc.org.

Here are some pics from a previous Carrot Fest:

http://www.netsnapshot.com/pcw/b?KEY=5&ACCOUNT=16

Please contact Mark (president@mbosc.org) if you wish to participate or help organize Carrot Fest 2006.