Pioneer Trailwork @ Langs Crossing

BONCers have kindly offered to trim back the badly overgrown section of Pioneer Trail at Lang's Crossing. We could use a few more volunteers to make quick work of this section. My guess is that this is a bite sized project that can be done by noon. Than you can swim, bike or whatever near Grouse Ridge :-)

Sunday, August 5th
Meet at Flour Garden @ 8AM to carpool or meet at Lang's Xing @ 9AM (see below)
Bring gloves, long pants, long sleeved shirt and perhaps some insect repellent
If you have loppers or clippers, please bring them

Map of Lang's Xing:
http://tinyurl.com/2o3b5d

Help Create a Bike Park in Grass Valley!

As you may know, I have been advocating on behalf of a bike skills park in Grass Valley for several years now. This facility could include dirt jumps, teeter totters, a pump track and more. The Grass Valley Parks and Recreation Commission has generally been supportive, but they need to hear from you. We need to convey that there is significant community interest in this project. If enough of us speak up, I have no doubt that this facility will become a reality.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Please submitting a letter the Parks and Recreation Commission using the following sample letter as a template (see below). Also consider forwarding this email:

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Parks and Recreation Commission
City of Grass Valley
123 East Main St.
Grass Valley, CA 95945

Dear Commissioners:

This letter is intended to express my support for a bicycle skills facility in Grass Valley, preferably in Condon Park.

Such a facility would terrific recreational asset for the City. A bicycle skills park serves similar functions to a skatepark, as it enables both young and old riders the chance to use and improve their skills. Kids love to expand their abilities on dirt jumps and obstacles at these parks. Such a facility provides a vital opportunity for children to get away from the TV and go get some fresh air and exercise.

Such facilities have been successfully implemented elsewhere in Northern California on municipal land, including Pleasanton, San Jose and Folsom. With proper construction, appropriate layout and compliance with environmental standards , these examples have proven that liability and risk can be reasonably managed. It is possible to use supplemental volunteer labor to construct such a park for a very reasonable cost as compared to other public recreational assets.

Thank you for your consideration.

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Bicycle Master Plan Meeting Recap

Last night's public county Bike Master Plan meeting was cordial and in fact very productive. The plan is laudable (yes, I did just call it laudable) in many of its suggested improvements to PAVED cycling in Nevada County. Given that Caltans has allocated significant money for PAVED cycling and impressive local efforts to target this funding, riding bicycles on PAVED surfaces in Nevada County will hopefully see some dramatically improved conditions in future years.

I and many others at the meeting still fault the plan and county for not considering trails as part of this plan. Or perhaps we would feel better about this omission if Nevada County government had a better (any?) record of planning for and accommodating trails across the county. In any case, there is a glaring hole in planning for cycling in our rural area when bicycling on trails is not acknowledged in any formal plan.

But herein lies the silver lining: Mike Woodman of Nevada County Transportation Commission (NCTC) told me that the County has allocated some $85,000 in this years fiscal budget for creation of the Non-Motorized Transportation Plan. And here, BONCers, is our opportunity to improve trail riding and target funding for new and better trails. BONC needs to be on top of this process beginning *now*. We need to contact NCTC, supervisors, whomever to let them know that we expect follow through on a plan that adequately depicts trails in this county.

Thus is see the need for to action items from last night:

• A letter from BONC that endorses the bicycle plan with some changes, specifically that it be renamed something/anything other than "Bicycle Master Plan" and that it should formally recognize the importance of trails to Nevada County's cyclists.
• BONC heavily involves itself in planning for the Non-Motorized Transportation Plan. Let me know if you want to help.