Trails: Celebrations and Conditions

I took in some quality experiences on the trail the weekend that made me step back and recognize how lucky I am to live up here.

Today, I did a solo ride out of White Cloud campground (see map) where I started up Pioneer, rode past Skillman, then cut into Burlington Ridge to enjoy some fantastic singletrack conditions. The recent heavy rains have settle things down nicely up there and yesterday's equestrian Poker ride left little impact. The motos trails that are usually duffy for the rest of the summer are packed down, at least for now. The highlight of the ride was descending Hallelujah, which was (pardon the pun) a near religious experience. So head up there now and enjoy it before it becomes a dustbowl again until next winter.

Yesterday, I hooked up the the National Trails day BONC ride at Deadman's Flat (photos). As with last years event, this celebration is proof of how many people in our community love trails and want to build more of them. Sometimes, it is easy to lose perspective of this as you collaborate primarily with one kind of user group. But there are strength in numbers and we should leverage this community as much as possible.

Family Bike Fest - Nevada City - 6/20

NOTE: This event has been canceled.

There sure are a lot of great local events happening this summer and here is yet another one:

The Family Bike Fest on Saturday, June 20th is intended to promote friends and families on bikes, and to publicize what's happening in our community with biking, and biking stories from racers. It all happens out of Pioneer Park/Seaman's Lodge in Nevada City.

Program Schedule
2-3pm Registration, Bike Rodeo, Bike Safety Check
3-4pm 2 Bikes Rides to and from Pioneer Park (1 hr round trip, bring helmet and water bottle)
4-5pm Hydrate Hour, Start of Raffle and Silent Auction
5-6pm Dinner/Speaker Program
2-6pm Bike Swap Hours

Details
Ride Cost: $10 Adults, $5 riders ages12-18, Free for under 12 y.o.
Dinner/Speaker: $30 Adults, $15 ages 12-18 y.o., $5 under 12 y.o.
Raffle Tickets: $2 each, 3 for $5 (see grand prize below)
Bike safety check & rodeo FREE!
Bike Swap entrance FREE!

Speakers
Peggy Smith - reason how YBONC got started
Jason Moeschler - 3x National Team Member, 1997 Jr. Champ, 3x Downieville Pro Winner
Carole Carson - author of Fat2Fit, now a national challenge a arrp.org
Chris McGovern -Former Pro Cyclist for Jelly Belly Race Team, road, mountain and cyclocross racer
Greg Hermanson and Christine Weir - NUHS MTB Team

Other Information
Cost proceeds go to youth mentoring and school bike club programs.
VitaminWater supporting drinks for bike riders.
Safety Bike Checks by Tour of NC Bicycles, and REI of Roseville
View maps of proposed and completed bike lanes in Nevada County

Grand Prize is 2009 GIANT Anthmem Advanced, Full Suspension Frame, Size L ($1880 Retail)
(Each dinner purchase includes one raffle ticket for Grand Prize)

Winners must be present for raffle and silent auction.

Registration Deadline: June 15, 2009, 5pm

For ride/dinner/speaker, send email to: yboncfdn@gmail.com, request registration/waiver form in subject line.

For bike swap space, send email to: ncbikeswap at gmail dot com, request bike swap info in subject line.

Tahoe Trail Event - August 14 - 16

Register for this event!

Looking for some super fun Tahoe mountain biking this summer? BONC has just the event for you. Join us for a weekend of fun riding, camping, friendship, trail building and free beer on August 14 - 16!

Official dates are Friday 8/14th through Sunday 8/16th, with organized rides Friday night through Sunday. We'll have a range of ride levels and paces from very social to very challenging, along with gorgeous scenery and other recreation options.

On Saturday the 15th we'll build trail on the Donner Lake Rim Trail and ride later in the afternoon. We're also planning rides on the 13th & 14th for early arrivals - probably Armstrong Pass area with a Mr. Toads option on Thursday, and Mt. Rose/Flume/TRT area on Friday.

We'll be camping in the Tahoe State Recreation Area on Lake Tahoe; the campground has showers and is on Lake Tahoe in Tahoe City. It's not a wilderness experience – but on the other hand there are restaurants, shops, rafting/tubing on the Truckee River and swimming nearby - lots to do in addition to riding!

A suggested donation of $10 per person will cover our camping expenses. More details to come, so stay tuned. This event is in partnership with the Truckee Donner Land Trust, FATRAC, ROMP, MBOSC and other groups.

Not Too Late for Trail Plan Input

Some of you stopped by the Briar Patch last night to contribute your trail knowledge to the Western Nevada County Non-motorized Recreational Trails Master Plan (whew... that is a mouthful). I arrived later and it was great to see our collective annotations to these maps. I saw some existing trail routes I did not know about, which made the maps fascinating to review.

If you missed last night's session, you can still participate. According to the County:

Upcoming Public Workshop: The Planning Department will be hosting a public workshop on Monday June, 1 2009 in the Nevada County Board of Supervisors Chambers to initiate the 45 day comment period for the draft trails plan, map, and proposed mitigated negative declaration. The workshop will include a staff presentation and an opportunity to review large scale maps and provide comments. This meeting will mark the beginning of a week dedicated to National Trails Day event on June 6, 2009. There will be information related to this project available at the National Trails Day event.

Let's keep up our participation in this initiative to make sure that new local trails are built and existing trails are improved!

Your Trail Knowlege Needed

Imagine that by just drawing a trail on a map, that trail becomes sanctioned, legal and perhaps even funded. That would be sweet, eh?

This is the potential opportunity available to us. You can do your small part by stopping by the Briar Patch on Tuesday, May 19th at anytime between 5:30 - 7:30PM and spending *a few minutes* marking up a map of our area. Your contributions will be considered as the County finalizes the Western Nevada Master Trail Plan.

This plan will guide trail construction and planning into the future, so it is super important that we contribute our requests and knowledge. We are especially looking for the people that had input into the recreation master plan 10 or so years ago.

Again, this will just take a few minutes of your time and could make a HUGE difference down the road for us.

WHERE/WHEN

Brair Patch conference room
Just 5-10 minutes of your time
Anytime between 5:30 and 7:30PM
Tuesday, May 19, 2009

A big thanks to Hyland Fisher for leading this.

BONC Gala Ride for June - Dead Man's Flat and National Trails Day

Please join us for the monthly BONC ride and a celebration of National Trails Day on Saturday, June 6th @ 10AM.

This month's ride venue is the inimitable Deadman's Flat (just west of Grass Valley). We'll offer various ride options from advanced to beginner. As always, the beginner group will be a No-Rider-Left-Behind Ride. When we finish, we'll gather to enjoy some complimentary food prepared by BONC. Please bring a bike, helmet, water and mid-ride snacks.

After the ride, feel free to join us as we celebrate National Trails Day with the Nevada County Land Trust and other area groups. More details to come, but this fun event is open to everyone (riders and non-riders alike).

Meet at the Twin Cities Church parking lot @ 10AM to ride or at the noon at the same location for just the National Trails Day event. See you there!

National Trails Day - June 6th

Join us on Saturday June, 6th for a celebration of trails in our area. The Nevada County Land Trust is leading a celebration similar to last year's event. The general plan is:

10:00 am to Noon - Hiking/biking/riding/other activities at a variety of locations

12:30 – 1:30 - Gathering of groups to celebrate the day in the parking lot of Twin Cities Church on Ridge Road in Grass Valley

The event is open to everyone and will be very inspirational and fun. Participating groups will probably include BONC, City of Nevada City, County of Nevada County, Friends of Deer Creek, Gold Country Trails Council (morning ride only) and others. Stay tuned for more details!

Trail Optimization: South Yuba

It has become something of a tradition. Every spring, a bunch of volunteers combine efforts to clear the South Yuba trail of poison oak, downed trees, fallen boulders and the like. This year is no exception. Mike Haire, PJ Madigan, Dave Lawell, George Maier and others are in the process of clearing this trail for 2009.

If you see these folks around town, please thank them. The South Yuba is in a remote area and sees little maintenance from government agencies. Poison oak can be nightmarish in the canyon if it is not pared back and obstacles can block or damage the trail for months or years without the aid of these volunteers. Thanks!

State Parks: No Changes to Trail Plan

State Parks has responded to BONC's request to amend a trail plan and the answer is no.

As you may know, State Parks plans to implement changes to trails at Empire Mine. After attending public meetings and studying the plan, BONC found many of the proposed changes to be worthy of our support, but other parts of the plan to be worrisome, as certain trails were to be decommissioned. BONCers and others sent in many comments to address these concerns.

The initial response to our letters was disappointing in that State Parks offered to make no changes whatsoever to the plan. We followed and expressed our disappointment in a formal letter from BONC.

State Parks has finally responded and the news is not good. Again, they make no offers to amend any section of the plan. View the letter (2.4MB PDF).

South Yuba Ride - May 2nd

Please join us on the monthly BONC ride on Saturday, May 2th @ 10AM on the South Yuba Trail!

This is a special ride, as the Redding Mountain Bike Club will join us. We'll offer various ride options from *advanced to beginner*. The beginner group will be a No-Rider-Left-Behind ride. When we finish, we'll gather to enjoy some complimentary food prepared by BONC. My daughter is threatening to bake and sell some of her cookies, so bring some $ and your sweet tooth.

Please bring a bike, helmet, water and mid-ride snacks. If you want to join BONC, we'll have memberships available. See you there!

Meet near the South Yuba Campground (in the parking lot with the BLM toilets). Getting there:

From Nevada City, follow Highway 49 to North Bloomfield Road. At 7 miles, you'll cross the one lane bridge. At this point, it is approximately 1 1/2 miles on a dirt/gravel road to the campground. Note that cell phones do not work in this area. Map of the area (1MB, PDF):

BONC Now a 501c3

Today, BONC received notification from the IRS that our organization is a legitimate 501c3 non-profit! What does this mean? We can now apply for grants to fund trail projects. Also, donations to our group are tax deductible.

Credit for landing this non-profit status goes to Shannon Wright. The approval process can take up to a year, but Shannon completed an application that was so complete and professional that the federal government approved it almost immediately. Shannon worked very hard on this. Big kudos to her!

I look forward to applying for grants for various projects. If you have grant writing skills you care to donate to our causes, please let us know.

BONC: Party and a Movie

Bicyclists of Nevada County is hosting a fun get together for members, former members, friends, and, well, *all* Nevada County mountain bicycle riders on Saturday, May 9th at 6:30PM. You and your friends are invited!

First, we eat and drink at this potluck and BBQ dinner. BONC will provide a very brief update (less than 20 minutes) on recent activities and new initiatives. Share your ideas with BONC members and directors. When it gets dark enough to watch the movie outside, we will enjoy KLUNKERZ, an independent film that documents the early days of mountain biking in Marin County (buy this DVD). Please bring something to eat and / or drink, but more importantly, bring yourself and a friend. We'll have a grill going for food that needs it (and what food doesn't, really?).

Everyone is welcome. Donations to BONC are optional but gladly accepted. To learn more, join the BONC email list.

Hidden Falls Ride - 4/4

The Nevada County Land Trust is hosting a mountain bike ride on Saturday April 4th, at 9:00 am, at Hidden Falls Regional Park in Auburn, CA. This is a No Rider Left Behind ride, so all level of riders are welcome.

This ride benefits the Land Trust and is part of their "Treks Through Time Series" The ride is being led by BONC and FATRAC. There is a fee of $12.00 for Nevada County Land Trust Members and $17.00 for Non-members.

Where: Hidden Falls Regional Park, Auburn (directions)

Time: Meet 9:00 AM Registration/ Leave 9:30-until completion Estimate 2 + hours.

Bring:

Registration fee $12.00 or $17.00.
Mountain Bike in ridable condition
Helmet: NO HELMET = NO RIDE
Water: Bottle / Camel Back
Snack: Fruit / Sandwich / energy bar / etc

Planning for New and Better Trails

On Saturday, trail enthusiasts convened to begin providing input on the Western Nevada Country Recreation Trails Master Plan. This county initiative seeks to identify existing and potential trail corridors so that the county can require new trails as development occurs and area non-profits can target grant funding for said projects . The plan should win approval this year, perhaps even by June, which is lightening fast by government standards.

It disappointed me to see so few mountain bikers at the crucial meeting, but I am grateful to those who did attend. We have an opportunity to advocate for multi-use trails and it is important we speak out in favor of bicycle access; there are those in Nevada County who would use plans like this to restrict such access. Sunday's participants were polled on such issues and other important questions about what kind of trails we want.

Please consider attending future sessions of this planning process if you care about what trails you can and can't ride in the future. This is important, thanks.

South Yuba Video

Gala Bike Ride - March 7th

It's back! Please join BONC on the monthly BONC ride on Saturday, March 7th @ 10AM from Penn Gate at Empire Mine State Historic Park!

This will be a No-Rider-Left-Behind ride, which means that although faster riders are welcome, we will host the ride from the back of the pack. We'll explore some lesser known trails in the Mine and nearby Osborne Hill. When we finish, we'll gather at Penn Gate to enjoy some complimentary food prepared by BONC five star chefs*.

Please bring a bike, helmet, water and a mid ride snack. If you want to join BONC, we'll have memberships available. See you there!

*As rated by the BONC Elite Dining Guide

Trails Public Workshop, 2/28

Nevada County has scheduled a public workshop for the Western Nevada County Recreational Trails Master Plan for February 28, 2009 at the Madelyn Helling Library Community Room from 1 to 3 p.m. According to the County:

"The purpose of this workshop is to inform interested individuals about the scope of the recreational trails plan, gain input on the draft plan goals, policies, and programs, and provide information regarding the mapping effort and how to get involved in establishing regional trail alignments in your neighborhood. The goal is to receive feedback from participants using automated survey software; participants will be able to see the results of survey questions during the workshop."

Trail users will find this a great opportunity to shape the future of local trails. Read more.

Good Times at February BONC Gala Ride

BONC kicked off the BONC Gala ride series with 14 riders and 2 volunteers at Empire Mine yesterday. The event featured great singletrack, beautiful weather and high quality food.

We broke into two groups: a casual paced intermediate set and a slower bunch. We explored lesser known trails in and near the park. We laughed a lot, but my favorite moment was when Galen questioned Chris' choice of gears as he did a track stand. My other personal favorite was watching 16 year old Christine Weir ride down a descent that her dad walked (sorry Bob, couldn't resist).

It was great to see riders join us from as far away as Elk Grove. One beginner rider claimed that this was his best ride yet. Special thanks to Fred Bergman and Shannon Wright who prepared up some delicious hot corn chowder, fruit and cookies. Pictures of the event.

I hope you can join us next month for this fun event. Meet at Penn Gate at 10AM on Saturday, March 7th. Rumor is that this get together will feature jambalaya :-)

Improve Bicycle Access to National Parks

Loma Rica Trail Bridge

Over the weekend, Zachi worked hard on the footings of the new bridge near the intersection of Brunswick and Idaho-Maryland on the Loma Rica Trail. I stopped by yesterday to snag a few pictures on my iPhone.

Zachi does some incredible bridge construction work. His work locally and in Forest City are works of art. We are lucky to have him working on our local trails.

If you have not yet ridden this trail, check it out. It is high quality. You can catch it off Loma Rica Drive near the ditch and descend all the way to the Nevada County Horseman's area. Thank you to Zachi, Mike, Jon, Bill and all the other volunteers who have made this Nevada County Land Trust project happen.

MORE LOCAL TRAILS!

BONC Monthly Ride - 2/7, 10AM - Empire Mine

You are welcome to join the inaugural monthly BONC ride on Saturday, February 7th @ 10AM from Penn Gate at Empire Mine State Historic Park!

This will be a No-Rider-Left-Behind ride, which means that although faster riders are welcome, I will host the ride from the back of the pack. We'll explore some lesser known trails in the Mine and nearby Osborne Hill. When we finish, we'll gather at Penn Gate to enjoy some complementary food prepared by BONC chefs Fred Bergman and Shannon Wright.

Please bring a bike, helmet, water and a mid ride snack. If you want to join BONC, we'll have memberships cards available. See you there!

UHS Mountain Bike Mayhem

Yesterday's Ned Overendapalooza at Union Hill School was just sah-weet. We had who-knows-how-many kids queued up to ride skinnies, teeter totters and obstacles for hours, a BONC bike booth with mechanics at the ready, free cookies and multiple rides with the legend Ned.

To finish things off, Ned gave an inspiring speech about racing, training and trail advocacy which was followed by a showing of the Collective film "Seasons". I am guessing there were some 100 people there through the event, which raised money for the kids' teams.

Thank you to all the volunteers and organizations that made this day happen, including the Bicycle Recycling project, BONC, Tour of Nevada City, Specialized, the school teams and others. Ned noted several times that we have an incredible community of riders up here, in addition to amazing trails. He is dead-on right and it is wonderful to see events like this that further strengthen what we have.

Pictures of the event. And BTW, Ned signed up as a member of BONC yesterday :-)

Ned Overend This Weekend

BONC hopes you can join us at Union Hill School this weekend as we hang out with Ned Overend (our close personal friend) and junior mountain bikers. We'll be providing riding and bike maintenance tips to students, eating too many BONC baked snacks and having a good time. All in perfect sunny weather in January.

BONC will also debut the internationally acclaimed new BONC membership card and banner at our booth at 3PM. You can renew your membership then or pick up your card if you've already renewed. So join us!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Union Hill School MTB Day with Ned Overend
Saturday, January 17, 2009.

Learn new riding skills and review the basics with Mountain Bike Legend Ned Overend.

12:30 p.m. – BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE
WHO: Open to all middle school youth
Ride the trails of Empire Mine park in Grass Valley, CA, discussing bike-handling skills during the ride. Meet at Union Hill Middle
School main parking lot, 11638 Colfax Hwy, Grass Valley, CA .

2 p.m. – LUNCH AND SOCIAL TIME
WHO: Open to all middle school youth.
Bring your lunch or purchase a lunch for $5 at Union Hill School.

3 p.m. – BIKE MAINTENANCE CLINIC & SKILLS CHALLENGE
WHO: Open to all middle school youth.
Skills will be taught by MTB legend Ned Overend, former
Specialized Pro Racer, and Chuck Ross, current California Expert MTB Champion with help from the USCF Cat 1 (expert) riders from the Sierra Express/Sho-Air Racing Team.

5 p.m. – NED OVEREND SPEECH & MOVIE
WHO: Open to the general public.
Ned Overend will speak about training and racing, followed by the MTB movie "Seasons," an extreme mountain bike film by The Collective. Both will take place in the Union Hill School Gym as a fundraiser for the Union Hill Mountain Bike Club.

COST: The ride and clinics are free. $5 gets you in the door to hear Ned speak and see the film. All proceeds go to the Union Hill Mountain Bike Club.

Feedback to BONC

Bullard's Bar Clear

Joe Chavez of the USFS passes this along:

"Thanks to motorcyclist volunteers Dave Wood and Kevin Liles, working under Forest Service authorization, the entire Bullards Bar trail system was logged out on Monday (1/12). They cut out about 25-30 trees. No reports of new landslides."

Wooohooo! A very selfless act by Dave and Kevin. Thanks indeed. Sounds like you guys did a lot of work.

Perfect weather and no downed trees at Bullards in January? Am I dreaming?

New Monthly BONC Rides - First Saturday of Each Month

BONC is instituting a new Monthly Ride Gala, which will occur on the first Saturday of every month. This will be a No-One-Left-Behind social ride, however, we will split into experience levels at at the start, so all are welcome! Our initial schedule is as follows:

February 7th - Empire Mine, Penn Gate (ride host: John Gardiner)
March 7th - Empire Mine, Penn Gate (ride host: Dave Hughes)
April 4th - Hidden Falls Regional Park, Auburn

We should have some snacks and surprises for participants at the end of each ride. Stay tuned to this email list or bonc.org for additional details.

Snow and Manzanita

In the past few days, I've spent hours clearing manzanita that hung across local trails. As is often the case after a big winter storm in Nevada County, heavy snow pushed these brushes down so they block the singletrack. As of now, there is a LOT of these downed brushes in our area.

I worked using large Fiskar loppers, but you can use this smaller 15" model which fit in your Camelbak and weigh next to nothing.

Land Trust Trails

The Nevada County Land Trust has created an interactive map that describes trails and trail projects they are working on. Great stuff. In my experience, it always pays to make maps of these projects public, as it gets the community excited about such efforts.

Personally, I am still awaiting a map of the Tribute Trail (a.k.a. Deer Creek Trail). Anyone know of one?

Emails Needed for Empire Mine Trail Plan

Please email your comments to State Parks regarding the proposed Osborne Hill trail plan. You can use the following letter as an example, editing it as you see fit. The deadline is December 24th.

Email address: CEQANSC at parks dot ca dot gov
Please put "Empire trails" in the subject line

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Heidi West – Environmental Coordinator
California Department of Parks and Recreation
Northern Service Center
One Capitol Mall - Suite 500
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Ms. West

As a local recreationist, I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Osborne Hill Trail plan for Empire Mine State Historic Park. As you know, this park offers an important trail inventory for our local community.

While I generally support the plan, I ask that you consider the following changes to it:

- User built trails currently slated for eradication should remain and become part of the park trail system. These popular trails have been used for many years and are often in excellent condition. In places where these trails have unsustainable slopes or design, State Parks should implement minor changes to achieve sustainability.

- When aggregate is used, the trail design should be such that it does not occur directly after a blind corner or sharp turn. Bicycles can lose traction in such conditions and leave the rider falling down onto sharp aggregate rock.

Thanks you for the hard work State Parks has put into this planning process. I look forward to seeing the results.

High Grade Trail

From the Zack-Man:

"Nothin like the smell of fresh single track. December 5-7th Friday-Sunday

You are invited to come up and participate in the creation of the "High Grade Trail". This USFS trail will connect Forest City trail head with the top of Plioceen Ridge with connectors to the "Plum Valley Ditch Trail" and "Ridge Runner Trail".

Come participate in state of the art trail building techniques and check out equipment like the Groomer, Battle wagon, Bitch Witch and Max the Trail Excavator. Participate in Layout and alignment, creation of rolling dips, tactical features and finishing.

Overnight accommodations and base camp will be at the Tin Can Cabin and the Yomana House.

Contact us for more information and to RSVP.
Zachi Anderson 530 274 2388, Tin Can Cabin 530 287 3448

Directions; 17 miles N on highway 49 from Nevada City turn Right on Ridge Road. 15 miles to the left turn down 1 mile to Forest City. Tin Can Cabin- turn right in town up Main St. to end of pavement, proceed up school street till first sharp right infront of school house, park at houses. Trail work- back up pavement from town 1/8th mile to wide dirt landing on left just past powerlines. Follow ribbon and sounds of Joy. On the trail by 8-9am .

Bring your bike, trails are in great shape."

Trail Do-Over at Empire Mine

As you may have read, State Parks is planning significant trailwork in Empire Mine State Historic Park. Some trails will be eradicated, new ones will be added (including a mountain bike specific trail) and others will be re-worked. Certain sections will see additional aggregate (gravel) on the surface. Which ones you ask? Well, see for yourself:

Note - This is 5MB+ PDF download
http://bonc.org/empire_mine_trail_plan.pdf

The file shows the existing trail network, proposed network and details about the proposed work. Please take a look and send any comments to the following address by December 24th:

Heidi West – Environmental Coordinator
California Department of Parks and Recreation
Northern Service Center
One Capitol Mall - Suite 500
Sacramento, CA 95814

Email Address: CEQANSC at parks dot ca dot gov
(Include 'Empire Trails' on the subject line)

Fax: (916) 445-9081

IMBA Trail Care Crew Visit - Recap

The IMBA Trail Care Crew visit to Nevada City was a freight train of awesome.

We had a super fun party with *amazing* food and free beer, a 40+ person trail building session that broke ground on new local singletrack, two sweet mtb rides, swag handouts, eight new BONC members, an excellent presentation on creating a better bike club and another on building the best possible trails. All during near perfect weather in late November.

View the photo album.

Thanks goes to everyone who volunteered, including:

• Bill Haire and the Land Trust for the trailwork planning and work
• The Sierra Express Racing team who showed up big time for the trailwork
• Chuck Ross and Chris Thibodeau who led the Union Hill team kids as they built a sweet rock freeride feature on the new trail (see pictures)
• Shannon Wright for everything, especially her cooking skills
• Fred Bergman, who among other things arranged sponsorship with Auburn Bike Works (thanks ABW)
• Dave Hughes for being the best ride sweeper ever
• New Belgium Brewing for donation of excellent beer
• Rich Strohl who picked up the excellent beer from Sacto
• Jason and Anna of IMBA for sharing their incredible trail and club knowledge
• IMBA for creating such a great program
• And anyone else I forgot

Hope you can get out and enjoy the trails this Thanksgiving!

New Trail Rundown

I thought it might be useful to describe new trail efforts in our area and my understanding of the status of each:

Diamond Arrow Trail (Rock Creek Road to the South Yuba Trail) - Passed environmental assessment, waiting Archeology and Botany assessments. No word on when we can begin turning dirt :-/

Hirschman Pond Trail (near Cement Hill Road) - Under construction, much of it is open, but needs clearing and other work.

Scott's Flat Trail (new trail near the lake) - I am meeting with NID this week on this proposed trail (see map).

Loma Rica Trail (along Brunswick Road) - Currently under construction under the auspices of Bill Haire.

Deer Creek Trail (near Nevada City) - Beginning construction, again under the auspices of Bill Haire.

Bowman Mountain Trail (near Grouse Ridge) - Flagged and cleared. Construction on hold until the snow melts this spring.

Forest City Trails (Ridge Runner, Sandusky, etc.) - See forthcoming blog post from Zachi Anderson

North Yuba Trail (west of Downieville) - This fall, SBTS is hoping to punch through the new section to near Goodyear's Bar.

This list is probably not complete and does not include current/planned re-routes of exisiting trails, such as the Pioneer Trail, Up-and-Over Trail and others. Read about Land Trust trail efforts.

Thanks in the Union

Fred Bergman wrote an excellent letter to the Union that appeared in today's issue. It thanks all the groups and individuals who helped out on the Pioneer trailwork day last month.

Local residents should take heed, as these volunteers helped enhance a recreational gem (the Pioneer Trail) that we all enjoy tremendously. Thank you for the acknowledgment, Fred!

Forest City Recap

Just received the following email from Zachi Anderson:

"It has been a while. A lot has happened in Forest City this year. The bridge is completed. Even better is the sweet trials section called “Pearl Necklace” adjacent to it. The Sandusky Trail has seasoned well and we have tuned up all the switchbacks so they are ridable although challenging. We just got the go ahead to begin construction on the epic 8 mile downhill (Ridge Runner and Jersey Trails) from the upper trail head all the way down to FC.

Our goal is to get as much roughed in before winter to allow it to season. We are going to start this work in earnest the next two weekends. In fact. We will be up on it for 10 days starting Halloween. Please come on up for some riding and trail play. There are some sweet sections in this new route that will roll your eyes into the brain with pleasure. We are currently starting to work on grants for '09. Anyone who could help with that would be great.

We also are still looking for a website angel. Pour sad website just doesn’t seem to have any legs."

IMBA Itinerary

I've published a full itinerary for the IMBA Trail Care Crew visit to Nevada City. It includes:

FRIDAY 11/21

Ride (Miner's/Scott's Drop Ride) 1PM - Meet at Nevada City Hall on Spring Street.

Club Care Presentation, 7PM, 503 Sacramento Street, Nevada City - Learn about building a better mountain bike club

SATURDAY 11/22

Trailbuilding School, 9AM to noon @ Nevada City Hall - Learn techniques for building great trails for all users

Trailwork on Deek Creek Trail - 1PM - 4PM - Meet at 16545 Champion Road, Nevada City - Help build the latest trail right outside of town!

BBQ/Potluck (location disclosed to participants) - Good times as we eat, drink and tell tale tales

SUNDAY 11/23

South Yuba Ride, 10AM - Meet at trailhead parking near South Yuba Campground.

Please register today. It is FREE.

Nevada City IMBA Trail Care Crew Visit

The IMBA Trail Care Crew is visiting Nevada City, CA on November 21-23! This special event is free and will involve trail building clinics, BBQs, rides and good times. We'll help build the new Deer Creek Trail and learn a lot about building quality trails and a better bike club. We have multiple rides planned, including a South Yuba ride.

We would love to have you join us for all or any part of this event. Please register online.

Loma Rica and Forest City Trails Update

Trail builder Jon Fisher recently sent me a message that ended with the following declaration: "There are never enough trails." EXACTLY! Which is why efforts on the Loma Rica Trail and elsewhere are so inspiring.

Jon tells me that he and others are working hard on the arched bridge near the second entrance to Loma Rica Ranch. Jon re-graded it and then laid some 3/4" road base to harden the trail. Bill Haire was on the rake and laid a 30" wide trail.

Up in Forest City, Jon and others used an excavator and miniskider to rebuild the trailhead parking that they built last fall (and was since vandalized). Some rock building is needed to finish it. Plans are to build the new Ridge-Runner Trail next. Stay tuned.

Pioneer Trail is Now More Singletracky

Over the weekend, BONC joined over 100 volunteers who helped cut a new section of Pioneer Trail near Excelsior Road. Other participating groups included the Nevada County Woods Riders, Gold Country Trails Council, NU HS mountain bike team and SYRCL. The new section is fantastic. It is tight and twisty with lots of ups and downs. It will be as nice as any other section of Upper Pioneer. More needs to be done, but we'll get there soon enough!

A special commendation goes to the Woods Riders, who provided more volunteers than anyone, even though the trail is non-motorized. And of course a special thanks to Fred Bergman who helped facilitate this extraordinarily well coordinated event.

If you could not make this event, please plan on attending the IMBA Trail Care Crew weekend on 11/21 - 11/23 as we work on the new Deer Creek Trail, ride a lot and drink beer :-)

Some pictures of the Pioneer trailwork

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day - Pics

Here are some pictures from our damp but very fun Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day event at Empire Mine:

As expected, turn out was modest due to the weather, but those who showed up had a great time! My daughter loved it so much, she did two rides, than rode again at home. Thank you to all who participated and donated.

All About Cooperation

For a long time, I have preached the scripture of sharing trails and working with different user groups to expand local trail opportunities. Yesterday's Union carried a front page story that describes how three local groups are coming together for this weekend's trail construction project on the Pioneer Trail. Very inspiring.

Please consider joining us this weekend (learn more).

BONCers and the New King Range Trail

BONCers Jim and Cathy Haagen-Smit were honored at the dedication ceremony for this new Paradise Royale Trail in the King Range. I can't wait to ride it! Read the story.

Word is that this trail offers something for every level of rider, from smooth sections, to rocky technical parts that require trials skills. I am also curious to know what building techniques volunteers used to deal with the incredible amount of rainfall the King Range gets.

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day - Empire Mine

BONC will host our own Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day on Saturday, 10/4 at 9AM.

We will lead a few rides for big and little ones from Penn Gate at Empire Mine starting at 9AM. Kids five years and older are welcome, all the way up to high schoolers. We have rides for everyone, plus snacks and give-a-ways. All riders must sign a waiver form, wear a helmet and bring a bike.

Please mark your calendar. We still could use need some additional volunteers and non-cash donations. This will be a great time!

Pioneer Singletrack Conversion

Please join us as we convert Pioneer fireroad into singletrack as it descends into Bear Valley:-)

TWO DATES:
October 11th from 9am till 1pm (free lunch provided at 1:30pm)
October 12th from 9am till 1pm (bring your own lunch, water)

Camping is available Friday and Saturday nights at the Diamond Creek parking area. No running water at this site. RVs and trailers are OK. Meet at the Excelsior Road at Highway 20. A short distance down this road will be our meeting place for both days. Please wear long pants and hiking/work shoes and gloves. If you would have any of the following tools would be of help to bring: loppers, pruners, shovels, steel rakes and/or McClouds.

This is a joint project with the USFS, Gold Country Trails Council, Nevada County Woods Riders and BONC, so it is *super important that we have good mountain bike representation*.

Meeting with the Horse Folk

As you can see from yesterday's post, I had a great meeting with the Gold Country Trails Council last night (view the slides). We spoke about sharing trails and unifying our efforts. The presentation was well received.

I promised attendees that I would share some of the comments equestrians made about local mountain bikers with BONC membership. These included:

• Equestrians find that the vast majority of local mountain bikers are extremely considerate and courteous on the trail. Even if a cyclist rides inappropriately, he or she is receptive to constructive criticism from equestrians on the trail.
• No one wants to replicate the culture of user animosity and conflict that is so dominant on Bay Area trails. We have something very special here that is worth preserving.
• Horses are prey animals. Thus they react quickly if a hiker or cyclists suddenly appears from behind a tree. Because of this, please announce yourself, talk and make some noise when you approach a horse.
• When riding on a trail that cuts across a slope, it is best to ride on the down side of the animal.
• GCTC equestrians try to avoid wet trails because they leave hoof holes and such trail conditionals are stressful on the horses legs.

GCTC is working very hard on many of the USFS trails that we ride and enjoy. It is crucial that we continue to work with them and support their efforts as much as possible.

Sharing Trails

I made the following presentation to the Gold Country Trails Council last night:

Wrapping Up the Forest City Bridge

From Zachi Anderson:

"The bridge project is pretty much done. We have to attach the handrail but every thing else is now done. In the picture below you can see the pearl necklace that Jon Fisher is walking back on. It descends from the embankment above for a sweet trials run. The entrance to the pearl is 60 feet farther back up the trail with a filter at the beginning. The employed concept is that the route to the trials section has to be a clearly less traveled secondary trail (12” wide) and not the primary trail (36”wide). The filter is a technical section (in this case a 16” rock step up) that has to be negotiated to access the main trails section. The entrance is prepositioned to eliminate impulsive uninformed attempts. You must have ridden the main trail to see the option first. It is all very stable boulders that are sustainable (no rot) and all hardened surfaces over 10%.

BIG thanks to all the people that have helped. Jon Fisher and Tom Ernest especially for their high volume of participation and personal investment. We will line up another fun weekend to ride this baby when we throw in the hand rail."

A big thanks indeed!

Trail Riding on Multi-Use Trails

I'll be speaking at the Gold Country Trails Council on September 9th @ 7PM at the Golden Empire Grange Hall. The topic will be "Trail Riding on Multi-Use Trails", but I plan to use the opportunity to dialog with the local equestrian community.

It would be great if other local bikers join join in. Our positive relationship with local equestrians is one of our most valuable assets and one that is envied statewide.

11283 Grange Ct. Grass Valley, CA - Map

Tahoe National Forest Trail Update

From Joe Chavez of the Tahoe National Service:

"This is just FYI on some recent trail work, so you will be aware of the changes.

Empire Creek Trail - The two climbing turns installed last fall by No-Toil group and SBTS have been hardened with turf stones. Soils are ashy here and will never firm up (like the west end of Chimney Rock Trail). The reroute of the switchback above these climbing turns has been completed. The trail now makes a large sweeping turn, putting you out on the ridge at a nice vista point. Bottom end of the Empire Creek trail (steep section right off the road), this area has been lengthened to lower the grade (expect new turns). Wet springs, my one remaining trail crew member is currently working on draining the springs off the trail along the lower end of the trail. There will be deeper rolling dips supported by rock on the reverse grade (expect larger, more abrupt dips - slow down).

Lindsey Lakes Trail - Just below the intersection with Crooked Lakes Trail (near Rock Lake), the first section of the Lindsey Lakes trail reroute project to lower the grade is done. The trail now contours over to a vista point and returns to the old trail in the dry meadow. (only several hundred feet of the original trail has been rerouted, there is still much more to do on this reroute project)

Excelsior Trail - Last remaining section of reroute identified in the Burlington EIS has been completed (40 foot hill climb section in the plantation). The trail now contours in and out of the drainage.

Gibraltar Trail (single track) - We started to reroute the very steep section of trail immediately out of Dean's Ravine heading north. We expect to finish this piece of reroute the week of Sept 1, when I have a chance to get back there. We already contoured across the steep slope to a point that we know it is feasible. The reroute goes across the steep sidehill, then turns back where miners created a "gut," then it will reconnect back to the old trail above the steep section."

North Fork Trail Vote

From FATRAC:

"Write an email or attend a hearing to support the NORTH FORK TRAIL!

On Aug. 26, 2008, at 8:35 a.m., the Placer County Board of Supervisors will be meeting to consider certifying the Final EIR & approving the North Fork Trail along the American River - in the board chambers at 175 Fulweiler, Auburn.

We WANT the Board to do this so we can FINALLY see construction getting underway on this long-awaited new trail. If you can attend the hearing, great! OR please take 2 minutes NOW to write a short email to your supervisor to ask him to approve this new trail. Please!

Here's the email address for the Board of Supervisors: bos@placer.ca.gov.
Subject line: North Fork Trail Project.
[Contact Jim Haagen-Smit if you have any questions at (916) 663-4626.]

Talking points:

• The trail will be environmentally sound by design.
• What better way to get folks to appreciate nature than by providing a simple trail to access it.
• With high gas prices more & more families are looking for affordable ways to recreate near home.
• A healthier community saves money by dealing with costly health problems associated with obesity.
• Volunteers helped build trails in the area; the community likes to give back by supporting these kinds of projects."

Steering Committee Kickoff

Last night, the new BONC steering committee conducted our first formal meeting at Twin Cities Church. We discussed some great ideas, assigned tasks to committee members and talked about where BONC is and where we need to get to. A big theme that emerged from the evening is how BONC needs to embrace more fun: more fun rides and more fun events. Nevada County has many mountain bikers, but only a relative few participate in BONC activities. We aim to change all that.

I am certain we will see some related innovative club initiatives soon. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please let me know.

Tahoe Donner Event - Recap

Last weekend, over sixty NorCal mountain bikers convened near Donner Summit this week to build some new singletrack and ride many, many miles of primo Sierra trail. Participating clubs included BONC, FATRAC, BTCEB, MBOSC and ROMP. Sponsors included New Belgium, who contributed free cases of their finest brews.

From Wednesday through Sunday, we rode countless group ride on the Tahoe Rim Trail, Hole-in-the-Ground, Donner Lake Rim Trail, Sawtooth Trail and many others. We camped out at Donner Lake State Historic Park, with access to beaches, showers and BBQs. On Saturday, we all pitched in to clear brush for a new section of the Donner Lake Rim Trail high above the lake near Tahoe Donner. This will be a gorgeous section that towers at 7500' with sweeping views of the area. These vistas and great weather kept us inspired as we trimmed back vegetation for the new trailbed.

It was a big success, but it sure would have been better to see some more local representation from BONC and SERT. We hope to make this an annual event, as it was soooo much fun this year! Pictures and videos.

Forest City Trail Fun

The Forest City folks are staging trailwork on weekend of the 25th.  They hope to put the last touches on the bridge and to prune out the Plum Valley Ditch Trail. On Labor Day weekend, the group will host rides all weekend. Camping, BBQ music and other fun (bike polo).  Ribbon cutting for the bridge etc.

Please consider joining these great events.

Pruning Bullard's

We had a modest turnout for today's trailwork at Bullard's, but six of us managed to trim back all the overgrowth on Rebel Ridge and some on Bullard's Bar Trail. I am really excited that Rebel Ridge is finally clear of the nasty overgrowth that made it unpleasant to ride, especially on the south side of Marysville Road.

Note that there are a few downed trees (as usual) on Bullard's Bar Trail between Rebel Ridge and Schoolhouse Trails. Hopefully we can take these out soon; they are somewhat small.

The advantage of the shorter trailwork session was that we were able to get in a fun ride (i.e. not while nackered) on this trail system after we wrapped up our work. Bullard's is a great place to ride on a hot day because there is so much shade.

Big thanks to Fred Bergman who spearheaded and coordinated this project! And others who came to Bullard's recently to help improve trail conditions. Bullard's is a high maintenance system, but is so worth it.