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Open space board approves some mountain biking west of Boulder
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We lose
The Eldo-Walker connector has been on the drawing board for years, but there is a landowner who is against it, and that has not changed, to my knowledge, so actually, the trustees did pretty much nothing for us.
Chapman would be semi-neat (it's just a dirt road), but once again, there's a landowner in the way.
It really sucks that the north-south AND anemone hill trail ideas got thrown out. Those were the really important part of the proposal.
Bottom line: we lost.
-Walt
The Eldo-Walker connector has been on the drawing board for years, but there is a landowner who is against it, and that has not changed, to my knowledge, so actually, the trustees did pretty much nothing for us.
Chapman would be semi-neat (it's just a dirt road), but once again, there's a landowner in the way.
It really sucks that the north-south AND anemone hill trail ideas got thrown out. Those were the really important part of the proposal.
Bottom line: we lost.
-Walt
FRANKENBIKE42 said:
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146 Posts
Thanks for the info Walt, I guess i misunderstood and was hoping something positive might come after the last few weeks.
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7,491 Posts
Maybe not as negative as I made it out to be
http://bouldermountainbike.org/content/osbt-bikes-west-tsa
A more positive (and accurate) spin than mine!
-Walt
http://bouldermountainbike.org/content/osbt-bikes-west-tsa
A more positive (and accurate) spin than mine!
-Walt
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It's even more negative that you made it out to be, Walt.
BMA as an organization needs to show some progress to their constituency so that they don't fade into irrelevance. So now that this is a fait accompli, BMA (and all other parties, too) are trying to spin this so as to look like their efforts accomplished something.
However, the two things bikers "got" have both been priorities for years, with nary a sign of progress ever. Both are contingent upon private land owners' consent, both of whom have been on the record for years as saying, "never!" (Also I understand that Eldorado Canyon State Park is against bikes on any trails - yet a third huge obstacle.) So I think that bikers got nothing, and hikers conceded nothing. I take this as pretty much nothing but a "get your damn bikes off our trails!" result. Bikers have been sold down the river; there's no cause for celebration here.
Now I could be wrong, and perhaps things will change so that in a year or two we have these new trails, but from today's perspective I doesn't like likely to me.
The only sunshine I see on this is that the North-South Connector got a 3-2 vote. As it stands, bikers get nothing, but it sure was close to getting a recommendation for something fantastic.
BMA as an organization needs to show some progress to their constituency so that they don't fade into irrelevance. So now that this is a fait accompli, BMA (and all other parties, too) are trying to spin this so as to look like their efforts accomplished something.
However, the two things bikers "got" have both been priorities for years, with nary a sign of progress ever. Both are contingent upon private land owners' consent, both of whom have been on the record for years as saying, "never!" (Also I understand that Eldorado Canyon State Park is against bikes on any trails - yet a third huge obstacle.) So I think that bikers got nothing, and hikers conceded nothing. I take this as pretty much nothing but a "get your damn bikes off our trails!" result. Bikers have been sold down the river; there's no cause for celebration here.
Now I could be wrong, and perhaps things will change so that in a year or two we have these new trails, but from today's perspective I doesn't like likely to me.
The only sunshine I see on this is that the North-South Connector got a 3-2 vote. As it stands, bikers get nothing, but it sure was close to getting a recommendation for something fantastic.
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BMA has done an awesome job.
Are you joking? Irrelevant?
A quick recap of where things stood when I arrived in 1999:
-Heil Valley ranch was not yet public land. Now: 10+ miles of fun, technical singletrack with a connection north all the way to Lyons (ie, you can ride Hall ranch with only a short stretch of pavement).
-The Marshall Mesa area trails consisted of about half a mile of singletrack linked to a 3 mile dirt road next to a canal. Now: Almost 25 miles of trails, including lots of awesome singletrack like Doudy Draw, Marshall Valley, Coal Seam, Cowdry Draw and Springbrook. Heck, you can ride singletrack to Costco in Superior if you want to!
-West Magnolia and the Dot trails were in their infancy, and in great danger of being shut down by the USFS (since nobody had bothered to get permission to build them). Now: BMA maintains and patrols these legal, official trails.
-Hall Ranch's Antelope trail didn't exist.
-The Benjamin property was not yet public land. Now: A new 4 mile loop and connector to 4mile canyon for Betasso (this spring).
-Mud Lake trails did not exist. Now: A really nice network of singletrack in a beautiful setting for beginners, and a nice end to a longer ride for those who want to hit stuff at higher elevation.
-Connector trail from the high parking lot at Walker did not exist.
-Little Raven and South St. Vrain trails were closed to bikes and in disrepair. Now: Repaired and made sustainable by BMA work, these awesome alpine trails are open to bikes.
-Valmont park was a giant empty lot fenced with rusty barbed wire and filled with weeds and garbage. Now: It's becoming (soon) a bike park.
The bottom line is that if you ride a mountain bike in Boulder, you have the BMA to thank for the majority of the trails you ride.
-Walt
Are you joking? Irrelevant?
A quick recap of where things stood when I arrived in 1999:
-Heil Valley ranch was not yet public land. Now: 10+ miles of fun, technical singletrack with a connection north all the way to Lyons (ie, you can ride Hall ranch with only a short stretch of pavement).
-The Marshall Mesa area trails consisted of about half a mile of singletrack linked to a 3 mile dirt road next to a canal. Now: Almost 25 miles of trails, including lots of awesome singletrack like Doudy Draw, Marshall Valley, Coal Seam, Cowdry Draw and Springbrook. Heck, you can ride singletrack to Costco in Superior if you want to!
-West Magnolia and the Dot trails were in their infancy, and in great danger of being shut down by the USFS (since nobody had bothered to get permission to build them). Now: BMA maintains and patrols these legal, official trails.
-Hall Ranch's Antelope trail didn't exist.
-The Benjamin property was not yet public land. Now: A new 4 mile loop and connector to 4mile canyon for Betasso (this spring).
-Mud Lake trails did not exist. Now: A really nice network of singletrack in a beautiful setting for beginners, and a nice end to a longer ride for those who want to hit stuff at higher elevation.
-Connector trail from the high parking lot at Walker did not exist.
-Little Raven and South St. Vrain trails were closed to bikes and in disrepair. Now: Repaired and made sustainable by BMA work, these awesome alpine trails are open to bikes.
-Valmont park was a giant empty lot fenced with rusty barbed wire and filled with weeds and garbage. Now: It's becoming (soon) a bike park.
The bottom line is that if you ride a mountain bike in Boulder, you have the BMA to thank for the majority of the trails you ride.
-Walt
rapwithtom said:
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