July 2010 Meeting Report

ROUTT COUNTY RIDERS NEWS ~ July 2010

"We unite all bicyclists in Steamboat Springs and Routt County to create a fun, healthy and safe bicycle friendly community benefitting local citizens and visitors alike."

TRAILS UPDATE

Gretchen Sehler, Trails Committee Chair, reported that her group has flagged about four miles of the Moose Draw Trail and has around two more miles to go. She had planned to get this done within the next two to three days.

Once this is done they would need to walk the trails with several entities for approval prior to beginning work. They estimate about five to six weeks of sweko work so at this point are not sure if the trail would be ready by the end of the year. They will have more information at the next meeting.

Please check the RCR Trails Report on our website for updates on what is open.

SMARTWOOL BIKE-IN MOVIE

Mark your calendars for Sunday, August 15th!!

8:00 pm - Cruiser Bike Rally and Contest

9:00 pm - Outdoor movie showing on a 40 foot screen at Howelsen: 40 Year Old Virgin *This movie will be a "R" rated version for 17 years and older.

This will be a Zero Waste event and beer is being donated by New Belgium.

All proceeds from beer sales and donations will benefit Routt County Riders!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!! We are in need of volunteers for the event including TIPS certified volunteers for beer sales. Please contact Jackie if you are available.

MULTI-MODAL ADVISORY BOARD

This group is meeting the second Monday of each month. Everyone is invited to attend the meetings.

The group is redesigning the bumper stickers and will be re-submitting a proposal to the RCR Board in the near future.

They are working on a column for the paper for "share the road tips."

There has been discussion that the multi-modal committee and Bike Town, USA committee should begin to collaborate. They are working on ideas for the two groups to work together. The Board is also preparing a report to the County in hopes to add the group as a line item to next year's budget.

The Multi-Modal Board presented the idea to the RCR Board to fund a port-a-potty at the high traffic intersection of County Rd. 18 and County Rd. 131 because of several complaints that the County is receiving from people living in that area. They believe this would be good will to the cyclists as well as the people living in the area. RCR would have a sticker on the front and the cost would be $300 including rental, delivery and sticker. Board member, Mike Loomis, made a motion to fund $300 for this project and Board Vice President, Lisa Shafer, seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously passed by five Board members in attendance: Mike, Lisa, Robin Craigen, Randy Howie and Gretchen Sehler.

The following are the members:

Lisa Shafer -cycling

Steve Williams - South Routt resident

Derek Hodson - cycling business

Stuart Handloff - Steamboat springs resident

Bill Gay - Agriculture

Bill Baderacca - construction

Leslie Lovejoy- North Routt resident

Lisa Barbour- runner/ped

Mike Rossman- trucking

Frank Roitsch- West Routt resident

3 ex-officio: Paul Draper- RC R&B, Janet Hruby Steamboat springs Public Works, Heather McLaughlin-Senior Engineer.

DOWNHILL / FREE RIDERS / GRAVITY MOUNTAIN BIKING

Jim Schneider was at the meeting and reported that Gravity Logic is in town. The Ski Area received approval to move forward to design specific trails. They are taking a comprehensive approach - everything from the North (Zig-Zag Trail) to the South (Valley View Trail) and anything in between. They will ensure that nothing that they build now will inhibit room to build further over future years. They think that the first trail they will build will be a blue level trail on the Valley View side. Gravity Logic believes this trail will rival anything they've ever done. This is all assuming they get through environmental work this Summer. All of the current trails would remain multi-directional.

Once their are a few trails the goal is that next Spring they will hopefully have specific freeride trails. None of this is entirely finalized. They are looking at the entire master plan before the Ski Area decides on which to build. All of the entities involved have agreed that they want to build sustainable trails. The overall goal will be to have hiker-only trails, downhill-only trails and multi-use trails. Jim also described that once there are downhill trails built there will be a different business model in terms of monitoring including more patrol.

An individual has stepped forward and offered to donate $30,000 to begin work on a trail at the Ski Area. They are hoping to break ground on a trail in late August or early September. This effort will be coordinated through Gravity Logic and Routt County Riders for volunteers.

Rich Lowe of the Bike Town, USA committee offered a special "thank you" to the Ski Area for believing in the organization and taking the initiative to move forward - especially in these tough economic times.

BICYCLE FRIENDLY BUSINESS (BFB) PROGRAM

Randy Salky has stepped forward to take on the task of Committee Chair for the Bicycle Friendly Business Program. The committee is now up and running! They have created action items and a script for presenting the program to local businesses. Their first step is to create a brochure and promotional material to solicit businesses. The next step would be to create a sales task force script so volunteers know exactly what to say to businesses. They do have some businesses in mind to try and launch the program and hope to roll it out with the Stage Race over Labor Day.

They are also discussing how to tie the program in with the Economic Development Biking Initiative.

The BFB program helps business plan for how they might participate in cycling related events and help achieve community cycling goals at the same time. It also enables businesses to extend the reach of their support for cycling events or projects into a year-round message.

This will be a great opportunity for businesses to contribute to the many RCR events, support the cycling community and be recognized for the partnership. If you have a Bicycle Friendly Business get in touch about enrolling in the program.

Please contact Randy if you are interested in helping with this committee.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE

Grant Fenton of the Task Force encourages everyone to read the July 1st article regarding Steamboat's bike initiative and write positive comments if you are interested in being involved. Click here to view the article.

The Task Force is now working on the idea of a Bike Summit for the Fall of 2010. They are moving forward with hiring a person to plan this event and are working on funding sources. They are trying to raise $25,000 to make this all happen. The Holiday Inn has donated $500 towards this initiative and Routt County Riders recently completed a chairlift auction with over in $7000 proceeds going towards the initiative as well.

The group will be going in front of City Council on Tuesday, August 3rd at 5:30 pm to present their group and ideas. They will be asking for funding over the next three years as well as planning staff to be involved in the process. The Task Force is asking for members of the biking community to attend this meeting in support of their effort.

The Task Force is acting as a catalyst for many efforts within our biking community.

The Steamboat Springs City Council approved to fund a project to create a new pedestrian / bike underpass under Fish Creek Falls Road right behind Old Town Hot Springs. This will connect the Spring Creek Trail and allow users to go under the Fish Creek Falls Road - coming up on the OTHS property and they can go to 3rd Street and cross safely if they so desire. That curve on Fish Creek Falls road is extremely dangerous and this will go along way to helping the connectivity issue.

The initial objective of this Task Force was to bring community decision makers together to create a vision and purpose to move forward on the idea of developing the potential of Steamboat as a biking destination. This task force includes representatives from the City, County, BLM, Forest Service, Ski Area and Routt County Riders.

Please contact RCR Executive Director, Jackie Brown, if you are interested providing input and she will pass the information along to the Task Force.