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West Trail Study Area Update
A beginning is a very delicate time. To say that last Tuesday's meeting was memorable would be an understatement. The good news is that you and our City leaders are passionately concerned about the management of the Boulder mountain backdrop (a.k.a. the West TSA). More new faces with new energy showed up to Tuesday's meeting than any open space planning effort since the Visitor Master Plan was passed. This bodes well for the West TSA, even if there are growing pains getting the process started.
BMA wants the Community Collaboration Group to be successful. Lots of mountain bikers showed up last Tuesday to be heard as citizens. Some people believe that mountain bikers stacked the deck and all we want to do is ride rough shod over open space, that we can't appreciate nature, and that we don't truly value Boulder Open Space. BMA's advocacy team believes that this is finally an opportunity to show those members of the community that mountain bikers are not one-dimensional, single-issue people. We have other priorities too - our children, the environment, our neighborhoods, as well as recreation. We believe that we have more in common with the people criticizing us than we have setting us apart. The West TSA is an opportunity to bridge that divide, build trust among our communities, and ensure that there are leaders from the next generation of Boulderites to carry on the legacy of Boulder Open Space.
We will communicate with you after the dust has settled and staff makes forward progress. For now, staff is looking hard at the selected candidates to make sure that they can adequately represent the broad interests of the community. We believe that the mountain bikers selected to the CCG will ultimately prove to be the most reasonable, broad-thinking, and open-minded members in this process. We look forward to proving the nay-sayers wrong and moving forward constructively with them. Hopefully they do us the courtesy of giving us a chance.
The BMA advocacy team remains cautiously optimistic that we, as a community, can work together and come up with a plan that will work for everyone, especially the generations to come.
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Happy Birthday Picture Rock Trail!
It was one year ago this month when we gathered in Lyons to ride this trail for the very first time. A relatively cool and wet summer not only kept the trail in good condition, but also made for an explosion of color.
This trail has matured well, our efforts to design this trail to last seems to be paying diivdends. The trail remains stable throughout the alomst six miles and 850 feet of elevation change. The crush of visitation has tailed off as well. We experienced quite a spike in usage in the first months, 2009 has seen a steady but manageable stream of visitors.
We got this on right. This is what happens when government and the community get on the same page and create something special. To mark this accomplishment, BMA is donating the funds to install a sandstone picnic table at the head of the valley that looks right down into Lyons. The tabletop is made of actual picture rock, and should be a welcome addition to the user experience. The work to install is going on now and should be complete very soon.
Be sure to stop and enjoy the view from this spot the next time you are there. This is why we live here!
Don't forget to keep the singletrack single! |
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Annual Membership Party!
October 8th
Get ready to do some mingling at the annual BMA membership party, 6-8pm at Rocky Mounts on October 8. We'll have plenty of good grub and beverages for all preferences; you need to have some fun and participate in the Board of Directors elections. As an added bonus, we'll have BMA-endorsed City Council candidates on hand to receive BMA checks and talk to you about their platforms. Let's celebrate another productive year and look forward to new opportunities on the horizon. Interested in serving on the BMA board of directors? Contact Botsy Phillips ASAP! |
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Valmont Bike Park Construction
Saturday, October 10, 2009 @ 8:30 AM
GroundBreaking News! The Valmont Bike Park is progressing towards greatness and we need YOUR Help! Thirty volunteers are being requested to embark on an adventure to construct new temporary singletrack for the October 17th ACA BAR/BAT CycloCross race held in conjunction with the Official VBP GroundBreaking Event and Party hosted by the VBP Committee and Boulder Parks and Recreation. To volunteer to build new trail sign up online here.
Stay tuned, there will be more information about this upcoming race and groundbreaking! |
Trail Construction at Betasso
October 17
BMA is excited to once again be partnering with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV) and Boulder County Parks and Open Space(BCPOS), this time working at the Benjamin/Betasso property. There will be two projects going on simultaneously on October 17th. I encourage any BMA members who would like to increase their skill set to sign up for this one - there will be both restoration work and trail building going on. This collaboration is key for BMA because next year much of our work in the West Magnolia area will include restoring eroded trails while building cool new trails. The project may be the last project we do this season (Colorado weather - you never know).
If you are interested in learning RESTORATION, please sign up via the WRV website: www.wlrv.org and make sure you write BMA in the comments section. Otherwise, please do like you do and get the info on the BMA website.
Crew leaders, we may need you. Please contact Jenn directly to sign up as crew leader. |
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Political volunteers needed
Every other year the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance endorses city council candidates. We screen the candidates and select the ones that in our judgment will give mountain bikers a "fair shake." We have a lot of important issues that are decided by our city leaders, and supporting their campaigns is one way to ensure that they recognize us as a valid and important constituency that they represent. To that end we would like to assist with a literature drop, where we walk or bike the neighborhoods and leave campaign literature on people's doorsteps. If you are willing to give up a couple of hours one or more evenings in the first two weeks of October, please email Jason Vogel An official announcement will be coming soon about the candidates we endorsed this year. |
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Lyons to Boulder Trail
Forward progress on this trail project went into a deep sleep last month when the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District Board of Directors rescinded a set of preconditions agreed to over a decade ago with Boulder County and the City of Boulder. These preconditions laid the framework for making this project happen. A well organized grassroots effort led by a group of landowners were successful at pursuading the NCWCD Board to take this action.
There are many reasons why this project failed, but in the final analysis, the ones with the best organized voice got heard. Lesson learned.... a good article and message from the County Commisioners about this issue can be found here. |
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Thank You!
New & Continuing Members
Mitchell Smith
Brian Borg
Carolyn Grant & Robert Krenz (Family, Big SWWheels!)
Brian Strickland
Gregory Weiss
Richard Carlson
Anthony Mannina (Big Wheel!)
Scott Baker
Tzvi Bieler
Kate Rau
Matt Kelley
Rick Stewart
Colin Christison
Jeffrey Peck
Nancy Lynch
Jeff Doyle
Andrew Benowitz
Nolan Dutton
Richard Hall (Big Wheel!)
Dee Neitzel
Vanessa Crittenden
Peter Gaston (Big Wheel!)
Trace Baker (Family!)
Jason Turner
Mitchell Battilla
Omar Postigo
Eric Hiivala
Steve Noel (Family!)
Matthew Morris
Jason Emmanuel (Family!)
Dessa Willie (Family!)
Michael McCarthy
Chris Cornacchia
Alex Brown
Niall Bouzon
Mitchell Battilla
Ed Dunne
AJ Eschwig (Family)
Melinda Seaman
Rich Marchbanks
Ryan Raymond
William Simmons
Ian Decker
Stephen Ziegler
Douglas Claxton
Jonathan Anderson
Sally Keefe (Big Wheel!)
Jim Feehan
Newton Logan
Keene Tomsyck
Paul Maxon |
Are you interested in Better Trails for Boulder County? Then consider joining the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance and be part of the solution! We have memberships starting for as little as $25. Please click here to be taken to our web site membership section to learn how you can join. | |
