Every time the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance jumps into the local elections melee, we learn something that we should take forward with us.  Win or lose, there is useful information the leadership of BMA should acknowledge and not forget the next time around.

So what did BMA learn this time around?  

The City of Boulder deals with a range of issues that are important to many citizens, and open space access (while important to some) doesn't make the top of the list for most Boulder voters.  Open space is just too narrow an issue in City politics to define how the electorate will vote. For BMA to have a wider impact on the electorate, we'd have to take a stand on things like taxes and utilities, police and fire, etc.  That just isn't within our scope.  BMA had hoped that throwing our support in with the Boulder Outdoor Coalition might create a wide enough block of voters to grab one of those seats vacated by outgoing council members.  The election results, this time around, show that we were wrong.

BMA has around 600 paid members and well over 3000 subscribing to our email list, but to have an impact in an election like this we need ten times that many peeps at our back.  We can still make a difference for those fourth and fifth place Council seats when the difference is a couple of hundred votes, but not when the margins are this big.

So what do we do?  We man up and congratulate the new and returning members of City Council, and gratefully question their sanity for wanting such a thankless job that pays next to nothing.  Congratulations to new Boulder City Council members Suzanne Jones and Tim Plass, and returning members Lisa Morzel, George Karakehian, and Ken Wilson.  Keep Boulder vibrant and forward-thinking, and BMA looks forward to working with you. 

OSBT approved a plan,  with caveats, that would start in Settlers Park and go up along the hill and then drop down to the Boulder Creek Path.  The switchback downhill is further upstream than the Dome route in an area called the South bowl.  The OSBT did not specify what events would trigger a further examination of this option or what factors would influence its decision whether to recommend or reject this option.  But, from the discussion it is apparent that the OSBT's ultimate assessment of this option would depend in large part on whether the Boulder Creek Path is extended, perhaps as far as the Betasso link, and whether a new access trail is created going directly from the intersection of Boulder Canyon and Four Mile Canyon up to Betasso.

The net of it is that nothing is really resolved.  And even if OSBT had definitively recommended anything, we know from experience that City Council will do as they please.  So next Tuesday, November 8, the City Council will decide what to do about bikes on Anenome Hill.... or not.

Also, one OSBT member raised the possibility of re-opening the discussion on a trail from the top of Chapman Drive heading toward Walker Ranch, paralleling Flagstaff road.  

This weekend's Adventure Film Fest is bringing a great selection of adventure, exploration and just crazy fun films & shorts. 

 

These guys always get the best flicks, so check out their webpage for more info on dates and times, and enjoy a night on the town! 

The 2011 Boulder Cup at Valmont was a huge success! Thanks to those that came out and to Boulder Beer, BMA raised and donated $2,000 to Valmont Bike Park. What a great weekend and venue!