• Bikes Must Be On Single Track Only
• Diggin' It
• BMX Makes a Comeback

Bikes Must Be On Single Track Only

By Jim Jacobsen

We are in our fifth year of trail building at the local Boy Scout camp and have completed over 5 miles of prime single track trails circling the 350 acre scout camp. The BTC, along with the Forest Knolls Freewheelers, an IMBA club dedicated to trail building, are spending two days per week building trails during the trail building season, November to May. In the S. F. Bay Area, wet mild winters allow us to work all winter, with only a few rain- outs. We find the softer soils, cooler days and the abundance of rain run-off to pin point our drainage problem areas the ideal combination to perfect our trail building skills.

We have just completed the Alan Goldman trail, named in honor of our late BTC Vice President who got us started in trail building and who was also very active in bicycle access issues. This 1.1 mile trail with 5 switchbacks was started in November 1998, and needed 26 work days to complete, with from 6 to 20 workers per day. If we had held once a month trail work sessions like many other volunteer trail building groups, it would have taken over two years to build this trail. Tuesday afternoons at 2:00 and Saturday mornings at 10:00 are the start times for our 4 hour work sessions. We need more trail workers, please consider helping with this ground breaking activity. Please call (415) 488-1665 for more information.

The work is not too hard, with expert instruction and refreshments provided. Trail work also gives everyone a new appreciation of how many hours it takes to build a trail that takes only minutes to ride. Its also great cross training, providing much needed upper body conditioning for bicyclists. We are grateful to the Marin Council, Boy Scouts of America for allowing us to build trails on their property. They have a significant source of revenue selling passes to bicyclists and hikers to use the trails there. For $36 per year you can ride the finest bicycle trails in the entire Bay Area. Passes are available from Scout Headquarters at 225 West End Blvd. San Rafael, or call 454-1081.

We also have a great relationship with Clif Bars who provide us with lots of Clif Bars to fuel our hungry trail builders.

In 1997 we built Wagon Wheel Trail, at that time part of the scout camp, and still an integral part of the trail system. Since we finished the trail, the Marin County Open Space District (MCOSD) purchased the section of the camp with Wagon Wheel Trail on it. The MCOSD has allowed bicyclists to continue to use this trail, which is a new precedent for multi-use trails in Marin County. All these trails are about two feet wide and have 10% maximum grade. With sight distance one of the major design concerns we have demonstrated that multi-use trails work well. None of the conflicts that have always been predicted on multi-use trails have occurred here. This is a realization that attitude and proper design are the biggest factors in successfully sharing trails. We are not just building trails, we are building a new understanding of the important contributions that are being made by bicyclists, and a new cooperative relationship with the many land managers here in Marin County. You can be a part of this exciting new trend, please join us in our efforts.

Diggin' It

By Lisa Luzzi

I've got a bad back, I volunteer in other ways, I only have the weekends to ride, I've got to do my laundry. Trail work, it just wasn't high on my list of things to do. But knowing many of the dedicated volunteers of the BTC, I was hearing stories, progress reports of the latest trail as it was being built it Tamarancho. Man, these guys must be crazy. They seem just as passionate about building trails as they are about riding them. How can this manual labor be any fun? Then I heard they had 23 guys out one Saturday, and I thought, gee, maybe its time I checked things out for myself. Besides, with my latest investment up in Forest City and tons of trail work to be done up there, I thought it was important that I meet Pulaski and McCleod.

10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, that's when the serious builders arrive. I arrived a bit late, right behind the rest of the girls. Seems, the girls arrive late and leave early, but hey, it's the weekend. Being a complete novice, I got a free introductory lesson by the master himself. The female crew (Liz, Brooke and myself) each chose a different tool and formed a line down the yet to be cut trail. Soon we were moving along, picking, hoeing, raking, brushing and a trail was taking form in our wake. The 23 guys were not present that day, in fact, the girls just about out numbered the guys, but I must say; it was, indeed fun, in a painful kinda way. We dug on until we met up with the guys building the switch back below, and suddenly an entire section of trail was complete. Pretty impressive to see such immediate results after just a couple hours of work!

It took a few weeks to recover from my 'virgin' experience, the poison oak had healed, I paid my chiropractor $50 and I was beginning to think I might be ready for more. That Friday night, at a party full of my mountain biking comrades, the word was out that 'the girls' would make an appearance on the trails the next day. I did my best to recruit as many girls from the party as possible, and showed up (only 45 minutes late) the next morning. This time we had a crew of 5, still those 23 guys were no where to be found, but who needs 'emŠwould the guys be making clay sculptures and putting them along the trail when they got into a real sticky muddy section of clay? I pretty much forgot everything I learned in my first lesson, but got a quick refresher course after my initial effort was reviewed by the master, I was going too deep. Course #2 taught me how to use my tool with less strain to my back, to stay covered up (poison oak doesn't have any leaves this time of year), and that this clay could really be sculpted. After a couple hours of diggin' in the dirt, I was about ready to experience the dirt in other ways, on my bike! A few of us did bring our bikes along, and though I stole a few of the crew, we ended the day with a great ride on the lovely trails of Tamarancho. I did have a hard time dragging Nancy away from trail work, she was getting such satisfaction out of swinging her pick into that hillside.

As we cruised along the Goldman trail, you could hear each of us boasting. This was my section, I built this piece of trail. Satisfaction guaranteed! The feeling of riding on 'your' section of trail, as well as a new appreciation as you ride, looking at all those rocks on Wagon Wheel, I was glad I missed those days of trail building, but what a fine piece of work.

And for those who haven't gotten their fill, we have been given the green light to proceed with volunteer efforts up in the Tahoe National Forest, in the areas surrounding Downieville and Forest City, known as the Oregon Creek Watershed. An expansive network of historic mining trails in the Oregon Creek Watershed, has undergone an environmental impact study and has been approved to be restored. The Forest Service will receive substantial funding for this project in the year 2000, and is looking for volunteers for this year to kick the project off. We plan to begin work this summer, we will be hosting trail work days that will consist of trail work, bike rides, food, fun and camping. You are all invited to come on up and check out this town that I was crazy enough to invest in. We have slated the weekend of June 19th for the BTC crew, and August 8th and 9th the IMBA trail crew will be there. So mark those days on your calendar. Trail work in Marin stops during the summer, but we'll just be getting started up in the foothills of the Sierras. So for those of you with that trail building addiction (or sickness), you will not want for your pulaski this summer. For more info on the OCTC (Oregon Creek Trails Council), call Zach Anderson at (530) 274-2290 or contact me at (415) 492-7861.

BMX Makes a Comeback

Stephen Bryne

If you've had trouble prying the joystick out of your kid's hand, or his eyes are starting to cross from too much video viewing, there's always BMX. BMX has been around since the early 1970s, but has recently been making a comeback. You've probably seen a few neighborhood kids sporting full-face helmets and full-fingered gloves. They're part of the new BMX revolution. Mail-order catalogs have started including BMX sections, so you know its mainstream now. First a little history. BMX is short for bicycle motocross and it shares some of the traits of its cousin, real motocross. First, races take place on a closed course, which features jumps, smaller bumps, and tight turns. Jumps may take the forms of singles, doubles, or table-tops, depending on their configuration. Smaller bumps are the whoop-dee-doos of motocross fame. Racers are grouped according to age and ability, and sometimes gender. Importantly, you only race people of your same age and experience level. Races consist of three heats or "motos" which are one lap races around the track. Depending on how you fare in these motos, you may or may not make it to the finals or "main" event. The tracks are usually short, say up to a quarter of a mile around. So racing tends to be fast and furious. Read heart-pounding and lung-searing. Think oxygen debt. Then double or triple it. On the upside, BMX racing is competitive but there is a lot of camaraderie, due in part to the close proximity of the other racers and the mutual fear and aggression. Also, BMX racing tends to be a family affair in that a lot of families come to the races together and several of the kids may race during the course of the day. Families tend to camp out on the bleachers with food, water, tools, medical supplies, etc.

©1997 Bicycle Trails Council of Marin