BTCEB Buzz, June 2021

By Amy Arcus

Contra Costa County is surveying transportation including bike transit (focused on road riding but that could get riders to parks with trails). 

And another EBRPD survey in conjunction with UC Davis.  This is your opportunity to express yourself to the Park District.

Saturday June 19, 2021 – 9am to 12:00pm
2313 Oak Grove Rd.
Walnut Creek, CA 94598
37.928724, -122.0166683

The BTCEB Board of Directors approved the resumption of the club’s venerable Gala group rides.  The first “post-COVID” ride will take place at Shell Ridge Open Space in Walnut Creek.

Meet up at Mike Hess Brewing Company’s parking lot at 2313 Oak Grove Rd. Walnut Creek, CA 94598 at 9am.  Roll at 9:30am.

Join BTCEB President Jerott King as he leads an in depth tour of all the trails in Shell Ridge that he’s been riding since he was a kid.

Following the ride we’ll kick back at Mike Hess Brewing for a cold one and maybe even grab some tacos from a few doors down.  Keep an eye out for a Meetup announcement that will include all of the pertinent details.  In the meantime if you haven’t already, make sure to get your trail bike well tuned and ready for 8-10 miles of narrow single track and 1200 – 1500 ft of climbing. 

We’ll break up into groups based on rider ability, pace, etc. which means we’ll need some folks with Shell Ridge trail experience to help lead or sweep.  If you are interested in helping on the ride, please email Jerott (info@btceb.org).  See you on June 19th at Mike Hess Brewing!

by Yvette Skinner

Group rides will be restarting in June (whoot whoot!) and we are searching for a new permanent leader for our women’s group rides, normally held the first Saturday of the month. 

For this June the Women’s Ride is scheduled to be on Saturday June 26th hosted by USA Cycling Olympic Development Academy and Mike’s Bikes sponsored rider Arianna Mileli.  The ride details haven’t been fully finalized yet but likely at Lime or Shell Ridge (both in Walnut Creek) so look for a future Meetup announcement with all of the ride details.

Long term BTCEB is looking for an enthusiastic woman who would like to share the love of mountain biking with other women by leading or helping lead monthly the club’s monthly Women’s Group rides. BTCEB will initially help with the logistics of planning rides, which really isn’t hard once you get the hang of it. You won’t have to go it alone – our experienced current co-lead Ellen is staying on to help you out.

Mountain biking experience is helpful but most important is enthusiasm! Help us provide a place where women can feel comfortable improving their skills while sharing the mountain biking experience with other women.

For more details and for any questions, email: info@btceb.org

By Scott Bartlebaugh

A number of in progress efforts continued including a bike bell station pilot though EBRPD.  Public comment was submitted specifically on the EBRPD capital plan trail projects and comment made to the joint EBMUD/EBRPD Liaison Committee regarding increasing access to people riding bikes on EBMUD roads and trails.  

The May 11 EBRPD board meeting included an update from Assistant General Manager Kristina Kelchner and Planner Deven Reiff.  It starts around 2:09:55 in the linked YouTube video and then moves on to talking about activity at Briones wrapping up around 3:00:00.  The video is an opportunity to hear staff and board comments regarding trails and bike access directly.

At the May 11 EBRPD board meeting discussion did touch on some of the issues at Briones with acknowledgement by Brian Holt, Chief of Planning, that the situation isn’t working for equestrians and it isn’t working for mountain bikers and in many cases it’s not working for hikers.  He notes that there is a different conversation than  the typical zero sum solution of mountain biking being allowed only on fire roads and hikers and equestrians get access to everything. 

​Additionally it’s noted that increased use during Covid has shown that the same old approaches are the definition of insanity.  Captain Lance Brede from Law Enforcement has also stated the would rather be doing other things than issuing citations to mountain bikers and that a need for enforcement would likely decrease if there were more trails available to mountain bikers.  Director Coffey inquired about the use of trail management tools such as alternating days or directional access.  Director Weiskamp challenged the group to having improvements implemented by years end. 

This is a different conversation than in the past.  It remains to be seen if it progress to real and satisfying change.  We are doing what we can in the process and will let you know when there are specific times for action.

In the meantime there are things that you can do to reduce conflict at Briones including the following:

• When you encounter equestrians stop and talk to the rider.  Human voices put the horses more at ease and they are less likely to be spooked.  Ask them to let you know when it is safe to pass.  This may not be until the horse has passed you.
• When you encounter hikers/walkers/runners verbally call out and let them know you are there.  Slow down close to their speed.  Try to avoid startling them.  Consider using a bell.
• Understand that there is a 15 mph speed limit even though it may not be posted prominently.  15 mph isn’t necessarily a safe speed for passing other trail users though and slower speeds are needed for passing.  
• When merging into trails such as Alhambra Creek trail (road), slow and watch for other trail users particularly equestrians.  Consider those merge points similarly to merging trails at a ski/snowboard area or a no-wake zone on a lake.
• Pine Tree Trail has a particularly narrow section west of Briones Road with a blind entrance.  While this trail is closed to bikes there have still been problems with equestrians encountering bikes.  Horses encountering bikes on this section have reacted in ‘flight’ mode and spun 180 degrees and then bolted creating a very dangerous situation both for the riders and the horses. Please stay off of Pine Tree Trail.  Briones Road provides an alternate route to connect between Old Briones Road and Orchard Trail.

by John Roberts

Our beloved Joaquin Miller Park (JMP) is being terrorized by horrible weeds. Although they are known as Acacias, they are not appropriate to the trail and trees in the park system.  These bushes can grow very thick and out of control in very little time. Their root network grows underground and out competes more traditional trees like Redwoods and Cedars. Above ground, these plants are known to encroach on the trail and require a lot of recurring work. Acacias are not part of the original plant structure at JMP.

On June 5, 2021, volunteers, including many on bicycles, showed up to remove Acacia debris. It was all along lower Sanborn Drive, between Lookout Point and the JMP Abbey.  The effort is part of creating a fire break now that the summer is upon us.  The volunteers filled two large industrial bins. The Acacia leaves are being used to feed giraffes at the Oakland zoo. 

There is also a broader plan working in conjunction with the Friends of Joaquin Miller Park.  Look out for future acacia removal work opportunities in the future. 

A place where this is happening full tilt is on Bishops walk Trail.  If you don’t believe me, next time you ride there, I suggest you look up.  Many of the dead Redwood and Cedar trees planted there were part of arborist days from many decades ago.  By some accounts these trees were planted as far back as 1927.

By John Roberts

The Oakland Devo middle school mountain biking team did their share of trail work this season. Covid did not stop these youngsters from improving the drainage at Joaquin Miller Park and then some. Following various precautions including wearing face masks, workdays were broken up by pods. One pod insured there was proper drainage on the Sinawik and Palos Colorados Trails on both sides of the Palos Secos Creek (between the stone and wood bridges). The latter trail is also affectionately known by the youth as “pipeline“.

The second pod worked on another separate day. The second pod insured there was proper drainage on the Sunset Loop Trail. The reason this last trail was more work is because it has many railroad ties for erosion control that have already been swamped by dirt getting pushed down the trail on rainy days. The work involved digging spoon-tip knicks right before these railroad ties to ensure the water on the trail drains off instead of staying and running down the trail, causing erosion.

In addition, the second pod encountered another work project that needed help. A separate volunteer group was putting the Fern Trail sign back up after it had fallen because of wood rot. These other volunteers did not have a way to dig into the rock as they only possessed a post-hole-digger.  The youth came to the rescue and dug the two holes into the rock using their borrowed BTCEB trail tools.  

Many of the youth worked with their bike helmets on for safety and also park users get to know know who is working the trails.  Many on the Oakland Devo team have already done trailwork at Tamarancho, and Crockett.  This means they will be able to handle more complex trail work projects next season.  

​Thanks to these great athletes, Joaquin Miller Park will be in better shape for the next rain season.

By Scott Bartlebaugh

I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life and I continue to do so.  One of the most regrettable was failing to have my daughters join me in loving bikes.  Salsa has a good article talking about many aspects of doing right by your kids with bikes.  In short it’s simply about having fun.  While you’re at it just think about fun.  Did somebody say it was fun?  Kids have a different perspective on time, distance, effort, and to some extent fun.  A ride with kids and most importantly your kids or grandkids is about fun–their fun. They just might be really short rides.  Make it a fun ride for them, no matter how short, and you’ve got a chance to take another ride with them.  Nothing but happy trails . . .

by Scott Bartlebaugh

There’s trail etiquette in several forms.  We’ve got the etiquette towards  other trail users but there’s also the etiquette towards the trail designer, builder, and maintainers. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf45gP-bXio

Here’s a short video from Pinkbike with 6 items they’ve gleaned from trail builders: Skidding, Braiding, Changing Features, Riding in the mud, Riding Closed Trails, and Littering.  This might generate some hate mail but give it some thought from from the designer, builder, maintainer perspective.  Some trails don’t work out as intended at first and if they are driving you nuts work back through the land manager or advocacy group to affect improvements to the trail.