A Teaching Moment – Equitable Access

Recently an incident occurred on an EBMUD property when a couple of horseback riders encountered some gravel riders on a trail.  It was on a trail that bikes are prohibited from riding.  Their horses bolted and eventually both riders were thrown off and injured.  Luckily they were not injured too severely and are recovering thankfully.  This could have been much worse.  This EBMUD property, as is the case with most EBMUD roads and trails, does not provide legal bike access.  An equestrian advocate asked us if this was a teachable moment and we see it as a teachable moment on several fronts.  One is the typical trail etiquette and safety messaging that comes across to some people as finger wagging and overly critical of mountain bikers.  There’s a another teaching moment that the continued lack of equitable access is again a root cause to this incident as well.  

The public desire for bike access to trails continues to grow, along with desire from many other trail users.  It’s accelerating with the growth of NICA programs, continued general growth that was happening pre-Covid, the explosion of trail use during Covid, and the evolution of mountain bikes, gravel bikes, and e-bikes.Access in the East Bay has not kept pace with this growth. Other land managers have managed access better.  Land managers in Napa County at Skyline Regional Wilderness Park, Moore Creek Park are being successful building new trails and serving hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers.  Marin County examples include Ponti Ridge and Loma Alta Open Space.  Santa Cruz examples include Soquel Demonstration Forest, Wilder Ranch State Park, Pogonip Open Space and San Vicente Redwoods.  These are just some of the nearest examples.  Bike access to narrow trails in the East Bay is not equitable to the fraction of trail users that would like that experience nor comparable to what adjacent land managers are safely delivering.  

Constant opposition by some conservation, hiking, and equestrian advocates to nearly any additional bike access is not preserving their trail experiences,  protecting the safety of hikers or equestrians, nor protecting natural resources.  Decades of minimal change in bike trail access is resulting in increasing numbers of cyclists riding trails closed to bikes.  Hikers and equestrians find it less predictable as to when they’ll encounter a bike.In some cases the most susceptible hikers or equestrians are displaced from trails.  Prohibition isn’t working.  Equitable access will improve the predictability of when and where hikers and equestrians encounter bikes, their trail experiences, and perceived and real safety.It will also protect natural resources and habitat.

Much of this opposition comes from the least tolerant hikers or equestrians.  As in any user group there are a range of capabilities and desired experiences.  Not all mountain bikers are looking for the same experiences.Some live for the downhills; getting uphill is just a necessary evil.  Maybe you’re looking for smooth flowy trails, or rocky rooty challenging tech.  Drops, steeps, gaps are what it’s all about for some riders.  Physical challenge or finding solitude might be your thing.  Just as all mountain bikers aren’t looking for the same thing there’s a range of what hikers and equestrians are looking for and what they’re comfortable with on a shared trail.  At the Briones Pilot meeting reports of trail conflict were low but when it happens it’s remembered for a long time.  Despite reports that Crockett Hills is only used by bikes you’ll actually find a significant number of hikers that are able to have an enjoyable experience there.  Yes there are those hikers that don’t feel safe sharing those trails with bikes.  It’s a significant group but probably not the majority.  Hikers can choose from every trail in the East Bay open to the public.  Not every trail suits everybody’s prime desired experience.  They are shared open spaces and trails.  As one of the EBRPD directors noted when you get away from a trailhead you don’t see many people and they’re normally getting along.  It’s unrealistic to think every trail should be designed for the intersection of of the least compatible from various user groups yet this is often the demand of opponents to increased bike access.  Today there are no bike only trails in the East Bay.  The Briones Pilot proposes the first bike only access albeit on a temporary basis.

A lack of enforcement is sometimes cited as the root cause of this kind of incident.  There aren’t enough resources available to enforce the vast prohibition on the scale of the current trail systems.  Current enforcement has an impact for a time but it’s not possible for it to be system wide all the time.Resources spent on equitable access will have a much more positive impact than enforcement.  Enforcement is a measure of last resort when education and equitable access haven’t worked.  In those cases it’s probably the right action.

BTCEB spends considerable effort engaging other trail and open space stakeholders to understand their concerns, educate the mtb community of those issues, and seek collaborative solutions.  We ask for the support of these stakeholders to help create better experiences for all trail users and better natural resource protection through more equitable access.  It’s clear that the status quo and prohibition are NOT working.  It’s well past time for equitable access.