BTCEB Buzz September 2022

On August 6, 2022, Full Send Mountain Bike Racing headed to the hills of Oakland to host the first ever enduro in the history of the East Bay. The 2022 Joaquin Miller Park Enduro presented by Mike’s Bikes was a three-stage race that showcased the best singletracks Oakland has to offer. The course included everything from fast and flowy to steep and technical terrain. Overall, the race covered more than 10 miles of riding and 1500 feet of descending.

Due to it’s precedent-breaking nature, the Joaquin Miller Park Enduro immediately gained traction in the local Bay Area mountain biking community. Shortly after its announcement, the event website was flooded with thousands of visits and the race Instagram account received hundreds of followers overnight. When registration finally opened in June, the race sold out in under two hours.

The event began early on a Saturday morning with participants arriving from all over the Bay Area; some even traveling from places as far as Salinas or Santa Rosa. In total, the Joaquin Miller Park Enduro saw nearly 100 racers in attendance with many more people coming to spectate and volunteer. After attending a riders meeting hosted by the Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay and Oakland Bike Patrol that covered responsible trail riding etiquette and the race rules, riders headed up the transfer stage to start the race. 

Racing started on schedule around 9:00 AM as riders began arriving at the starting lines of the three downhill stages. While waiting for their turn to start, riders hung out, listening to music and cheering on their fellow racers. Despite the event being a competition, all the racers were encouraging to each other and everyone was having a great time.

Between racing on each of the timed stages, racers enjoyed spending time at the event staging area where snacks and drinks were provided courtesy of Trader Joe’s and Noah’s Bagels. The staging area offered many activities and things to do. Nonprofit organizations such as the Bay Area Bike Project and the Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay set up informational tents; while event sponsors such as Mike’s Bikes, a local chain of bike shops, brought their mobile bicycle repair van in case any racers experienced mechanical issues and First Mile Cycle Works, another local bike shop, set up a tent for members of their mountain bike team.

Racing went on for several hours without any hiccups and when it finally finished around noon, racers were served pizza from a local pizzeria named Dimond Slice. As the racers ate, bike parts and gear donated by Trail One Components and Wilderness Trail Bikes were raffled off. Shortly after, winners were announced and the race was officially over. 

As a fundraiser, the Joaquin Miller Park Enduro did extremely well. In total, the event raised nearly $20,000. The money raised will be extremely helpful in improving the trails of Joaquin Miller Park. The success of the event would not have been possible if it were not for the event sponsors, volunteers, and racers. Thank you!

By: Niko Dittmar

Image Credits: 

Oliver JC: oliverjcollins@gmail.com

Trail Shutter: trailshutter.dan@gmail.com

Change is coming to both the EBRPD and EBMUD Boards of Directors with the 2022 November election cycle.

Three of the four EBRPD Board seats are uncontested. Wards 5, 6, and 7 only had one candidate complete the filing process and will be filled by those candidates. Olivia Sanwong will become the director for Ward 5 replacing Ayn Weiskamp (retiring after 20+ years on the board), John Mercurio in Ward 6 replacing Barbara Lane (retiring after 20+ years on the board), and incumbent President Colin Coffey will begin his 3rd term for Ward 7. Olivia Sanwong is currently serving on the EBRPD Public Advisory Commission. Ward 3 incumbent Dennis Waespi is challenged by Gina Lewis and Daphne Lin.

In the EBMUD races there are 4 director seats up for election with two of those being contested and Ward 7 will see a new board member as incumbent Frank Mellon is not running. These board members are critical decision makers in park decisions including bike access.

BTCEB as a 501(c)3 organization can not endorse candidates. We will do candidate research and plan to survey candidates and communicate those findings as a permitted educational activity. We urge you to do your own research as well, participate in the public process, and vote. Candidate websites listed below were provided in county elections filing reports.

EBRPD

Ward 3

Gina M. Lewis — https://www.electginamlewis.org/

Daphne Lin — https://www.facebook.com/daphnelin2022

Dennis Waespi – Incumbent

Ward 5 

Olivia Sanwong

Ward 6

John Mercuiro

Ward 7 

Colin Coffey – Incumbent

EBRPD Board Map

EBMUD Ward 2

John A. Coleman – incumbent

EBMUD Ward  3

Mark Seedall

Marguerite Young – incumbent — https://www.young4ebmud.org/

EBMUD Ward  4

Andy Katz – incumbent

EBMUD Ward  7

April Chan — https://vote4aprilchan.com/

Matt Turner — https://votemattturner.com/

Corina N. Lopez — https://www.corinalopez.com/

EBMUD Ward Map

Ward 2 is in Contra Costa County and includes the cities of Alamo, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Town of Danville, portions of San Ramon and Pleasant Hill, and communities of Blackhawk and Diablo.

Ward 3 is in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and includes substantial portions of the city of Oakland, Piedmont, Orinda, El Sobrante, Town of Moraga, and portions of Pinole and Richmond.

Ward 4 is in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and includes the cities of Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and a portion of Oakland, El Cerrito and Kensington.

Ward 7 is in Alameda County and Contra Costa Counties and includes the community of Castro Valley, portions of San Leandro and Hayward, the communities of Cherryland and Fairview, and a portion of San Ramon.

The EBRPD is still planning on conducting a Briones Pilot program but will seek further public input prior to starting the pilot program.   The program had been targeted to begin in November 2022 and is now expected to begin in Spring of 2023.   Watch for coming information on the public input opportunities.   The pilot is aimed at trail management practices to improve trail user experiences, reduce trail user conflict, reduce unsanctioned trail building, and improve resource protection.   See our previous Briones Pilot article for an overview of the current proposal.

The EBRPD Planning department is moving forward with planning for the former Roddy Ranch golf course parcel.   The 230-acre former golf course is anticipated to be the first part of the larger 3,700-acre future Deer Valley Regional Preserve to open in the coming years.  

Their current schedule includes reviews at the  Board Executive Committee on Thursday September 8, 2022,  the Park Advisory Committee on Monday October 24, 2022, and Board Approval on Tuesday November 1, 2022.

The current plan has 4.2 miles of multi-use trails including 1.6 miles of accessible trails.   Roddy Ranch will be a future connector into the Deer Valley parcel.  None of the trails are bike optimized.

The Plan, and associated documents, can be viewed directly on the project webpage under Project Resources

The Park District is happy to receive questions and comments via the “comment box” on the project webpage.

Join us on SUNDAY September 25th for our Gala ride through the East Bay hills of ANTHONY CHABOT REGIONAL PARK! This will be a fun time as we climb up to the views from Brandon trail, weave through the eucalyptus trees on Towhee, rip down Soaring Hawk, and hit the single track on Redtail. Should be a great time so come join us!

Meet at:
The MARCIEL GATE STAGING AREA in Anthony Chabot Regional Park,
Intersection of Redwood Rd and Marciel Rd, Oakland CA 94619

We will gather at 9am at the Marciel Gate Staging Area by the picnic bench and hit the trails promptly at 9:30am.

The Marciel Gate Staging Area is in Chabot Park at the intersection of Redwood Rd and Marciel Rd. There are signs for it and the campground, which is farther down Marciel Rd. There are 2 parking lots, one on each side of Marciel Rd. The parking is free inside the lots, but it is limited. If the lot is full, there are spots on the side of Redwood Rd, north/south of the parking lots. Carpooling is encouraged to make sure we have space for everyone.

Join us for refreshments and snacks after the ride. A well-tuned mountain bike is a must!

• We will separate into 3 levels of riders: The beginner group, group C, will ride around 10 miles and 1000ft of elevation gain; The intermediate group, group B, will ride around 12 miles and 1500ft of elevation gain; the advanced group, group A, will ride around 15+ miles and 2000+ ft of elevation gain. All rides are ‘no-drop’ rides (we won’t leave you behind or let you get lost) and are fully supported.
• BTCEB (Bicycle Trails Council of East Bay) is the oldest Mountain Bike Advocacy Non-Profit in the USA. We are a volunteer run, advocacy group for mountain bikers; we work to get more trails made in the east bay, we help maintain trails within east bay parks (like Joaquin Miller and Crockett Hills) and we organize fun rides and events for the mountain bike community. Join us and help the cause!
• For more info on the Bicycle Trails Council of East Bay and to join, please JOIN TODAY!
• Support BTCEB by donating $45 to receive a limited edition BTCEB ride shirt. They are stylish athletic wear so get yours to help support. We will bring the shirts to the ride and can be purchased afterwards.

Rides are free and open to the public and led by experienced local mountain bikers familiar with the trails. Medical coverage is provided to all paid BTCEB members, one more reason to join.

Sign up for this ride on

Ride Like a Girl is heading to the seaside for September, to the lovely and challenging trails at Wilder Ranch State Park in Santa Cruz. Join ride leader Rebecca Lewington on September 17th at 8:30am at Humble Sea Brewing at 820 Swift St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. This will give us plenty of time to sign in, go over how the rides work and answer any questions you might have before rolling out at 9am.

Sign up at https://www.meetup.com/bicycletrailscouncil/events/288046298/

This unusual start point has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Rebecca’s love of hazy IPAs, but will give us a two-mile flat warm-up along the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail before we enter Wilder Ranch proper for a singletrack smorgasbord.

Our route will be a bit longer than usual at nearly 19 miles, but with only a bit more than 2,000 feet of climbing, it won’t be all that strenuous. Parts of these trails would probably be too challenging for beginner riders, but intermediate and up riders are likely to have a most excellent time.

As always, the mission of Ride Like a Girl is to have fun, learn new trails and meet other women who love to mountain bike. We’ll take care of you: these are no-stress rides where no one is left behind.

Please bring your mountain bike, obviously, in good working condition. (No ebikes, please. Ride Like a Girl is strictly analog.) Whether you’re running tubeless tires or not, please make sure you have a spare inner tube to fit your wheels, plenty of water and some food for the trail.

And please consider joining BTCEB! We are much more than a group that puts on rides. BTCEB tirelessly advocates for better bike access on trails in the East Bay and we need your support.

If you have questions, please comment at the signup link and we’ll get right back to you.

Last weekend, these eighteen awesome women joined me for a challenging route up, and more importantly, down, the trails on the West side of Anthony Chabot Regional Park in Castro Valley. I noticed afterwards that we’d done this exact route 364 days previously! I’m not ashamed to repeat myself: this was the 14th edition of Ride Like a Girl since the pandemic hiatus, so we’re definitely on a roll.

My favorite moment happened after the ride: As I was putting my bike away, I glanced across and saw a happy group of (slightly dusty) women swapping stories, tips and making friends under a shady tree. Now that’s what Ride Like a Girl is all about.

The next ride will be on September 17, 2022. Follow BTECB on Facebook or Meetup and we’ll let you know when signups open.  We always ride on the third Saturday of the month, so why not block your calendars well into the future!

– Rebecca Lewington, Board Member-At-Large