EBRPD District Plan Survey — Act Now!

The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) wants your input during Round 2 of its public outreach on updating its District Plan.  You can provide your input through an online questionnaire and budgeting exercise.  They are looking for feedback on (1) their draft goals and (2) relative priorities.  The online questionnaire has multiple open text boxes.  We suggest you use those text boxes to tell them (1) what type of mountain bike trails you would like see, (2) how many new trails you would like to see, and (3) specifically what parks you think should have significant mountain bike access.  Keep in mind they are looking for priorities so prioritize the parks you suggest

It is important that the park district hear from the mountain bike community. The district will use responses to a great extent to prioritize work and budgets.  A strong showing in the survey will help advance access.  A lack of response in the questionnaire would be used to lower the priority on improving mountain bike singletrack access. Don’t let this happen.  Fill out the questionnaire now — don’t wait.  And then get 1 other person to fill it out.

Here’s more on the District Plan from EBRPD:

The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is seeking community input to develop EBRPD’s next District Plan. We encourage you to complete the online activities available at https://www.ebparks.org/district-plan now through August 2026. The website also offers more information about EBRPD and the District Plan.

The District Plan is a long-term strategic roadmap that will guide EBRPD’s major decisions over the coming decades. It will outline broad goals and help prioritize actions to achieve the vision of a well-managed and exceptional system of open space parklands in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. While the Plan will not list specific projects, it will serve as a framework for future decisions about which projects to prioritize. The Plan will also address the changing climate, economy, and demographics of the East Bay.

In Round 1 of outreach, EBRPD received nearly 6,000 survey responses. Round 2 of outreach has begun and will continue through summer 2026. See the Round 1 summary and complete the new online activity at https://www.ebparks.org/district-plan.

Scott Bartlebaugh, Advocacy Director

Your Local NICA Team Could Use Your Help to Get More Kids on Bikes

The East Bay is home to a number of NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association) teams that all race as part of NICA’s NorCal League. NICA was established in 2009 and is built on a foundation of building strong minds, bodies, characters and communities through mountain bike racing, adventure riding, trail work, community outreach, and scholarship programs for high school and middle school students. NICA teams practice several times each week during a season that runs from December through May each year, and the NorCal League puts on four races plus a championship race during that season.

Check out this video from Pedal Born Pictures to get a sense of the atmosphere at a NICA race (this video is a few years old, but watch for a few familiar faces):

BTCEB allocates some financial support each year to local NICA teams and invites students and coaches from those teams to participate in BTCEB’s trail work days. Here are some other opportunities for our mountain bike community to support these teams:

Become a coach

Teams are almost always looking for more coaches.  NICA has strong coach education and support programs: you’ll learn mountain bike skills (and how to teach them!), but also coaching philosophy, risk management, wilderness first aid, and will learn to give positive, supportive feedback. If you have time and are so inclined, consider becoming a coach with a local team.

Donate your old bikes, gear and kit

Most teams maintain a collection of loaner bikes that student athletes can use for the season if they don’t have a bike of their own. Loaner bikes don’t need to be newest bikes out there, but they do need to be in reliable mechanical condition and have disc brakes. Your donated bike could enable students who doesn’t have bikes of their own to participate and learn about mountain biking for years. Loaner bikes can also be important for coaches — many coaches are parents who have ridden road bikes but may be new to mountain biking. In addition to bikes, donations of spare parts, wheels, cycling shoes, cycling clothing, and sunglasses may be useful to NICA teams. Check with a particular team to see what their specific needs are.

Volunteer at NorCal races

Volunteers help with course marshalling, timing, course setup and take-down at NorCal races. Teams provide volunteers at each race, and there’s always room for more volunteers at each race. Try it out and, if you love it, consider joining NorCal’s race crew!

Here is this season’s NorCal race calendar:

Race venue	Central/East Bay Regions	Redwood/Repack Regions
Race 1: Fort Ord (East Garrison)	Saturday, 2/28	Saturday, 2/21
Race 2: Exchequer (La Grange)	Saturday, 3/14	Saturday, 3/21
Race 3: Six Sigma (Lower Lake)	Sunday, 4/12	Saturday, 4/11
Race 4: Stafford Lake (Novato)	Saturday, 4/25	Saturday, 5/2
Champs Weekend: Six Sigma (Lower Lake)	DEVO championships: Saturday, 5/16	High school championships: Sunday, 5/17

Races 1 and 2 have already happened, but the upcoming races at Six Sigma Winery in Lower Lake and our “local” course at Stafford Lake in Novato are always so much fun!

Find a local team

NorCal also has a map of NICA teams on their website, but here’s a list of East Bay teams with links to their websites or Instagram pages so you can check them out and find a team near you:

Alameda County

Alameda Hornets High School MTB Team

Albany High School Cougars MTB

Berkeley Mountain Bike Team

East Bay German International School & International High School (EBGIS | EBIHS)

Hayward Composite

Mission Peak Composite

Oakland Composite

Oakland DEVO

Oakland Tech Bulldogs

Piedmont DEVO MTB Club

Piedmont MTB Team

Skyline High Bike Team

Wildcat Composite DEVO

Conta Costa County

Clayton Valley Charter High School MTB Team

Contra Costa County Composite MTB Team

East County Shred

El Cerrito High School MTB Race Team

Monte Vista HS MTB Team

San Ramon Valley (SRV) MTB Team

Solano County

Strait Circle Composite

We cheer for everyone at NICA races. You can share in that by cheer for these teams when you see them riding in your local park. Or, better yet, go ride with them and share your love of mountain biking with the next generation of trail stewards and advocates.

Scott Bartlebaugh, Advocacy Director

Brian Glueck, Communications Director (and Skyline Coach)