OUTLAWING OFF-ROAD RIDING
Winning Magazine, May 1986
by R. P. Boye
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The politics of banning mountain bikes from park trails. Bob Cooper |
On January 21 this year the East Bay Regional Park Board in California discussed the banning of off-road bicycles on many of its park trails. Park administrators felt that the prohibition of bicycles was necessary to ensure the safety of other trail users. The park district, which includes 46 parks in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, had received 30 complaints in two years from hikers and horseback riders who had been forced off trails by mountain bike riders. Consequently, the park board drew up an ordinance that would prohibit bikes from using dirt trails designed primarily for hiking and horseback riding. About one-third of the trails within the parks would be affected. Bikes would be allowed only on fire roads.
The board listened to public comments before finally voting on the ordinance which was passed unanimously seven-zero. The following is a condensed version of the open meeting. It illustrates the problems which are being experienced by mountain bikers everywhere.
Bob Owen (park staff member) In early 1985, we requested the Park Advisory Committee (PAC) to consider the issue of bicycles, and mountain bikes in particular, within the park district. The PAC approved a policy which was then communicated to the community at large, principally to the Trails Council, which includes horseback riders and hikers. We felt that it was important to go forward [with the ordinance] because of the perceived problems of mountain bikes in terms of their effect on the environment and their place in the parks. We felt that the [ban] represents a clearly reasoned approach which says you don't use a sledge hammer to solve a problem. We're not [completely] banning mountain bikes or bicycles from the park. Instead, we are trying to determine where bikes best fit within the park. The intent of the ordinance is to have signs at the entrance to the parks, and not to have numerous signs throughout the park at the head or foot of each trail showing a bicycle with a slash through it.
Ted Radke (park board director and moderator) Thank you. I will now call you up individually. Okay... Jack Ingram.
Ingram (founder of the Off-Road Bicycle International Society) I am a user of many different trails in our wonderful park districts in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties. I have had three horses; I'm a jogger; I'm a hiker; I'm a member of the National Organization of the American Hiking Society. I have also been a bicyclist for 37 years. I bicycle every day to work. I won't be able to get to some parks if this ordinance is passed. I would have to break the regulation, since there are no fire roads in certain park areas. I feel that [the proposed ordinance] is a very strong overreaction to a real problem, which I admit we do have. We've got to solve it; we need some restrictions. I'm talking about certain groups - and they are groups, not individuals - who bike down these canyons.
[I could only find one reference to the Off-Road Bicycle International Society, this "Bachelor thesis The Czech Mountain Bike Association, its inspiration in IMBA" (translated) contains this paragraph: "The meeting took place in Fairfax at Kelly's house. The name of the organization was decided here. There were two proposals. The first, as we know it today, the National Off-Road Bicycling Association (N.O.R.B.A.) and the second Off-Road Bicycle International Society (O.R.B.I.S.). The first one was chosen." - MF]
Many of your facilities, however, do not have a bike problem. So rather than have a total blanket policy ruling, each problem area should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. We should have restrictions, but only in the areas that need them.
Radke Thank you. Ray Hosler.
Hosler (writer and bike columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle) I live in Palo Alto, and I came here because I have a strong interest in cycling, especially off-road cycling. I have ridden on many of the trails in this part of the Bay Area, and I have a good perspective of what's happening on my side of the Bay. When cyclists started using trails there, the problem was dealt with in a similar manner to what you're doing here today. However, the issue was dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The authorities didn't close every single footpath - only those heavily traveled by hikers and joggers. My experience on the trails has been that where they are very narrow, the opportunity to go at a very high speed is much less than it would be on a very wide trail. You're much more concerned with handling the bicycle on narrow trails. You get your speed on a wide trail, such as a fire road.
John O'Donnell (park board director) Are you saying that the park district should select those areas not suitable [for mountain bike riding] and put signs up? Would that be a way to handle it? Or should we would wait until [an accident] occurs and then take action?
Hosler There are places where I can understand why you should close down the trails because of the large amount of foot traffic, such as paths close to parking lots. But you first need to run a study on a case-by-case basis to find out if there have been any accidents and, if so, to look at the amount of foot traffic.
O'Donnell So we have to wait for an accident to happen. There are some places, for example, where we don't allow joggers because the trails are too narrow. There are some other trails where we allow people but not horses. So we try to identify those trails. Sometimes it takes an accident. Getting run over by a jogger is often worse than a bicycle. But the thing that's worrying me is that we have so many miles of trails - hundreds of miles of footpaths - and if we expect the staff to pick out those areas where mountain bikes are inappropriate, then we must put up signs. and have somebody check them to make sure that they stay there.
Hosler In my district, they post signs at the main access points. Obviously, you can't post signs everywhere. The control of the signs' placing is left up to the park service in terms of keeping people out.
O'Donnell And in your opinion that would not be a logistical problem for the district or an expensive way to enforce good park use and safe park use?
Hosler The whole thing boils down to this: there are going to be irresponsible people who use the trails and there are going to be responsible people who use the trails. Hikers are even known to start fires. The park service would serve itself best by having a park ranger who rides a mountain bike. If he sees you going too fast, he can give you a ticket. That has worked out very well, I understand, at the Crystal Springs Reservoir area. The best way to solve the problem, especially on weekends when there are a lot of hikers and bicycles, is to issue tickets when somebody's riding unsafely.
Walter Costa (park board director) When I'm on a foot trail I don't expect to run into a motorcycle or a bicycle.
Hosler If there is a problem it should be dealt with. If there isn't a problem, then I don't see what the point is.
Costa There's a problem for me if a bicycle is coming at me on a foot trail.
Radke Thank you. Bill Katovsky.
Katovsky (editor-in-chief of Tri-Athlete magazine) I come here as a short-term resident of the Bay Area. I've lived here for about six years. I think it's ironic that we're here discussing the prohibition of off-road bicycles. Several years ago, city planners were discussing what to do with bicycles on city streets. It seemed like the bicycle was nobody's friend; the city planners all said bicycles don't belong in the streets, and bicycle coalitions had to work very hard to have bike lanes placed on city pavements. Now we also have a place to bicycle away from traffic - in the parks. Cars pose a greater danger to a cyclist than a cyclist on an off-road bike poses to a hiker.
In three years of off-road riding, I've not once encountered a hiker or a horse without slowing down and giving them the right of way. We're not all reckless. We're not the same breed as kids on BMX bikes who repeatedly go to the top of a trail in a pickup truck and go storming down the trail. To me, they represent a hazard to the park. I would like to see permits issued to anyone who uses an off-road bike in the East Bay Park District. This is one way to control the problem.
I don't want to see a situation in the East Bay Park District that mirrors what is happening in Marin County where antagonism exists between people who ride off road and the park district, local authorities and officials who are doing their utmost in trying to say: "We've a problem here, we've got to control it, so off-road cycling is outlawed. We're going to confiscate your bicycle." That breeds a confrontation situation. If you have a situation like this happening in the East Bay Parks, you're going to have more than you bargained for.
I'd also like to address this council's criticism that when hiking on a trail, one should expect to see only other hikers. I think that's a little myopic. These parks aren't just made for hikers. They're made for many uses. I've been scared by a galloping horse when jogging or walking. Does this mean that all horses should be banned as well? No. In other words, the horse people must also be educated that these trails are for other uses.
O'Donnell I do want bike trails, you understand.
Katovsky What you want to do is prohibit mountain bikes from using hiking trails until you decide which is a safe trail, thereby putting the onus on cyclists. Well, I'd like to see the coin flipped on the other side.
O'Donnell We have bike trails.
Katovsky Fire roads, to me, represent one of the greatest hazards of mountain biking. I like to stay away from fire roads; you go too fast and there are usually too many people. I do most of my riding on narrow trails, simply because you're forced to go slower. It takes a lot more bike-handling skills, as Ray Hosler just indicated. But on fire roads, you can achieve speeds up to 20 or 30 mph, and I think that represents a hazard to hikers. I don't want to see a horse going that fast either if I happen to be walking in some moment of reverie. Yet to outlaw bikes in the way you have suggested will only exacerbate the problem as it exists.
I recently organized a mountain bike group ride. Over 100 people showed up. There were no accidents, and we used fire roads as well as narrow trails and footpaths. In the course description sent to all participants, I told everyone "to be kind to hikers and horses if they happened to see any along the way."
Mary Lee Jefferds (park board director) You mentioned that you had 100 bikers on your ride. How many hikers or horsemen or dogs did you meet on the way, and at what hour was this ride?
Katovsky This was Saturday at 9:00 a.m. I didn't encounter any hikers.
O'Donnell I have a comment here. It runs through the whole theme of what we've been hearing. There's a perception problem. What we are proposing to do for the first time is to allow the use of mountain bikes on park district land. What the ordinance says - and most laws are written in the negative sense anyway - is that these are the things you can't do. Everything else is allowed. This board has initiated an action to allow mountain bike riders like yourself to utilize trail systems. We're adding a new use to the park that has never been there before. And we'll make recommendations in the following year to see if there are changes that need to be made.
Katovsky That's an interesting way of putting it, and I can see the logic behind your argument. Unfortunately, before there was a prohibition, I understood that to mean that since I didn't see any sign at the entrance to the park, I assumed that you could bicycle in these areas. If not, why wouldn't there be a sign? When I see signs saying "no dogs," I know that I shouldn't take my dog there.
Radke You asked originally for five minutes; you've been speaking for almost 20 now. I appreciate your comments but can you conclude soon?
Katovsky No, I'll let the other people talk. Thank you for your time.
Radke Joyce Davis.
Davis I'm a member of PAC and the current chairperson of the subcommittee on park land use. I want to give you a few thoughts on why we came up with the policy as we did. We had to start somewhere and we wanted to keep it simple. We are quite sure that in a year we will want a review. We're sure that places like connector trails between parks will be essential for bikers who have a right to get from one park to the other.
Radke Thank you; Ms. Jefferds.
Jefferds I think I'll put on my hat as Friends of Claremont Canyon, although for those in the audience, they should know that I'm the chairperson of the PAC. I do want to urge some action. From personal knowledge, we have an extremely critical situation in Claremont Canyon. We have pedestrians who are so frantic that somebody has dug a four-foot trench across the trail to try and discourage the bikers from getting out of control. People have taken to putting large boulders in place because of the tremendous problems and the danger to pedestrians. When the bikes go out of control they skid and rocks are thrown. My husband has had to physically dive out of the way - not just step out of the way. We need a policy and we need it enforced.
Radke Ann Riley.
Riley I'm a City of Berkeley resident. My hiking partner and I both have relatively high-pressure lives, and we escape to the regional park system almost every weekend in order to try and paste our psyches back together. Yes, I've had to dive out of the way of bicycles.
There are five points I'm making here. One is that the activity doesn't look safe for the participants. The second is the activity is not safe for me as a hiker. The third is that it's creating a major distraction for somebody who loves hiking in that park to a point where we're not electing to hike there now. The fourth is that the paths are showing significant erosion damage. And fifth, there are many gullies being created in the park system - and you're going to have very serious physical problems.
As far as solutions go, I think that we should inventory problem areas where we have sensitive environments and not allow bicycles in those areas. I personally don't know a fire trail from a trail that is not a fire trail. And I would recommend that perhaps none of those are really appropriate for bicycles.
Radke Is there anybody else who would like to address the board on this matter before we close the public hearing?
Chris Reed Sir, I live here in the East Bay. I'm a downhill mountain biker, and since you are going to be regulating the trails I think you should take into account weekend versus weekday use. A lot of the times I'm out on the weekdays, and there's nobody out there - no horses, dogs or pedestrians. Some of the other districts regulate trails on the downslope to control high speeds, but it's open on the upgrade.
Radke Thank you. The only comment I want to make is that I'm not unsympathetic to mountain bikes. In fact, my wife is trying to get me one. Nonetheless, we have a motion before us. All those in favor?
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