A Good Day on the Trails at Bobcat Ridge and Some Talk of Alternate Lines

Today I was able to escape for a few hours to enjoy the trails at Bobcat Ridge Natural Area.  I was excited to head into the hills a bit because I had heard that the trails were dry and in good shape, and they certainly were.  We are having some fantastic weather for late January and there were lots of people taking advantage of the nice weather at Bobcat Ridge today.  I had the opportunity to chat with a fair number of trail users and tell them about Trailcology (nothing like grassroots marketing) .  There was a mountain biker named Trent who has only lived in the area for about 8 months, Dave and Jan who have been in the area for about a year, a trail runner named John, and several other couples who's names I didn't catch.  Everyone was incredibly friendly and obviously enjoying the great weather.  Again, I couldn't help but think what a great area we live in!

I wanted to collect some pictures of the Ginny Trail today to talk about alternate lines on the trail.  Some of these lines are manmade using logs that were left after the Bobcat Gulch fire burned through in 2000.  These alternate lines are mostly for mountain bikers but I suspect that there are other users who get a kick out of the novel bits of trail that have been built on the Ginny Trail.  Of course, there may also be some trail users who do not like the alternative lines because it adds confusion to the trail or to their interactions with mountain bikers coming down the trail, I don't know for sure.  I would love to start a dialogue about how different trail users perceive these alternate lines.

Have a look at some of these alternate lines.

This is one of the first alternate lines that you come across as you are going up the Ginny Trail (photo is taken looking down the trail).  This is an interesting line because it completely bisects this section of trail.  Aside from the issues related to riding (or falling) off of the line and through the vegetation, this segment does a good job of separating the adventurous mountain bikers from any other trail users who happen to be at the section at the same time. 

This is a cool section where a log bridge has been built to bisect the trail.  I could see this line being used by hikers and runners in addition to mountain bikers.  You may notice that this bridge is much wider than the log skinnies that are found on the trail.  While this may not be the favorite of some mountain bikers because it is not as challenging as some of the other features, it is a great alternate line choice for novice mountain bikers to explore.  Additionally, this feature has the added benefit of allowing trail users to get off of the north facing segment of trail that will probably be muddy as the snow melts.  Whether intentional or not, this is a well placed piece of trail.

This is the second log skinny that you come across as you come up the Ginny Trail (photo taken looking down the trail).  This log skinny is in a nice location for beginner mountain bikers because there is little to no consequence for falling off.  However, this feature is immediately adjacent to the trail and may present an issue when mountain bikers interact with other users at this location.  Of course, there may be some folks who enjoy watching the mountain bikers ride (or try to ride) this feature.  But for those who are less than thrilled with the location of the feature, it's easy to understand why.  It would be very easy for there to be some negative interactions if mountain bikers don't let the other users pass first.

Obviously I have presented a few worst case scenarios.  I do not believe that there would be very many mountain bikers who are so brazen as to risk crashing into another trail user.  But again, I don't know for sure.  On the flip side, I have also pointed out some really positive points to these alternate lines.  Allowing users to avoid muddy sections and damaging the trail, providing some passing points for users, and providing fun and challenging technical features.

After spending some time on the trail today I noticed a variety of further opportunities for alternate lines.  Lines that give mountain bikers some of the technical terrain that they crave, while also helping to get them off of the main trail and away from hikers, runners, and equestrians who might not favor a mountain biker hurdling down the trail toward them on rocky sections.  I'm not sure where the City of Fort Collins stands on the issue of these alternate lines but they have, at least, been tolerated up to this point.  This would be a question I would like to ask the Natural Areas crew.

Personally, I feel that there is room for more features like these on our local trails, as long as they are created and placed intelligently.  Alternate lines can be problematic when they send mountain bikers shooting off a feature toward the flow of general trail use, but when built and placed appropriately they can provide a number of key benefits to the trail, with a primary benefit being the reduction of unwanted interaction between agressive mountain bikers and the rest of the trail users.

In addition to a few more pictures, I would like to leave you with these questions:

What are your thoughts on alternate lines like these?

What kind of interactions have you experience around alternate line features?

Would you like to see more alternate lines on more of our local trails?

Happy Trails!

Chris

Spring Volunteer Opportunities with Larimer County

As I mentioned just the other day, I have collaborated with Larimer County to help complete some early volunteer projects on two different County properties.  These projects do not involve trail maintenance but instead they address issues on the land near the trails.  This is what I call the "trail system" - the greater landscape around a trail.  Both projects are meant to address concerns around watercourses by planting riparian plants in strategic locations to improve streambank stability.  These projects should be a lot of fun because they get you off the trail and into the water (if you so choose)!

As an avid trail user I often find myself stopping along a trail and staring at the surrounding landscape, soaking it all in.  I use more than just the 18" tread of trail, I use the entire landscape.  It is important to appreciate and respect the surrounding landscape because it can ultimately have an effect on your enjoyment of the trail.  Improving riparian areas near a trail may bring additional wildlife or help stop erosion that may otherwise close a section of trail.  Similarly, treating invasive plants near trails can improve the quality of your experience by keeping your shoes free of seeds or, more importantly, by restoring the native vegetation that is much more beautiful than that of an exotic monoculture and better for the ecology of the land as a whole.

The first project will take place at the River Bluffs Open Space on March 23rd.  Here is the project release:

Larimer County is hosting a Volunteer Habitat Improvement Project at River Bluffs Open Space on Saturday, March 23. The project will run from 9-5. The makeup date is Saturday March 30. The purpose of the project is to restore the riparian corridors of Fossil Creek and the Poudre River by planting trees and shrubs. Over 1,200 plants will be installed, mulched and watered. 

Volunteers are asked to register before the event and must be at least 18 years old or 12-17 years old and accompanied by an adult. A pizza lunch and beverages will be provided. Volunteers will need to wear warm, hardy clothing as they will be outside and on their feet for the entire day. Work gloves and waders are recommended, but not required. Contact Jeffrey Boring at jboring@larimer.org to register.

Even though this Open Space is not as heavily used as many other sites, I still feel that this is a great opportunity for trail users to get out early in 2013 and help make a difference on our public lands.  This is a rather large project and a great chance to meet new people!

The second project will take place in Devil's Backbone along the Blue Sky Trail on the Indian Creek drainage on April 13th.  Here is the project release:

The Larimer County Department of Natural Resources is hosting another Volunteer Habitat Improvement Project at the Devil's Backbone Open Space along the Blue Sky Trail on Saturday, April 13. The project will run from 9-5. The purpose of the project is to restore sections of the riparian corridor of Indian Creek by planting trees and shrubs. Previous to Larimer County taking on management of the valley, key shrub and tree communities along the stream channel had been removed. This project is aimed at assisting the recovery of plant communities in those disturbed areas that support a wide array of wildlife in the area. 

This project will require 12 volunteers - first come, first serve. Volunteers are asked to register before the event and must be at least 18 years old or 12-17 years old and accompanied by an adult. For more information, contact Casey Cisneros through e-mail at  cisnerct@larimer.org.

This is an excellent opportunity for trail users to lend a hand on the land where one of our favorite trails lies.  While this project is not as large, it is still a great opportunity for trail users to get together and help restore some riparian habitat along a great trail.

To register for either of these events, please send the project leader (see release statements above for projects' leader) and I an email with your information and we will get you all setup.  Feel free to email us with any questions or concerns that you may have.  Additionally, please share this information with your trail-loving friends as well!

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to have these two projects coming up and I hope to see you there!

Happy trails,

Chris

Trailcology@gmail.com

Trail Volunteer Opportunities are Beginning to Pop Up!

Over the winter I have been busy making connections with agency staff to try and develop some projects for Trailcology.  I am happy to say that all of the meetings have gone very well and Trailcology is in a great position to help with a wide variety of trail and trail-related projects.

The earliest projects may be this spring in conjunction with Larimer County.  Keep an eye out for more information on Facebook and this blog as Spring draws near.

Additionally, I have begun the process of finding an Intern to help me with some tasks that have been receiving less of my attention than is deserved.  I'm looking forward to the possibility of having a right-hand person to help make sure that Trailcology volunteers have the best experience possible while out on a project or at a Trailcology event.

Good things are coming and I can't wait to hit the ground this Spring!

Cheers,

Chris

A New Year for Overland Mountain Bike Club's Trails Committee

Last night was the first meeting of the Trails Committee for 2013.  The Committee has a new leader, Todd Thibodeau, who is off to a great start with a very well-structured and organized first meeting.  For those of you who don't know who Todd is, he is the man behind the Curt Gowdy and Glendo trail systems in Wyoming.  Todd is very in tune with the needs of multiple users and has been very successful with his trail planning and overall vision for trails in the greater Northern Colorado and Cheyenne region.  I firmly believe that Todd will help lead the Committee, and Overland, towards successfully completing the Trail Vision Plan and making sure that it is well rounded for all users.

Some early results have come in from the survey and an overwhelming amount of users were interested in better trail connectivity, more trails, and more technical trail options.  I would expect these to, at least in part, determine the focus of the Vision Plan.

The one thing that will make the Vision Plan stronger, more acceptable to agencies, and better for all users, is for as many people to fill out the survey as possible!  SO, if have not yet filled out the survey please do so, and share the link with as many people as you can!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OverlandTrailVision

I'm looking forward to continuing the representation of all trail users during this process.  I realize that no one elected me to this position but I firmly believe in shared-use trails and as a person who uses trails in every manner possible, I feel confident that I can adequately represent everyone's needs.

If you want to make sure that your voice is heard, fill out the survey and contact me with any comments or concerns that you have.  I am more than willing to talk through any concerns that people may have to make sure that we get this Vision Plan right.

Happy Trails!

Chris
Trailcology@gmail.com

A Warm Welcome to December and Some Pleasant Time on the Trails

The first weekend of December brought warm weather and great conditions for late season trail use!

On Saturday morning I decided to take the kids to Pineridge Natural Area to hike around Dixon Reservoir.  When we arrived at 9 am the trails were very busy with casual hikers, trail runners, mountain bikers, and quite a few other families, like mine, that got out for a family romp on the local trails.  It was great to see so many people out on such a great morning.  This trip was a special one for me because it was our daughter's first try at hiking by herself.  Granted, we didn't do a whole lot of "hiking" but she was very adamant about walking down a steep bit of trail from the parking lot to the reservoir.  As it turns out, the trail we were on was also great for the butt-scooch method of descending, I swear she thought it was a slide!  After we made it down that small bit of trail we stopped to throw rocks into the water - a favorite past-time of mine as well. I was able to garner enough support from the troops to walk along the water's edge and I took the opportunity to teach our son about some of the plants and talk about the animals we saw.  It's really quite amazing how quickly kids can pick up on things, the rest of the morning our son kept pointing out grasses!  After finding some mud, an area filled with spiders, and watching prairie dogs we made our way to a bench and watched some ducks swimming and diving.  It was really a fantastic morning on the trails at Pineridge and everyone that we encountered was very friendly and responded kindly to our kids as they said hello to everyone we passed.

Late on Sunday morning I took advantage of the nice weather again.  This time, however, I decided to take a casual mountain bike ride.  I didn't get much sleep the night before because I have been trying to finish Trailcology's federal 1023 form to receive 501(c)3 status, so this was a perfect reason to take it easy, enjoy the trails, and talk to some friendly people.

Starting off in Pineridge, I calmly and quietly rolled along the Timber trail (one of my favorite town trails) and absorbed the morning and the setting around me.  I enjoyed stopping to look upslope for any wildlife that may be hanging around and to observe the changes in the vegetation from the South end of the trail to the North.  The current management plan for the Natural Areas program has a focus on conservation, which I think is fantastic.  However, everytime I look upslope from the Timber trail I see opportunity.  Opportunity for future trail use that allows trail users to spread out more, reduce some of the wear and tear on the Timber trail, and allow flora- and fauna-minded people easy access to a beautiful bit of land.  I understand that wildlife use that section of land and it is an important corridor for many wildlife species but I have also noticed that the wildlife don't seem to be bothered by the human use in that area.  One particular example of this was when many trail users saw an Elk down by Dixon Reservoir several years ago.

The Elk saw all of us standing around taking pictures and he just continued on with his business like nothing was going on.  You may also be interested to know that this picture was taken in August and there is quite a bit of lush green vegetation!  I've gotten off subject a bit, let me bring this back around.  I can envision a way to potentially satisfy the growing needs of trail users as well as the needs of wildlife in that tract of land.  Down the road I hope to have another incredibly amicable conversation with the great people in charge of our Natural Areas program to see if my idea would be feasible.

I finally made my way through Pineridge and I was on to Maxwell Natural Area.  There are always a wide variety of people on Maxwell's trails and today was no different.  I stopped for many hikers and runners, talking to the families as I let them by or quickly saying hello to the focused runners.  Normally I enjoy the challenge of riding up the "A-trail" segment of the Foothills Trail and I push quite hard.  Today however, I just enjoyed my ride and casually rolled my way up the trail, stopping to take note of wear and tear that has made certain sections seem rockier than they were earlier in the summer.

Continuing on the Foothills Trail I rode down the newly re-routed "shoreline" segment and eventually down across the final north dam to reconnect with the Foothills Trail at the top of the road climb.  This section of the Foothills Trail, between the high point after the dam and where it intersects with trails in Reservoir Ridge Natural Area, is one of my favorite sections.  There is very rarely anyone up there, it's beautiful, there is often deer browsing around, and the trail is pretty fun.  On this particular day I decided to hop off the bike and hike around a bit in a Ponderosa pine stand.  I sat on a rock for a little while, overlooking the North-West end of Fort Collins and soaked it up.  What a fantastic resource we have in our town, our trails are exactly what the doctor ordered.

After I adjourned from my brief, but peaceful, respite I connected with the new re-route in Reservoir Ridge. I really enjoy the new re-route, I love how it goes high on the ridge and allows you to look out over the land.  For the most part, I think the trail is very well built.  There are a few pieces here and there that I believe will start to wash out because of a rock on the backslope side of the trail and nothing along the critical edge to keep the edge from collapsing as mountain bikers avoid riding over the rock.  These are simple enough to fix though and can be taken care of with some pretty light rock work.

After I looped around at the North side of Reservoir Ridge, I came back down the re-route and I ran into another mountain biker who I spent some time talking with.  As it turns out, his name was Aaron and he had spent the summer working with Fort Collins Natural Areas and he had spent a good bit of time helping to build the new re-route.  We talked for quite a while about the trail and a wide variety of other things.  He was a really nice guy and I'm glad I had the chance to talk with him.  You never know who you're going to meet on the trail!

I continued my casual ride back home and concluded a great weekend of trail use.  Our daughter's first hike, teaching the kids about plants and animals, a great bike ride full of fantastic interactions, and an opportunity to experience the trails at a slower pace on my bike made my weekend pretty fantastic.  It's always nice to talk to people and hear their opinions about happenings on the trail and I take that information and use it to help me direct my plans with Trailcology.  I hope that one of these days I will get to meet everyone on one of Trailcology's projects and get to know you all on a first-name basis.  Imagine how fun it will be to run into everyone on the trails then!

See you on the trail!

Cheers

Chris

Overland Mountain Bike Club's Trail Vision Plan

The Overland Mountain Bike Club is working on a Trail Vision Plan to improve and build upon the trail systems in our region.  In order to effectively meet the needs of ALL trail users they have developed a short survey for trail users to fill out.
See their release below:

As you may have heard, the Overland Mountain Bike Club Trails Committee is developing a regional Trail Vision Plan.  We are working with trail planning and design consultants, Kay-Linn Enterprises, to develop this plan.  As a part of the development process, we have created a trail use survey and are asking for your input. Please take 5-10 minutes out of your day and fill out the survey. You can access the survey here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OverlandTrailVision. The more responses we get, the more encompassing our Vision can be and the more credible we can be with the land Agencies as we present our Vision. Please pass this link on to any friends and family that you know that are trail users of any type (horse, hike, run, bike, etc). Your time and opinions are greatly appreciated.

Take a few minutes and fill out this important survey.  Also, please take a minute to share this link with anyone you think would have an opinion about the future of trails in Northern Colorado!

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email or leave a message on the Trailcology Facebook page!

Cheers,

Chris

IMBA World Summit: race promoter session

Part of Trailcology's mission is to support and foster trail users and as part of that, I plan on holding events for all trail users. These events are meant to foster trail user skills, develop relationships with their fellow users, provide educational opportunities, and engage users in Trailcology events. These events may range from scavenger hunts all the way up to full-on races. Trailcology will use these events as fundraisers and opportunities to connect with potential volunteers for projects. The IMBA race promoter session was focused on creating well organized and supported events that promote trail advocacy for the good of the trails and trail users.

In attendance were professional racers, race promoters, organization staff, land managers, and individuals (like myself) who are here to learn from the vast amount of experience that is available from these individuals. The purpose of this meeting, from IMBA's perspective, was to create a manual of Best Practices for race promoters to put on the best events that they possibly can while engaging the community and promoting trail advocacy. Even though this session (and conference) were focused on mountain biking, the information and experience that was bright to the table was absolutely phenomenal. For example, the Lifetime Fitness crew, who puts on the Leadville 100 series, was in attendance and they put on all kinds of events!

I'm excited to review the manual of best practices when it is made available to the attendees because it will be full of great information that will only enhance all of the ideas that I already have for great events! Speaking of which, you might be wondering what kind of events I'm talking about, right? Well... Ok, here's a sample of my ideas: themed trail run scavenger hunts, educational family hiking events, community short-track bike races held at the Holiday Twin drive-in (currently in development), and social equestrian events. I have many more ideas too, but I don't want to give away the farm already!

Stay tuned for updates about Trailcology events during 2013!

Cheers

Chris

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