April 8th BMA Update

Boulder Mountainbike Alliance and the Boulder Adventure Film Festival Present the Premier of S E A S O N S
A new film by The Collective Wednesday, April 30th at the Boulder Theater To benefit the BMA Better Trails Fund & Boulder DEVO junior development team.

Seasons is a film that follows 7 of the world's top mountain bikersthrough the course of 4 seasons of one year. The film explores what itmeans to be a full time rider as told through the lives of downhillracers, slopestyle competitors, and big mountain freeriders. Come out and kick off your season with your ridding friends and therest of the cycling community at the Boulder Theater.Tickets available thru the Boulder Theater Box Office.

A fantastic update from our hard working friends at Boulder Mountainbike Alliance. I can't wait to get the Picture Rock Trail going. I hope to see you out there soon.

Q: When Will the Picture Rock Trail be open?

I can't tell you how many times this question is asked of me. First envisioned in the 1996 Master Plan for North Foothills Open Space, this trail has been on our radar for a very long time.

A: As soon as we can get it built.

We? Yes, we... Boulder County is committed to engaging the necessary resources to get this project done and open in 2008. Current projections put the opening in the October timeframe, but this is where we can shorten that timeframe in a significant way. BMA is working with BCPOS closely to break the mold of how we do volunteer work and expand traditional trail work events.

The Picture Rock Posse

For the first time ever, BCPOS has agreed to allow experienced volunteer trail crews to work unsupervised on the Picture Rock Trail. Our years of dedication and Boulder County's commitment to delivering this trail in 2008 have made this milestone in trust and collaboration possible. BMA has a pool of trusted and competent crew leaders, and they will lead crews of 20 or less on weekends in April and May and weekday evenings starting in June. These crew leaders will work with the County to determine the work plan and the logistics of getting the crews in and out of the site. The first session of the Posse is April 12! Experienced volunteers, come on down!

10 Miles End to End: A Remote Work Site

That's right, the shortest distance from the trailhead in Left Hand Canyon to the trailhead in Lyons is estimated at 10 miles. BCPOS held a field trip to review the trail corridor all the way to Lyons on April 3. You are going to LOVE this trail, but building it will be difficult, mainly because of the remoteness of the worksite. Pictures are HERE.

Big Volunteer Events May 17 and June 7: A Full Day Commitment

It takes more than an hour to shuttle and hike workers to the construction site. Because of that reailty, we must expand the duration of our trail work events to a full day. Lunch will be provided as always, but the trail work event will have to run to late in the afternoon to get a reasonable amount of work done. Shuttles will leave the parking lot/registration area at 8:30 am SHARP and shuttles will not leave the site until 3pm at the earliest. We don't anticipate the amount of work our volunteers do will increase by that much, but we have to account for getting in and out of the site.

For years, BMA has pushed Boulder County to embrace volunteer resources for getting work done on our trails. They are now delivering and it's time we stepped up to the challenge. It's an exciting time!

To sign up for the Picture Rock Posse, Click HERE for the April 12 event. More coming soon!
Crew Leaders, we need you to sign up for the event(s) of your choice! Contact Catherine Schweiger at cschweiger@indra.com
To sign up for the May 17 Trail work day, click HERE.
To sign up for the June 7 National Trails Day event, click HERE.

Can't swing a trail tool all day anymore? Logistics/volunteer support is just as important and we need help! Contact Mike Barrow at mtnbikemike@gmail.com

Valmont Bike Park Update

Members of BMA and the Parks and Recreation Department have been meeting to discuss the planning of Valmont Park. Discussions have been positive, and we are very optimistic about fostering a long term relationship between BMA and the Parks Department.

Although all signs point towards this being a Bike Park, we cannot cut temporary trails. The City wants to build this right, with input from professional trail designers like IMBA, and create something that truly reflects the cyclists in the community. We will soon have a website up with conceptual plans for the park, and updates on how to help and/or be involved.

Without delving deeply into the issues and challenges, here are a few hurdles we are working to solve:
The north side of Valmont has not seen significant activity since a SuperCup Cyclocross race in 1999. Wildlife such as foxes, prairie dogs, and birds now call this home. The City is aware there will be active recreation on the site, but wants our impact to be minimal. We did a walk through with city staff to hear their concerns. Fortunately, the wildlife corridors are mainly on the southeast quadrant near the current (and future) Dog Park. The plan for the park will be respectful to the wildlife and work harmoniously with the natural topography. The prairie dogs are another issue, but there is consensus that they will be relocated under the City Wildlife ordinance. This is a year long project on it’s own.
Ditches also run through the property. The two ditches run parallel to each other, and the trail network will cross each one three times. The City does not own the ditch rights, and must negotiate with the ditch companies for these crossings. The city has budgeted $30,000 per bridge/culvert, so there will be $180,000 just for the ditch crossings.
The construction budget for the project has been estimated at $2 million dollars.