On February 20th, over 100 mountain bikers gathered in high anticipation at the Jefferson County Open Space building to hear the 2018 Trails Talk.

Excitement in the mountain biking community has been at an all time high. We are engaged in stewardship efforts, we have given thousands of maintenance hours back to our local trails, and we are working with our land managers to make pro-cycling advancements to the trails we love. For many years mountain biking has been regarded as a counter culture activity and decisions made were not directly favorable to the mountain bike community.  In Jefferson County this is beginning to change. But for most mountain bikers, the change is coming too slow.

The trails talk began with a presentation from Tom Hoby, Director of Parks and Open Space, about the challenges Open Space faces with the dramatic population changes in the Denver area. Mary Ann Bonnell, Visitor Services Manager, and Scott Waters, Trail Services Coordinator, relayed information on the “Mud Lab” at North Table Mountain as well as potentially closing trails during adverse weather events. Mary Ann also discussed the one year pilot program for Class 1 e-bikes which are allowed on all natural surface trails that currently allow bikes within the JCOS network. Dom Batista, shared information on his short-term Apex Study. Josh Garcia followed up with information on the highly anticipated Trail Proposal Process and what JCOS will be looking at in the coming months.

At the culmination of the presentations, the floor was opened and Jeffco fielded questions from the pubic. The majority of the questions were about trial management strategies and came from well informed and passionate mountain bikers. Jeffco seemed to maintain their poise throughout the questioning and addressed each question with a seemingly neutral response. The Trails Talk forum then moved to a breakout session and conversations were had with individual JCOS staff. The focus of most conversations in the breakouts were around how will the management of Jefferson County Open Space change for the mountain biking community. People were curious as to why Open Space omitted the number one solution of building more trails at Apex from the study conducted at that park. Jeffco countered by stating that their goal is to fix the current management strategy at Apex Park. Individuals and small groups discussed how the Trail Proposal process will embrace the mountain biking community and facilitate a management movement toward single use and directional bike trails.

By the end of the night, mountain bikers had made an initial case for why we want to see changes in the management of Jefferson County Open Space parks. However, we have learned that one meeting will not provide enough influence in the decision making progress. As a user group, we need to increase our polite, informed, and passionate voice if we truly want change on the existing and new trails we ride. We have to embed our voice into every conversation and every decision that is being made. There are several mountain biking groups that meet with JCOS staff including the Golden Giddyup, CoMBA, and the Colorowdies. However, all voices should be heard and individuals cannot rely on the collective voices of a few groups.

As mountain bikers we have an opportunity. People in the decision making roles are giving us the opportunity to communicate what we want our trails to be in the, hopefully, near future.  We need to continue this conversation not only with JCOS but especially with the Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC), the board that advises Open Space decisions. OSAC has monthly meetings at the Jefferson County Open Space office. The agenda for these meetings typically allows an opportunity for public comment. We need to have mountain bikers attend meetings and speak to the management changes we want to see. The rules for these meetings are all the same: be polite, be informed, make it clear you ride mountain bikes on Open Space property. The next OSAC meeting is on March 1, 2018 with the regular session beginning at 19:00.

We encourage every mountain biker to be the voice of change you want to see. Utilize email, social media, the pony express. Heck, get some carrier pigeons to deliver your pro-mountain biking message. In reality, do whatever is within your capacity to be a part of the mountain biking movement on the Front Range.

#beinvolved #stayrowdy