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Santa Barbara

Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
3.10.2006
Access Alert—Santa Barbara
By: Karl Rosengarth

A proposal scheduled to go before the city of Santa Barbara threatens mountain bike access to Tunnel/Jesusita Cold Springs and other front country trails. The proposal may restrict mountain biking to half of the year on some or all of the trails, via an odd/even day allocation system. The Multiuse Trails Coalition, which was formed in 2006 to promote safety and "equal trail access for all" in Santa Barbara, encourages mountain bikers to attend a public hearing on April 6th at 7pm in the David Gephard Room, 630 Garden Street, Santa Barbara. The Multiuse Trails Coalition has just launched a web site with more information.



Here's the catch: Hikers won't have to stop hiking on "bike" days. So we just get screwed. If this was more fairly implemented it might work. As is, this plan will be a disaster. Almost impossible to enforce and making both sides bitter and hostile.

The plan includes all front country trails (Romero, San Ysidro, Cold Springs, Tunnel, Jesusita) and Knapps castle
 

bikenweed

Turbo Monkey
Oct 21, 2004
2,432
0
Los Osos
Odd/even days bikes permitted.

I think it's a good compromise. I'd be willing to modify my schedule in order to have less horrific trail interactions with hikers.

It would suck if hikers could use the trails both days, and bikes could only use it one. I hope to God bikes get odd days, as there are more odd days than even. However, this is probably all just a set up to get the phone/addresses of the MTBers so if they run from a ticket, the po po can track them easier...
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
It would really be dumb if we could bike certain days, while hikers could go any time. I agree with Zark- This would be impossible to enforce.....and just cause more and bigger problems.

I'll be there on the 6th if I don't go to sea otter then.
 

Edgy

Monkey
May 1, 2003
410
0
O.C
Noah...as the unofficial mayor of SB MTB it is your duty to curtail this.:mumble:

I cannot imagine not having access to CS. CS rocks!

BTW, is there a date set for this lame trail usage implementation?
 

W4S

Turbo Monkey
Mar 2, 2004
1,282
23
Back in Hell A, b1thces
I can' believe anybody thinks this is a smart move, it would only increase confrontations on days we do get to ride.

Does anybody the website addy for the coalition?
 

Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
mtnbrider said:
The hearing is on the 6th which is the forst day of the Sea Otter. What were they thinking?
I doubt it crossed their minds, but reducing the number of MTB'rs to atttend would make it easier on them to ram this through:rolleyes: :redhot:
 

Spunger

Git yer dumb questions here
Feb 19, 2003
2,257
0
805
Odd/Even day half a year, F&*$%* that!

It has to be year around or the Odd/Even thing won't work, hell it won't work anyways because the city won't watch who rides the trails. The people throwing these fits have money and that's the only reason this is in the news, otherwise this wouldn't be an issue.

In reality, people will ride regardless of what "rules" are set. The no riding when it's wet, the bells, and the trail maintence have helped alot so it surprises me they are doing this so quickly. That's the bottom line. Hikers have Rattlesnake trail that they can do as they wish as it's off-limits to bikes. So we have basicly 3 (cold springs, san ysidro, and tunnel) and Jesusita. If we loose these it's a long drive to go riding.

Whoever is putting this on probably planned on Sea Otter and hoping that all the bikers would be there. I'm taking a wild guess.......but it seems kind of funny to have it on the first day of the Otter.

Well what is this website? I couldn't even find the blog above that was taken from something. It's just an "idea" at this point right? So the more MTB'ers from Santa Barbara (or around the area) that speak up might help this out? I'm in if that's what it takes. Though sitting through Santa Barbara's yuppie population wouldn't be the best thing of my night, if it'd help keep riding going it's a small price to pay.
 

Spunger

Git yer dumb questions here
Feb 19, 2003
2,257
0
805
ncrider said:
Hey SB riders, now would be the time to invest in some really good HID lights. F-em all and just ride at night.
So like get a 10lbs lighter bike, and add 10lbs of Hella lights on it? LOL that'd work
 

SXtrailrider

Turbo Monkey
Aug 27, 2005
1,189
0
Hey im writing a paper for school that im going to submit about the conflict. Im giving scientific evidence that we do not cause anymore trail erosion then hikers and that our sport is not anymore dangerous then having a horse on the trail other sports. When i have it done im going to submit it to them.
 

SXtrailrider

Turbo Monkey
Aug 27, 2005
1,189
0
This really sucks, if they close mountain bikes on the trails then im ogign to **** them all and bring a moto bike down it HAHA then they will have a reason to be scared.
 

konabiker

Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
669
0
Santa Barbara
bikenweed said:
^ For $50 I'll write that paper for you.
How about you do it out of being a good samaritan and care for the riding situation in SB:love: ? Not write the paper for the kid, but actually for the cause.

One of my Dad's good friends is Brian Barnwell, who is one of the (I think there are 5) city council members in town. Maybe he can help us out. I'll look into it..
 

SXtrailrider

Turbo Monkey
Aug 27, 2005
1,189
0
HAHA funny that is why I've planed on showing you first. Just please do me one favor and read it before you criticize.
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
If you let me proofread it I'll e-mail it back to you in the hopes of gaining trail access.
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
Please let somone proofread it. "somebody-think of the trails"



(like from the reverneds wife in the simpsons, but trails- if you didn't get it)
 

bomberboy11

Monkey
Jul 15, 2005
665
0
At a computer...duh
I am almost in favor of banning bikes from the trails, because we all know that isn't going to stop people from riding them (some maybe, which will decrease the traffic) and then that way I don't have to be nice to the dickwad hikers. It's tedious as hell at this point dealing with the really agressive ones. I can't wait until there isn't anything to lose by retaliating.
 

Thrillkil

Monkey
May 25, 2005
595
0
Isla Vista, CA
bomberboy11 said:
I am almost in favor of banning bikes from the trails, because we all know that isn't going to stop people from riding them (some maybe, which will decrease the traffic) and then that way I don't have to be nice to the dickwad hikers. It's tedious as hell at this point dealing with the really agressive ones. I can't wait until there isn't anything to lose by retaliating.
You ought to start designing some ben-hur style hubs in anticipation of this :)
 

zmtber

Turbo Monkey
Aug 13, 2005
2,435
0
we need locals to forget one day (few hours of prcatice at sea otter) and go to this meeting, it is possibly the most important thing out right now, B?C this one day will effect all of us for the rest of our biking lives.
 

SBDHrida

Monkey
Aug 19, 2005
238
0
aMERica
SXtrailrider said:
Hey im writing a paper for school that im going to submit about the conflict. Im giving scientific evidence that we do not cause anymore trail erosion then hikers and that our sport is not anymore dangerous then having a horse on the trail other sports. When i have it done im going to submit it to them.
I have a better idea. I recently finished a research paper on the problem myself. In this paper I present information from both sides of the argument, and propose an equitable solution at the end. Maybe I might beat you to it and save the mtb community some embarassment. (as a side note, I got %100 on the paper, and that is coming from a private school, not the public schools which have been faulted so much in this forum).
 

FUNKBLASTER

Chimp
Apr 26, 2005
37
0
SBDHrida said:
I have a better idea. I recently finished a research paper on the problem myself. In this paper I present information from both sides of the argument, and propose an equitable solution at the end. Maybe I might beat you to it and save the mtb community some embarassment. (as a side note, I got %100 on the paper, and that is coming from a private school, not the public schools which have been faulted so much in this forum).
Im with sbdhrida on this one. You dont want to submit anything that they can possibley use against us. These hikers from montecito have ALOT of money (as we all can tell) and by the looks of there faces on the trails they would be willing to spend alot on this so we cant do anything stupid.
On a side note, not only is this meeting scheduled on the first day of sea otter its also right in the middle of spring break for UCSB so alot of us will be gone, including myself.
 

zmtber

Turbo Monkey
Aug 13, 2005
2,435
0
SBDHrida said:
I have a better idea. I recently finished a research paper on the problem myself. In this paper I present information from both sides of the argument, and propose an equitable solution at the end. Maybe I might beat you to it and save the mtb community some embarassment. (as a side note, I got %100 on the paper, and that is coming from a private school, not the public schools which have been faulted so much in this forum).
your an A.S.S, i garantee my bros is better, unless you had someone in the county to feed you information from previouse cases against the county. Also this one isn't a lame high school research paper, it is 20 pages long. with great information and many ways to solve our problem, anything the hikers think of will have a counter argument.
 

konabiker

Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
669
0
Santa Barbara
zmtber said:
your an A.S.S, i garantee my bros is better, unless you had someone in the county to feed you information from previouse cases against the county. Also this one isn't a lame high school research paper, it is 20 pages long. with great information and many ways to solve our problem, anything the hikers think of will have a counter argument.
Oh yeah, Son?!?!?!?

Well mine has a water park and free ice cream and is like 102X better than yours.
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
:nuts: Since most, if not all of the trails at issue are in the national forest, not in the City of Santa Barbara (Knapps is miles from the city limits), why does Santa Barbara City have any ability to make any laws regarding use of trails in Los Padres National Forest.

It seems that if any entity were to make such a law, it would have to be done by the U.S. Dept of the Interior.

Perhaps there is there some kind of operating agreement or something else that would give Santa Barbara City jurisdiction over national forest property and be able to propelgate laws that the city wants, does anyone know if that exists?

(not written by MTBrider, but a friend)
 

FUNKBLASTER

Chimp
Apr 26, 2005
37
0
In my opinion I think the city of Santa Barbara is getting hassled by all these people that live in Monticeto. They think that for some reason since one of them has more money than everyone in IV combined they own the mountain. I dont even think the paper will do much, if riders are around for that meeting it would probably be good to go, just make sure you watch what you say/do at the meeting.
btw- who will regulate this odd/even thing? I have never seen rangers or cops(who wouldnt even know anyways) up there?
 

punkassean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 3, 2002
4,561
0
SC, CA
Even though it would be hard to enforce, I don't want to have to break the rules or the law in order to ride my bike when I have free time. This proposal is complete BS and the only way to guarantee it from being passed is to show up at the meeting in FULL FORCE. We need to outnumber them by at least three-to-one to be taken seriously. I don't think everyone should speak because this is a sensitive issue and it would be easy to do more damage than good, but I do think that simply being there and making it clear that you don't agree with the proposal is absolutely key. We need to make an impact and let our presence be known.

I talked to some of the guys at the shop today as well as Adrian Cortina and we are putting together a game plan. Anyone who wants to come to the meeting should meet at downtown Velo Pro between 6 and 6:15 pm (closing time) on the night of the meeting. The meeting is only two blocks away from the shop and it starts at 7 pm. We can get together to coordinate and then march over to the meeting to represent ourselves.

I really hope (read: EXPECT!) to see A LOT of people come out to protect our trails and our sport. I will be VERY disappointed in people who don't see that protecting our right to use OUR trails whenever we want is infinitely more important than the first day of practice for Sea Otter. Go to Sea Otter a day late and get your ass to this meeting. This is especially true for locals but also goes for ALL So Cal riders who come to SB to ride. If you ride our trails then it is also your responsibility to save them. Do you LA area monkeys hear me? We need your help!

You can call me at the shop if you any ideas or questions.

Velo Pro Cyclery
633 State St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
805.963.7775
www.velopro.com