Smoother pedaling for bikers

By Donna Kemp Spangler / Deseret News staff writer 
From the Deseret News, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2002

For as long as anyone can remember, off-road cyclists have felt like the poor stepchildren of outdoor recreation. Hikers don't like sharing single-track trails with them. ATV enthusiasts dismiss them. Land managers simply didn't know what to do with them.

But in a landmark policy shift, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is finally recognizing mountain biking is a different breed of recreation, one that is not quite akin to hiking but not quite off-roading, either. It is also an outdoor recreation worthy of its own management strategy -- something that could eventually lead to trails dedicated to mountain bikers.

"Some people misperceive us," said Gary Sprung, senior national policy adviser for the International Mountain Biking Association based in Boulder, Colo. "They think bicycling is like a motorcycle without engines, but we are much more like hikers with wheels."

This month, the BLM released a draft management plan that will, once the public comment period is over, direct BLM officers around the West on how to plan and manage for the millions of people who straddle a mountain bike every year.

While others might bristle at the thought of more government regulations, mountain bike enthusiasts in Utah are cheering the BLM plan because the draft for the first time recognizes that bicycles are not motorcycles or ATVs -- a critical distinction when it comes to where bicycles are and are not allowed.

 "One of the key things that's in the plan is the need for local BLM offices not to forget mountain biking when they develop land use plans," said Tim Smith, recreational program manager for BLM's Sacramento office and project leader. "We don't want to become a mouthpiece for mountain bikers, but the intent is to reduce user conflicts and reduce impacts on the environment."

Mountain biking has increased dramatically over the years. An estimated 13.5 million mountain bicyclists a year visit public lands to enjoy the variety of trails and experiences. And there's no doubt one Utah community -- Moab -- remains a mecca for mountain biking. Every year, tens of thousands of riders take to Moab's famous Slick Rock, White Rim and other trails in the area, pumping their adrenaline over the hills, twists and turns that put the rider closer to the natural world. Rocks, strewn logs, low branches and mud add to the sense of adventure.

But conflicts do arise. Hikers are irritated by mountain bikers riding too fast or too close to them. And mountain bikers are none too happy when then are forced to eat the dust of motorized vehicles.

Avoiding conflicts

The new BLM plan is an outgrowth of the national OHV plan completed in 2000, which, much to the chagrin of bicyclists, lumped mountain bikes with off-highway vehicles. The BLM plan falls short of classifying mountain bikers as hikers, but it does recognize that bicycles are not motorized ATVs.

In general, BLM's plan has garnered praise from mountain bikers and land managers. "I really love that it finally legitimizes single track," said Cimarron Chacon, landscape architect for the BLM in St. George. Chacon is putting together a countywide non-motorized trail system, and trying to discern how best to provide and preserve single-track trails is a major part of the plan.

"We want narrow trails," added Sprung. "It's true many people want this because it puts you closer to nature."

Kirstin Peterson, co-owner of Rim Tours in Moab, said there is a need to have designated trails to avoid conflicts. "In the Moab area what's happened is that (in) some places the motorized travel is going everywhere," she said. "There are places where mountain biking and ATVs might overlap, but the different user groups appreciate having trails that are specifically designed for them because they are looking for different experiences."

Like skiing, Peterson said, mountain biking has evolved to accommodate different types of riders. Peterson, who became an owner in the touring business in 1990, said trails designed for mountain bikes have a different turn radius than those for motorcycles or hikers. And there is growing demand for new, more extreme riding experiences with obstacles and other trail characteristics that challenge the rider. And yet there is also demand for moderate trails and trails that families can enjoy together. The BLM plan will address all of those different mountain biking uses.

Discovering Utah

The plan will have a direct impact on Utah, where mountain biking has become a popular activity in the St. George, Cedar Breaks and Boulder Mountain areas. Moab was the first poster child for mountain biking, an international destination for the sport, because of the bike-friendly Slickrock Trail outside Moab with its unique scenery and rolling rock terrain. But it wasn't the first.

The birth of mountain biking is traced to the early to mid- 1980s and a small contingent of northern California enthusiasts on self-designed and modified bicycles. They would make ritualistic trips to Crested Butte, Colo., every summer to ride on mountain trails there. Moab was in between, a convenient layover on the long drive. That's when the bikers discovered Utah's famed slick rock.

"I think red-rock scenery, uniqueness of terrain set it apart," Peterson said. "It's worth traveling to."

 The sport eventually transformed itself into a multibillion-dollar industry. And now the gonzo bicyclists are sharing the trails with families, older riders and just about anybody with the leg strength to pedal. It is that broad base that likely pushed the BLM to take a different look at managing mountain bikes on public land -- that and possibly the fact that many BLM staffers themselves are now mountain bikers.

 Whatever the reason, Sprung says the plan is, in general, "one of the best mountain bike management documents ever created. I think BLM really listened to bicyclists and others."

The management document will guide local land managers in the development of specific land-use plans. It will emphasize coordination with local community leaders, federal land managers and recreationists.

"I like the fact it emphasizes partnerships, community-based planning, that it is focused on working with user groups," Chacon said.  And maybe it can help managers resolve conflicts before they occur, Sprung said, adding that IMBA was created as a mechanism to resolve those conflicts.

"The BLM will have to get better when (public) lands get more crowded," he said. "And we are already seeing BLM lands used much more now than just a few years ago. There will be more recreationists."

 And if that means more rules for mountain bikers, so be it, he said. "At IMBA we agree there should be some rules," he said. "We want rules that govern non-motorized recreation in general. We want to be in the family we truly belong in, in non-motorized recreation categories."