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Officers of MORCA Mountain Bike Club Ticketed for Riding Illegally



 
 
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Old January 9th 09, 03:22 AM posted to alt.mountain-bike,rec.bicycles.soc,rec.backcountry,ca.environment,sci.environment
Mike Vandeman
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Posts: 4,798
Default Officers of MORCA Mountain Bike Club Ticketed for Riding Illegally

In other words, it's not just "a few bad apples", but a pattern of
deliberate violation of the law. (Shades of Patty Ciesla, an officer
of ROMP caught red-handed re-opening a closed trail in MROSD.)

Mike


Subject:MORCA MINUTES FOR JANUARY 5, 2009
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2009 21:49:02 -0800
From: "Henrietta Stern"

Hello All---

MORCA MINUTES for Monday January 5, 2009 at 6:30 PM at English Ales,
Marina. HAPPY NEW YEAR !
Minutes submitted by Henrietta Stern, Secretary, on 1/7/09

Our website is: www.morcamtb.org http://www.morcamtb.org/
2008 OFFICERS a
President- Peter Sherrill
VPs: Gary Courtright and Chris Mack
Secty: Henrietta Stern
Treasurer: Susan Brown
Webmistress: Shelley Melchoir or ????

ATTENDANCE: 12 people attended including four officers (Pres; 2 VP,
Secty).

TREASURER'S REPORT - There was no report. Be aware your annual dues
may
be coming up now that is 2009. You should receive a notification when
12 months has passed since you signed up. An old item of business is
pursuit of status as tax-exempt 501-C-3 organization.

NEW WEB-PERSON ?? Shelley and Mike are now in Maryland. Three
MORCAns
volunteered to learn the web programming (awesome!). Is there a
transfer of this job going on? Please advise. And thanks to all!

ESCA/ FORT ORD "HAPPY TRAILS" CLOSURES AND LONG-TERM TRAIL VISION--
ESCA trail status (Happy Trails) is still open as of early January
with
possible closing by month's end. I will get more info at the ESCA
meeting of Jan 14, 2009. ESCA folks have carsonite posts up and are
ready to affix "closed" markers when property transfer is completed.
Stay out of active work areas during work hours M-F, 7AM-5PM. These
areas are still open during non-work times, but are messy, so be
careful. We do want to monitor situation.
As noted last month, the poorly placed kiosk that we built has been
completely removed by unknown parties. Its purpose is to have current
trail status, access points and work areas for trail user safety and
education. We do not know what the replacement situation will be-I
will
talk to Stan Cook (ESCA lead) about this on Jan 14.

See my lengthy mid-December 08 e-mails re long-term trail vision. We
discussed what MORCA can bring to the table (trail knowledge, IMBA
affiliation and resources, volunteer groups, possible grants if we get
our tax-exempt status etc). Group brainstormed lots of good ideas of
what a good trail system might have. Please send your ideas in
writing
to me by Monday Jan 12 to because I did not
get
them all at the meeting. Examples of ideas include:
* Water fountains, bathrooms, trashcans, and adequate parking at
trail heads.
* Retain trail access at 8th and Giggling.
* Ensure bike access at points all along buffer area, perhaps
every 2-3 miles at a minimum.
* Provide for ability to ride at night.
* Trails should be family friendly and similar character to
Happy
Trails-single track, undulating with land, nice natural forested
habitat, sinuous, enough separation between trails (no spaghetti like
in
areas of Seattle)
* Trails should connect communities and avoid bottlenecks.
* the existing Happy Trails area that will be a CSUMB preserve
property should be retained for bike access.
* Bike parcourse/skills area similar to Woodward Park in Fresno,
especially along the new buffer areas. Also a pump track or other
more advanced skill area.
* Separation of horse and bike.
* Checking out cities of SLO, Phoenix, and Boulder plus Fresno.

NIGHT RIDING AT FORT ORD-- Extensive conversation continued,
especially
in light of tickets that have been issued to a variety of folks,
including some MORCA officers, these past few weeks. Evidently BLM
now
has 4 rangers and they are even going after local folks walking their
dogs on unmarked trails right at Toro Estates. There also have been
calls and complaints by local residents who see bike lights at night
near Toro Estates, which compels a BLM response. Despite all this,
BLM
manager (Eric) encouraged us to continue working toward a legal night
riding solution. There are lots of opinions, arm-twisting by some,
....
but the bottom line is that MORCA riders decided we would like to
enjoy
legal night rides without fear/hassle of ticket etc. if doing so is
not
too onerous. Evidently BLM wants to know days, time period and
planned
route to avoid the salamander and the sheep/dogs. We still have
concerns about collecting money, poor signage, etc but will give it
another shot to keep the dialog going and maintain a positive
relationship. We voted to try it again with a simple proposal by end
of
January, with Gary as the lead. Likely start with Tues + Wed nights,
as
those are our regular evening days anyway. Contact Gary if you have
ideas. Recall that daylight savings is on March 8, 2009 and usually
ends in early November, so there aren't too many months where this
night
thing will be in play (roughly Nov-Feb).

Daphne and others expressed concern about inappropriate use of public
funds for ranger time going after night riders while cars are being
broken into and damaged at parking areas... and that a better balance
is
needed to truly serve the public. Daphne plans to write the BLM main
office. We noted that IMBA has a seat on the Citizen Advisory
Committee
at the main Hollister office.

"TIME TRIAL" -- See MORCA website for instructions - this is being
continued at least through January. This is a web-based event.
Basically, this is a timed ride with individual times (honor system)
listed on the web. You ride from the base of Trail 67 (near rusted
tractor) to the top of Little Moab, then down toward the BBQ/gazebo
area
at the Travel Camp near East Garrison via 68 and 20??. Use BLM marked
trails only (though travel camp is not BLM). Stay on dirt as much as
possible (you will have to cross one road for sure). Honor system!! I
forgot the funny name we made up. We hope to have a celebration
dinner
or whatever when it is done.
Get out your trail maps and start plotting your route. You can try
more
than once. This is all for fun and personal fitness.

SEAOTTER 2009-- SeaOtter is April 16-19, 2009. We get a free booth
if
we get 6 people to race and also help with little kids rodeo again and
potentially host an older kids race (maybe 8-12 yrs) too within main
Laguna Seca area. Contact Peter for code number to get 15% discount
off
your race entry if you are a MORCA member. Henri, Daphne and Peter
plant to race. Peter is trying to coordinate an IMBA Trail Care
weekend
right after SeaOtter, with iodeas including reroute 68 and redo the
Three Monkeys trails near Laguna Seca.

FORT ORD TRAIL WORK-- The good news is that trails look pretty good
after the big Thanksgiving "Desert Gold" horse endurance event. We
still think some proactive work should be done on 49 and 50 while soil
is soft, just to flatten out the concave dish in center to avoid ruts,
enable better water flow. We will try to coordinate next two
Saturdays
Jan 10 and 17. We also discussed how ruts are forming at the top of
82.
Stay tuned and watch e-mails for confirmation.

FORT ORD SIGNAGE PROJECT: Peter continues to pursue trail difficulty
signage -- "easy" (Green dot), "intermediate" (Blue square) or
"expert"
(Black diamond or two) on the BLM posts with the trail names or
numbers.
We discussed a variety of ideas re other symbols to educate riders.
Peter has permit and high-tech gizmo that measures slope. Contact
Peter
if you would like to help do this. Could this be a BoyScout or other
service project by a student?

UPCOMING SPECIAL RIDES or Events-
We thought it might be fun to have a post-ride parking lot BBQ at 8th
and Giggling, Saturday Feb 7th-entice people over and tell them about
MORCA! Watch web or e-mails for more on this.
Keith Defiebre's mtnbike cross country series starts on February
14-check out
www.cccx.org for more info. Good training for SeaOtter
and
a nice way to meet lots of folks who bike in our area.

FUTURE BUSINESS (looking ahead):
**Need to nominate 2009 officers - we have not done this yet. Please
put on agenda for February 2, 2009.

REGULAR RIDES-- check e-mails as winter darkness, and changing
regulatory setting trail access may change plans.
* Quick-Step ride Tuesday evenings rolling at 6 PM from
8th
and Giggling -- This is a faster paced ride for those who want a good
workout with minimal stops, longer distances and likely lots of hills.
Check website or e-mail to confirm given changing trail status, night
etc. You should be an experienced rider because you may be dropped if
you can't keep up (or form a subgroup, if needed).
* Wednesday eve "Carrot Ride" at 8th and Giggling,
rolling
at 6:00 PM. This is a mellower, coed no-drop ride with tailgate
socializing afterward. Night riding on ESCA land as long as it is
allowed.
* Saturday morning 9 AM ride will leave from Creekside Terrace,
not 8th and Giggling. Check website or e-mail. Social pace, no one
dropped, possible A and B groups, if needed. Watch e-mails and
website for potential changes! Sometimes this is Toro instead.
* MBOSC-- this group does Demo in S Cruz 2nd Sunday of the
month.

OLD BUSINESS -Henri to research potential for access to lands owned
and/or managed by Big Sur Land Trust/CountyParks (Marks Ranch), and
Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District (Palo Corona). Key goal is
that mountain biking be integrated into the management plans developed
by these entities for lands slated for public recreational use, and
that
MORCA be recognized as a "stakeholder" group. I did speak with and
exchange e-mails in September with head of County Parks about access
to
Marks Ranch and Toro link-ups.
Also keep abreast of FORA/ESCA documents for comment. I've been
overwhelmed lately, so any help is appreciated.

NEXT MEETING-- Next MORCA meeting is Mon, Feb 2 at 6:30 PM at English
Ales in Marina (Reindollar) -- all welcome.
That's all for now, folks. See you on the trails!


Henrietta Stern
MPWMD Project Manager
PO Box 85, Monterey, 93942-0085
5 Harris Court, Bldg. G, Monterey (Ryan Ranch)

email:
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
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