Post-Event Trailwork at Boggs: This Coming Saturday April 17th
9:00am – 12:00pm
RSVP!
(for those of you who don’t know French, that means e-mail me if you plan on coming: los@bikemonkey.net )
Regardless of weather, we are planning on making a strong appearance at Boggs on Saturday April 17th to perform post-event trailwork in partnership with Friends of Boggs. We will provide suds and tools.
You need to provide the following:
McLeods
Rakes
Flat shovels
Extra tools if you’ve got them:
A 4-Wheel drive vehicle, if you’ve got one that can carry people
Water to hydrate yourself
Recommended clothing
Well-fitting gloves
Hiking or work boots
Long-leg pants / work jeans
Long-sleeve shirt
Jacket or sweater in case it is cold
Hat for shade
Eye protection: safety glasses or shades
Helmet — we’re working in close proximity to each other, head protection is a good idea
The fifth annual Boggs 8 Hour Solo and Team Mountain Bike Race takes off at early on the morning of April 3rd. Each year this mountain bike race has sold doubled in size until last year when it sold out to the tune of more than 400 participants. While the race is sold out, it’s not too late to join in the fun. Volunteers are needed for the following:
Registration – 6am
Food service – evening
Rest stop – couple of shifts during the day
Beer/waste monitoring (with Ken Wells)
Clean up
A portion of the proceeds for refreshments goes to the Trails Council — if we can put together enough volunteers to help out, so your service will directly support our programs. Please contact volunteer@bikemonkey.net to sign up or for questions. See the race page for additional event details
Register on the iWalk Sonoma website for the iWALK Challenge. It begins March 15th and lasts for nine weeks until May 15th. Simply track how much you exercise.You can walk, run, bike, dance – whatever motivates you!
The goal is 150 minutes per week (that’s just 30 minutes a day, five days a week!).
Sign up so we know what community you are from and can enter you in weekly drawing for cool iWALK stuff! By participating, you’ll have fun and increase your fitness level!
Sebastopol resident Lynn Deedler has big plans to get walkers and bikers off the highways. Though Sebastopol has a reputation for supporting green programs and businesses and is halfway along the Joe Rodota & West County trails, the two state highways that pass through town make it less friendly for folks who want to get around on their own power. Deedler, a member of the Sebastopol Design Review Board, has been putting in countless hours promoting alternatives that parallel Hwy 116 (a north-south route) and Hwy 12/Bodega Ave. (an east-west route). Regional Parks and the Sebastopol City Council have both endorsed the idea — an critical element toward being eligible for grants and other funding for feasibility studies and beyond.
The County is particularly interested because it would jump-start a long-dormant plan to convert the abandoned Petaluma & Santa Rosa Railroad route from Bloomfield Road in Sebastopol to Petaluma into an 11-mile long recreational trail. When the rail corridor was abandoned in the 1980s, the rights of way reverted to the original (or subsequent) owners of properties along the way. Many sections would have to be purchased or alternatives found, but one of the main barriers has been the lack of connection at the Sebastopol end. Deedler’s route runs from Bloomfield Road north to the Rodota Trail along the edge of the city; he has spoken with all the property owners along the way and found them nearly all to be receptive to considering rights-of-way for a trail. This trail would make a direct connection with the proposed Sebastopol-Petaluma trail and, with the Rodota and SMART Train corridor trail, would create a grand loop for commuting and recreational outings.
Deedler and his group, Sebastopol Trail Makers, would like to see an additional route — largely off-street — paralleling Bodega Ave. to connect the Rodota Trail to the schools on Watertrough Road, to the west of the City. The two trails could be connected by route curving around to the south of town to create a local loop approximately 7 miles long. If the Deedler’s plans come to fruition, they will significantly bolster Sebastopol’s reputation for bike-friendliness.
The next step is a feasibility study. Regional Parks wants to cover the entire length from Petaluma to Sebastopol, though most of the focus would likely be on the stretch between Bloomfield and the Rodota Trail due to the large number of private parcels involved; south of Bloomfield on the old Petaluma & Santa Rosa RR right-of-way should be less problematic. Regional Parks had an option to apply for funding for the feasibility study this year, but since a major project in Sonoma Valley was already underway, they decided to wait until the next funding cycle. Although the Sebastopol Trail Maker are eager to get underway, the delay will likely make for a stronger case next year.
Sonoma County Regional Parks is pleased to announce the kickoff of expanded public access at Tolay Lake Regional Park with the new Interim Plan (IP) Day-Use Permit Program.
The new IP Day-Use Permit Program allows the public to visit the park during posted hours once they’ve completed an hour-long orientation and obtained a permit. Regional Parks is offering these mandatory one-hour orientations, free of charge, which cover permit procedures, and rules & regulations. After the orientation, participants receive Tolay IP Day-Use Permits, along with maps, park rules & regulations, and gate access cards. Permit holders may use the park for a variety of activities, including hiking, bicycling, picnicking, or horseback riding. Regular day-use parking fees apply.
Orientation sessions:
ORIENTATIONS START PROMPTLY – LATE ARRIVALS WILL NOT BE ADMITTED
LandPaths, the Sonoma County Ag Preservation & Open Space District, and Sonoma County Regional Parks are offering an interim Permit Program at Taylor Mountain in Santa Rosa, similar to the one in place at Willow Creek and Tolay Lake. After a one-hour orientation on the property, you will receive a free permit allowing biking, hiking and horseback riding on the 1000+ acre preserve. Contact LandPaths to make a reservation (RSVP required). Orientations will be be held on the following dates:
January Saturday, January 9 (11 AM) Monday, January 18 (11 AM) Saturday, January 23 (10 AM)
En Español: Domingo, 31 de enero (1 PM)
February
Wednesday, February 3 (10 AM)
Saturday, February 13 (2 PM)
Sunday, February 21 (11 AM)
March
En Español: Domingo, 7 de marzo (1 PM)
Sunday, March 21 (1 PM)
A big thanks to everyone who came out for The Trails Council’s annual membership meeting on Nov.17! Attendance on Nov. 17 was a little lower than we’d hope — perhaps due to the heavy rain — but those who made it had a good food and drink, great door prizes and heard an excellent presentation, “Maximizing the Community Value of Trails” by Randy Martin, professional trail designer and builder.
Swoopy Trails
Randy’s firm, Trailscape, has completed trail projects in the Sierra foothills, Susanville, CA, and most recently, Jamaica. Randy spoke on how well designed and built trails provide value to communities as they satisfy the growing demand for outdoor recreation while providing an experience with nature that feeds the heart and soul. In Randy’s experience, trails with a relatively low overall grade (4-6%) and short, steeper grade reversals create undulating trails that are durable and more enjoyable for all users. Through slides and videos, he demonstrated how this design worked in a number of settings, with a focus on a single track trail recently completed near Susanville and his project in Jamaica.
Randy has more videos from these and other projects on YouTube.
Elections and Swag
After a brief presentation of the year’s accomplishments and events, accompanied by trail project photos courtesy of Tim Mayer, the entire Board of Directors was reelected (thank you!). And thanks to our sponsors, REI, Sonoma Bicycle Company and Fly Goat Coffee, almost all attendees came away with a door prize, including a Giro helmet and Sonoma Bicycle Company gift certificates, a sleeping bag, backpack, jackets, premium coffee and more. Finally, a big thanks to all the members of the Board for putting together a great evening!
Thanks to the great efforts of Tim Mayer and the State Parks staff, we successfully repaired a portion of the Spring Creek Trail located about one half mile up from the Spring Creek/Canyon trail intersection. For this project, completed the weekend of Oct. 31/Nov. 1, we built two sections of causeway to elevate the trail through particularly muddy spots. Over the course of the two days, a dozen volunteers prepared the trail bed with McLeods and mattocks, laid down geotextile to prevent materials from sinking into the muck, and moved rock and tread mix in wheelbarrows to create the raised surface before a final compaction.
A few large boulders hid under the tread with only a small portion cropping out — a few volunteers valiantly excavated and moved them out of the way. The other challenge was the amount of traffic on the trail while we worked, which had the benefit of forcing the crew to take frequent breaks.
Check out the rest of Tim’s photos from the project, then take a ride, hike or run to see the finished project. The causeways are located about 1/2 mi. south of the intersection of Spring Creek and Canyon trails; they are roughly 100 yards north of the Ilsanjo spillway drainage.
Now that we have had some rain and the soil is workable we want to begin the long-awaited Spring Creek Trail project. The site, which is about half a mile up the trail from the intersection of the Spring Creek and Canyon trails, is a wet muddy mess in the winter, and we hope to build a long-lasting repair with short sections of causeways.
This summer we hauled rock and tread mix up to the project site, so some of the heavy work has already been done. Now we would like to get together a crew of 6 or 8 to actually build the project. The work will consist of preparing the trail bed with McLeods and mattocks, moving rock and tread mix in wheelbarrows for a short distance (50 to 100 feet, generally downhill), placing materials (fabric, border rocks, drain rock, and tread mix), and finally compacting the surface. We plan to begin work on Saturday, October 31. This trail is gets a lot of use, and we don’t want to leave the project unfinished, so those who can will work on Sunday, Nov 1 as well.
If the weather doesn’t cooperate for the 31st or 1st, we’ll try again the following weekend, Nov. 7th and/or 8th.
Leader for this project is Tim Mayer. Please contact Tim directly to sign up for either (or both) days.
Sonoma County Regional Park recently announced a new day-use permit program to increase access to Tolay Lake Regional Park. The program, similar to that implemented at the Willow Creek addition to Sonoma Coast State Park, allows the public to visit the park during posted hours once they’ve completed an hour-long orientation and obtained a permit. Tolay Lake Regional Park will be open to permit holders for hiking, bicycling, horseback riding and picnicking starting September 18th. See below for a list of upcoming orientations For information on these and future orientations visit the Regional Parks Tolay Interim Plan page. Hats-off to the park staff, volunteers and community members who supported the access planning for this south-county jewel.
Orientation sessions:
ORIENTATIONS START PROMPTLY – LATE ARRIVALS WILL NOT BE ADMITTED
Comments (0) 
You need to provide the following:
