Maybe we saw you on Saturday at Ales & Trails?  We were already pretty buzzed from a week of teaching kids to ride trails, and then we had a blast mixing it up with mountain bikers from all over the region, and beers from all over the bay.  We are feeling the love for IMBA, our national partner that helps us build and ride trails all over,  from the City of New York to our fair burg of San Francisco.  Without them, well, we can’t imagine what trail riding would be like without IMBA.  And without trail riding, where would we be?

Fortunately, we are feeling like SF Urban Riders is getting some respect that moves us toward better trail riding in SF.  Our big short term objective has been and still is establishing a Bike Park in McLaren.  We have proven the cycling community and the local community both want and support it (thanks to the 443 people who have signed our petition), and SF Rec and Park are working with our bike park proposal while they draft an overall plan for McLaren Park.  At the moment, that is all we know, but we will keep you posted.

Another objective of SFUR is to improve off-road riding in SF Rec & Park lands, with the development of a favorable department policy towards this type of use.  Recognition of our sport is key, and we have had 2 very favorable events this week.  At the annual Neighborhood Parks Council meeting with the Mayor and SFRPD, Phil Ginsburg, General Manager of Rec & Park,  stated that he believes that mountain biking – if done properly -will be good for our parks.  He even joked about taking an “illegal” off-road ride with our Dan Schneider, that of course was legal upon further review. We take this as a positive response to our community, and evidence that we all have shown ourselves to be responsible, active members of the community, we have legitimized ourselves and our sport.  Go ahead, pat yourself on the back.

Phil  has also voiced his support for a 1 day kids’ mountain-bike course, as part of Sunday Streets in August.  SFUR, along with the Presidio Y plans to set up a small off-road course in Golden Gate Park on the main Sunday Streets route.  While this may not seem that big a deal, it is.  Park managers have been reluctant to approve off-road cycling events in GGP, with the annual Pilarcitos cyclocross race being the only exception, and even that has been challenged recently.  This will also be our first event with Sunday Streets.  Finally, the location is a maze of little trails that the kids are going to love!

Off-road cycling , although currently not prohibited in most areas, remains an issue in Golden Gate Park. Some SFRPD land managers are concerned that bicycles will hasten degradation of the trails, increasing the maintenance required.  We share this concern and  want to protect the park, so don’t ride in areas where signs prohibit cycling.  SFUR would like to bring a  trail enhancement program to GGP which would  create better a trail  way finding  system for recreational users, and resurface more of the trails for sustainability.

In the meantime, SF Urban Riders wants you to ride on, and ride sustainably.  Remember the rules of the trail.  Remember you are part of a greater community, and you can be a bike ambassador every time you interact with someone on the trail.  Remember you can join us on Mount Sutro the first Saturday of every month to build and maintain  sustainable multi use trails.  Remember that none of us are perfect, we learn and grow at individual paces, and  we all slide out in a corner sometimes and need to put a foot down.  However, if we keep practicing it the right way over and over again, we all eventually ride the whole trail and leave nothing but  a positive  trace behind.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Come to China Camp State Park in San Rafael, CA for guided rides and professional skills clinics, bike demos, beer tasting from seven (!!!) local breweries, live music and a gourmet bbq from the Culinary Institute of America. All proceeds go to IMBA California’s advocacy efforts!

2010 Event Highlights:

• Guided Rides/Skills Clinics – beginner, intermediate and advanced
• Bike Demos – Marin, Specialized, Ibis, Scott and Santa Cruz
• Free Bike tune-ups
• Skills Progression Zone
• Gourmet BBQ
• Beer and Root Beer Garden
• Live Music from the Greenstring Farm Band
• Silent Auction
• Dirt Rag Photo Contest
• Local Hero Awards
• Shimano Youth Series Race
• Marin Bikes Gold Sprints

For the last seven years, this has been one of the best mountain bike parties in the bay area, if not the best.  We’ll see you out there.

Visit www.alesandtrails.com for more details and to purchase discounted tickets!

Join the Sutro Stewards, Nature in the City, SF Urban Riders, SF Rotary, One Brick, and all our partners and friends united for a better outdoors experience, for the biggest trail party of the year. Traditional work event in the morning…. but a much bigger celebration afterwards with prizes, pizza, beverages and genuinely great sponsors. Come and join us to work in a beautiful space.  Food and beverages will be served following work activities! Snacks by Clifbar! Pizza delivery!

Taps flowing by Oskar Blues Brewing (and by tap we mean hikeable, bikeable cans of delicious delight)

Scope of the trail & habitat work will be around Woodland Canyon restoring trail tread, and removing overgrown vegetation along the Fairy Gates trail and the upper Edgewood trail. Please wear adequate shoes and bring layers of clothing as the weather is unpredictable in the forest. Gloves, tools, instruction, and supervision will be provided.

Section A – Comprehension: Please read the following paragraph and answer the Questions Below:

Bike Build.  The Rotary Cub of San Francisco, Supported by Mission Creek Parks, Kinders BBQ, Sunset Scavenger, SF Urban Riders,Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco, Variety Children’s Charity and Playworks San Francisco .  All tools will be provided – but feel free to bring a few basics if you have a favorite. There are 100 bikes to build and that says something about what is at hand.

1. The Above Sentence would be improved with:

a) More information about the event

b) More information about the sponsors

c) More information about the bikes

d) Any information about the kids getting the bikes

e) All of the above

2. Pick the word that best completes the following sentence:

Mission Rock Park on Saturday Morning was filled with _________

a) bikes in boxes

b) Kids

c) SF Urban Riders

d) Parents

e) All of the above

3. Finish the following sentence:

SF Urban Riders ____________.

a) need dirt to show their passion

b) like bikes

c) like kids

d) use tools well

e) All of the above

ANSWERS, SECTION A – All, E, all of the above.

Section B: Arithmetic

Please solve the following.  Calculators are not allowed.

4. How many hours will SF Urban Riders need to build 117 bicycles?

a) 5

b) 6

c) 2

d) can’t be done in a day

e) my head hurts

5. (bonus probability question) – Please show your work for full credit.

What is the probability that 117 department store bicycles will have any structural problems beyond SF Urban Rider’s mechanical capabilities?

ANSWERS, SECTION B:

4) SF Urban Riders needs 2 hours to assemble 117 bicycles.  It could not have been done without 24 SF urban riders working hard – the 24 included Brad, Chris, Matt, Dane, Tom, Christy, Dawn, John, Dan, Jason, Wilson, Hector, Matt, Jon, Thomas, James, Zach, Gary, Al, and a few more non mentioned (sorry, we’ll get your name next time)

5) Bonus Answer: 0.854%  Only 1 bike did not go home with a kid.  Yeah…. that’s way, way upper percentile for wrenching on department store bicycles.  We are way above, outside, and backflipping over that curve.

Go ride your bikes now.  Report back Saturday, May 1st at 9am for trail building on Mt Sutro.  Usual Place.  Usual beer and pizza at noon forty five.

The Highbridge Project from y.a on Vimeo.

There was also the glorious moment of the planning commission revealing the data gathered from the last survey.  Another hearty thanks to everyone who took time to fill out the second survey.  Just look at these figures! The people have indeed spoken.

What’s that? Can’t read the text? Lets have a closer look.

So now we just need to keep pushing.  Within the hallowed halls of the great institution known as SFUR, which could easily be mistaken for a dive bar, we’re working to get a second draft of our bike park proposal submitted.  Then comes assurance that we can have a space to work with, then comes fundraising and building.  Then comes some sweet, sweet play time for you, me, and everyone who loves bike riding in the bay area, and many who do not yet know how much they (will) love it.

Many thanks, and if you have time, please fill out the second survey, located here.

Note that this survey is not as open ended as the first, and it is a little disappointing to not see any mention of a bike park within, especially given the results of the first survey.  Please take some time with the second survey to select the ‘other’ option and note how much you would appreciate a place for you and your children to ride bicycles off road in a structured environment.

We’re making progress on the McLaren Bike Park.  We’re gathering support and reviewing proposals to submit to the city.  Thanks to everyone who has already joined our McLaren Bike Park facebook page.  Thanks to everyone who has visited our new MBP page here on this site.  A very special thanks to everyone who signed our support petition and wrote a letter.

We’re also making a separate website just for this project.

Come by and visit us @ www.mclarenbikepark.org.

With enough voices, our momentum towards a bike park and mountain bike trails in McLaren and elsewhere will be unstoppable.  We really need everyone’s help to spread the word.  Tell people on facebook, tweet it out, send some emails, or just talk about it after your next big ride.

Jesse Gray of SFUR Overseeing Quality Assurance at the Old Navy Bike Build.

What a tremendously satisfying event this was!

Special thanks goes out to Playworks, a non-profit that is culturing and educating young people through quality unstructured play.

Playworks Executive Director  Ellen Goodman brought this unique concept to the Old Navy Regional Corporate  meeting held on Wednesday February 10th at the Hilton Union Square Continental Ballroom.

It quickly became a free for all with some surreal moments.

Over 450 Old Navy employees were surprised with a Team Building Challenge, in which each table of people needed to work together to build a bike. They were to employ the team building concept of ‘Step Up’ and ‘Step Back’, which reflect ones natural tendency to step up and take control, or step back and play the subordinate role. The idea was to have each person perform only one task so everyone would need to step up.

Not only did the Old Navy employees build the bikes, but they raised the $10,000 to purchased them as well. In total 120 low income and under served youth were gifted new knobby tired bicycles.

From a bike geeks perspective, this is where things got interesting. SF Urban Riders got a big shout out from  Playworks, introducing us as Quality Assurance, and then the group energizes in mass and storms to the back of the ballroom like it was the Amazing Race.  Lets just say the quality assurance came after the team building challenge was over. That is when the SFUR crew looked over every bike for fork & handlebar alignment, cable routing, tire pressure, and other sometimes comical issues one would expect from a massive group exercise.

The ultimate high came when the kids showed up to claim their  new rides. They were all from Cleveland Elementary in the Excelsior District and coincidentally real close to the proposed McLaren Park Bike Skills Area.

Now SF Urban Riders is working with the principal to follow up with more bike skills mentorship.

That is how it would work all the time in a perfect world.

Mark Your Calendar

Next Bike Build will be on Saturday April 24th and we can always use interested volunteers.:

More Details coming soon.

I build trails. I ride trails. Cheers!

Wow! Has SF Urban Riders really made all this incredible trail progress in just TWO short years?

YES – With the help of many other open space advocacy organizations, our members have stood up and made a real difference for improved multi use trail recreation in San Francisco.

Now we are ready to enjoy Indian Summer and Celebrate our second anniversary with Two Festive Months of fun. We hope you can find time to join us at an event and continue to help SFUR achieve our goals of world class off road bike recreation.

MOUNT SUTRO TRAIL WORK + Beer + T Shirts

Saturday November 7th Time: 9am – 1pm.   Beer courtesy of Hangman Brewing.

Saturday December 5th Time: 9am – 1pm.  Beer courtesy of New Belgium Brewing.

SFUR is seeking to accumulate over 2000 hours of open space volunteer labor this calendar year and we could use your continued support. We will continue to refine the Edgewood Trail switchbacks as well as other trail maintenance and habitat restoration. Plenty more trail projects are being proposed for 2010 – so lets bring some effort and buff up the trails on Mount Sutro before the holidays.

SFUR will be recognizing a few loyal and some random volunteers with FREE T Shirts and offer holiday specials to anyone who participates. All Sizes – All Colors only $15 each. The perfect holiday gift.

More Mount Sutro Trail Work info:

http://sfurbanriders.org/wordpress/volunteer/

RIDE SFO BIKE EXPO

Saturday November 21st   Starts at 10am    Location: Cow Palace

Join SF Dirtlab and SF Urban Riders as we help host some of the crazy bike events going down. BMX, Cyclocross, Dirt Jumpers, Tracksters and Fashionistas will all be out in force. This event is for pure gluttony of all things bike.

More info: http://sfbikeexpo.com/

PILARCITOS CX RACE – GOLDEN GATE PARK

Sunday November 29th  Time: 8am – 2pm

SF Urban Riders will be in attendance and seeking the bikes communities support for our Recreational Bike Improvements being proposed to SF Rec & Park.  Come on out to play or cheer!

More Info: http://www.pilarcitos.com/pdfs/2009raceflyerGGP.pdf

COMING SOON……. The SFUR Holiday Social and Appreciation Party at a hip location still being determined!

More Drinks and T Shirt specials, as well as great stories and good cheer.