SFUR formed in Spring 2008 after aspiring advocates attended the IMBA World Summit in Park City, Utah. In 2010 SFUR made a tough choice to leave IMBA and join the SF Parks Alliance as a fiscally sponsored local nonprofit. The advantages of SFPA were local community connections and access to local grants and fundraising, which have played a big role in the organization’s early success.

SFUR was driven by the opportunity to become a trail partner on the Mount Sutro project, and the dream for a local bike park. The organization excelled on Mount Sutro delivering hearty volunteers, specialty tools, and over 12 tons of rock material that helped create the sustainable urban recreational gem. Concurrently, SFUR also led the advocacy and community building efforts that became the McLaren Bike Park project, including the initial fundraising. From 2009 – 2014 SFUR focused on establishing bike access in McLaren Park by partnering with SFRPD on trail work improvements, and hosting the Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day (2009-2011), and the SF Mountain Bike Festival (2013-2014) events at McLaren.

In December 2014, SFUR had another tough decision to make. Having been so prolific with limited resources, the organization needed to restructure in order to focus on the next step of mountain bike access in San Francisco. The McLaren Bike Park became its own project, still sponsored by SF Parks Alliance. SFUR now has a closer focus on building partnerships and leadership throughout San Francisco, promoting a network of rideable trails for bikes across the city, getting more people out there to ride, teaching people about building and maintaining trails, and advancing our message of good trail etiquette.

History of Off Road Cycling in SF

There’s a long history of off road cycling in San Francisco, much of which predates SF Urban Riders.

Send us your stories–be they from the era of the penny-farthing, or more recent activities such as BMX, cyclocross, mountain biking, or advocacy. We want to hear them and post them here!