Pilot Program for Tryon and West Bay Officially Begins
Thursday, May 12, a big day!
After 5 long years of working on shared-use trails within the Monroe County parks, we have finally begun the 18 month pilot program for Tryon and West Bay Parks. GROC Trail Crew and volunteers have put in thousands of hours in these parks to get them ready for the pilot program.
We are grateful to the county for working so hard along side the volunteers to create the opportunity for a great experience for shared-use trails. The county has done a great job developing terrific parking areas, trail signage, and maps to ensure that everyone who walks, jogs, bikes, snowshoes and cross country skis will have a great experience in these parks.
Thursday, May 12, is a very big day for those who have been working to see shared-use trails in our local parks, I personally want to thank the hundreds of volunteers and support from other like-minded groups.
Well done to everyone - Maps and Trail details coming soon!
And So It Begins: GROC Requests Shared-Use Trails at Powder Mills Park
On Thursday, February 17, at Park Road School in Pittsford, the Monroe County Parks Department hosted the first public input session concerning the upcoming Master Plan for Powder Mills Park. Around 150-200 people attended, including about 15 GROC members, as well as the expected group of folks who have opposed mtn biking in Monroe County Parks throughout the process for the Master Plan for the Ellison Area Parks. Tom Robinson, consulting engineer from EDR, gave an excellent and detailed slide presentation about the park and its assets and sensitive areas.
Although a few other topics were raised such as a proposed dog park, speed control on the roads and the need to control erosion caused by the meandering Irondequoit Creek, most discussion was about mtn biking, with the usual arguments about erosion and safety. The opponents really didn’t bring anything new other than a specific anecdote of a near collision and verbal rudeness on the part of a single biker, for which they argue against anyone having trail access for riding. Mike Reid, Director of Camp Arrowhead, which is bordered on three sides by Powder Mills Park, countered that their very active mtn biking program—which GROC is proud to have helped them develop--has had no adverse events even in their densely populated camp during the summer sessions.
Of course, we spoke in favor of considering the inclusion of mtn biking on shared-use trails as part of the Master Plan development for this park. We thanked Dave Rinaldo, Assistant Director of the Parks Department, who was the moderator for the meeting, for the job he and all the M.C. Parks folks are doing and the great progress we have made with them in the preparation of Tryon and BPW for the upcoming 18-month Trial Period. We did not get into arguments with the opposing speakers, and they were reasonably respectful when we spoke. At these meetings GROC takes the approach of arguing our position with reason, data and experience. We learned early on that we cannot change the minds of those who want to exclude us from the parks and who argue with anecdotes and fear. We only have to convince the decision makers, who are in the position of authority.
So begins the process. It will be long and arduous. If we hope to gain our fair access to trail riding in this park, we must attend every meeting. Also, we need to get our members and friends to speak at the meetings and to write support letters.
Geneva Bicycle Center supports its community and GROC Singletrack Academy
Last Thursday Geneva Bicycle Center hosted an amazing community-oriented event that brought off-road cyclists together right in the dead of winter. The event focus was a showing of the film Ride the Divide, which is about an ultra-marathon mountain bike endurance race from Banff, Canada to Mexico, along the continental divide. Proceeds from ticket sales benefitted the film venue, the historic Smith Opera House. The event raised $694 to support the deserving local theatre, and was said to be one of the biggest pre-sales the Smith has ever experienced!
Preceeding the film showing there was bustling social hour at Geneva Bicycle Center. Guests were treated to free beer and wine (from the Billsboro Winery) while they mingled.
Geneva Bicycle Center also graciously coordinated the donation of some stellar prizes for a raffle that benefitted GROC Singletrack Academy, a summer program that teaches the next generation of trail riders and trail stewards. Social hour and film patrons generously forked over their cash for a chance to win some great swag, and to benefit youth mountain biking. The raffle raised a staggering total of $894! The monies will be used to enhance GROC SA programming and benefit deserving young riders. Many thanks to the community for their generosity, and to Trek, Giant, Origin-8, Giro, Louis Garneau, Bonk Breaker, Hardcore 24, S6 race, Park Ave Bike, Ramble Around Prattsburgh and Musselman Tri for prize donations.
Much respect to Geneva Bicycle Center for hosting a truly inspired, quality event. A fun time was had by all. Oh yeah, the movie was great too! See it.
Winter and snow came so quickly in December that our trail work and great riding conditions ended abruptly, but we did have a great run all the way into December. We wanted to take a few minutes to thank the community for a really great year. This was a big year for our area as we will be starting officially the first legal mountain biking in Monroe County Parks this spring. We are so proud and thankful of all the work being done by the community on the trails in West Bay Park, and Tryon Park. The county has been so incredibly supportive and the new trails in West Bay are very impressive.
GROC Trail Crew and GROC National Mountain Bike Patrol deserve a big thank you as we had 20 to 30 people consistently showing up for trail workdays Saturday after Saturday at Bay Park West (BPW)and Tryon, but as an organization we put in over 3,430 hours in 14 different parks. The best thing was that people came from all over and even many who are not mountain bikers (yet). If you are interested and not yet signed up for volunteer work, please go to mygroc.com/trailcrew to register. While you are there check out the work being done, shown in the photo gallery.
GROC Trail Crew will be resuming work in the spring to complete in order to get the 2 parks (BPW and Tryon) open for the 18-month Trial Period.
West Bay is very close to complete and even the blazing and Map are finalized. But there will be more trail work to complete, such as benching. And the M. C. Parks Department will be completing the trail head signage.
Tryon Park is still in need of some work to complete several projects that will help eliminate various areas on some trails which are unsustainable. Tryon also needs to be blazed, the final map completed and the trail head signage to be completed by the County.
In addition to beginning the 18-month trial period allowing off-road cycling in these two parks, GROC is already starting to plan for 2011 with the annual events of the Fat Tire Festival in July 16th and the Burning Bike Festival in September 16-th- 18th. Of course, GROC does much, much more, including participation at the ADK Outdoor Expo held in May each year, Single Track Academy program teaching youngsters mtn biking, community service such as the Monroe County Pick Up the Parks event each year (started by GROC, now involving many organizations), National Mountain Bike Patrol’s thousands of hours keeping our trails safe and trail maintenance work days at all the parks that have off-road cycling.
The excitement certainty is that each year will offer more opportunities to increase access to great trail riding for us all!
A Guide for Attracting Bicyclists to New York’s Canal Communities
Bicycling is popular.
Bicycling is the second most common form of outdoor recreation in the U.S., according to a study by the Outdoor Foundation, with 60 million Americans enjoying the activity.
More Americans bicycle than golf, ski and play tennis combined.
In 2008, all of these cyclists took more than 2.6 billion bike outings, averaging 62 outings per bicyclist.
American consumers purchase 19 million bicycles each year, 20%more than cars and trucks combined and 25 times more than boats.
Bicyclists Bring Business A Guide for Attracting Bicycle Tourists To New York’s Canal Communities
The great treat while cycling across New York was that I got a firsthand glimpse of many towns and villages which were, prior to the trip, simply a name on a Thruway exit sign. What I discovered was that there are many, many small communities along or near the
Canal which are rich in historical significance and beauty.
— Erie Canalway Trail end-to-end rider, 2009
Bicyclists represent potential customers who can bring revenue into your community.
Development of this guide was a collaborative effort by Parks & Trails New York, the New York State Canal Corporation and the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.
Meetup Group for off-road cyclists If you are looking to make new friends and not ride the trails alone, whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or expert, you will find great people to ride with.
On Thursday, February 17, at Park Road School in Pittsford, the Monroe County Parks Department hosted the first public input session concerning the upcoming Master Plan for Powder Mills Park. Around 150-200 people attended, including about 15 GROC members, as well as the expected group of folks who have opposed mtn biking in Monroe County Parks throughout the process for the Master Plan for the Ellison Area Parks. Tom Robinson, consulting engineer from EDR, gave an excellent and detailed slide presentation about the park and its assets and sensitive areas.
